Photokina 2010 Report

[richy]

There's at least one big plus to own a MF-Cam as a studiophotographer. It just impresses your customers more than some "casual-dslr". Loads of customers which buy studioportraits, weddingportraits, etc. own one of the "beginners dslrs" which, you must admit this, look pretty the same compared to a 5D MKII/D700 in the eyes of someone whos not that interested in cameras. MF is just another "Level" to show of how pro you are.

For some reason people always ask me if my rz if a video camera?

[c.d.embrey]

It's been done with an iPhone.  Of course, keep in mind that in addition to a 3 megapixel cell phone camera, the shoot used thousands of dollars worth of lighting gear and relied heavily on post-processing.

There have been many iPhone photos and videos posted on the net, Chase Jarvis has been shooting with an iPhone for quite a while - he even has had a book published of his iPhone photos.

What I was thinking of was the next Terry Richardson using a camera phone, something like a 12 megapixel Nokia N8, with a 5.4mm Zeiss lens and Xenon flash. A serious camera, not a toy 

In the 1990s Terry Richardson was shooting editorial fashion with a Yashica T4 P&S film camera. In the 2010s someone will get a Vogue cover using a phone.

[NHUSA]

Doesn't the 60D use the metering or some other system to help with autofocus?  This may be the difference between the 60 and 50D.  I have tried out the 60 at Best Buy and it seemed pretty nice.  I was hoping for a "smaller" version of the 7D AF system.  Does this "Frankenstein" have any parts that did not come from another EOS camera...aside from the articulating screen?

[Edwin Herdman]

Doesn't the 60D use the metering or some other system to help with autofocus?  This may be the difference between the 60 and 50D.  I have tried out the 60 at Best Buy and it seemed pretty nice.  I was hoping for a "smaller" version of the 7D AF system.  Does this "Frankenstein" have any parts that did not come from another EOS camera...aside from the articulating screen?

Metering determines how the image will be exposed - too long, too short, or whatever is considered "right."  Autofocus may be helped out by the current metering system (introduced with the 7D, called iFCL, or a 63-zone "Focus, Color, Luminance" system, basically it's just a newer system) but autofocus has a specific subsystem.  Does one system help the other?  Dunno to be honest.

The 60D's autofocus is its own beast.  It has fewer AF points than the 7D (9 cross-type compared to 19 if memory serves), but, like the 7D, the center one is "additionally sensitive at f/2.8 or faster," which wasn't the case with any previous non-professional (not the 7D, not the i.e. the 1D / 1Ds series), affordable camera.  The autofocus points also may be a different size, which has its own repercussions.  (Edited to clarify.)

The 60D isn't a 'frankencamera' at all; it just has a bunch of familiar-looking specs.  The actual parts involved are far different than they might seem.  (I remember smiling a few months ago at a DP Review article saying they would be surprised if such-and-such company designed a "totally new viewfinder unit" for a certain camera.)

[Edwin Herdman]

A quick detour to the "medium format sucks" post I made and abandoned a while ago:

I think the evidence is pretty clear that DSLRs have cut the knees out from under the MF market, and now they're working on the stumps.

A lot of Pros disagree with you. MFD sales are good.

A lot of Pros likely were disappointed when their suppliers bit the dust.  Scrolling to the end of this page:

In 2008, the last year the [medium format] market was tracked, it was 6,000 units. There's no reason to assume 2009 was any better, the MF market shrank every year for the preceding 2 decades, at a a rate of 30%year.

Joseph S. Wisniewski makes a lot of other relevant points, so there's no reason to rehash them here.

I will be happy to acknowledge that there may be some handling advantage on some bodies.  After all, one of the major reasons people still buy video cameras instead of DSLRs is that the form follows the function (more stable shooting orientation).  But MF needs more than ergonomic bodies to stay relevant - especially when there are ergonomic breakthroughs of a different sort with flip phones and as video plays a more important role (not saying that a MF camera with a handle + video wouldn't be more comfortable to run 'n' gun movies with than a Canon DSLR, but that's not a universal design and in any case there won't be any epic length tracking shots with those wide MF lenses - I'm sure they're perfectly good for many common film shots though, which tend to be wider).

For what it's worth, the last medium format body I saw being used (a few months ago in Boston) looked exactly like any other DSLR, just slightly chunkier.  I only can be sure it was MF because I made a guess it was and asked the guys pushing the cart it was laid on.

[ageha]

The 60D's autofocus is its own beast.  It has fewer AF points than the 7D (9 cross-type compared to 19 if memory serves) but the center one is "additionally sensitive at f/2.8 or faster," which wasn't the case with any previous non-professional (i.e. the 1D / 1Ds series), affordable camera.  The autofocus points also may be a different size, which has its own repercussions.

7D's center focus point doesn't benefit from lenses faster that f/5.6? It's not a f/2.8 AF cross sensor?

[Edwin Herdman]

Sorry, somehow I left out the part where I intended to write "non-professional, before the 7D (aside from the 1D / 1Ds).

Yes, the center point of the 7D is additionally sensitive with lenses faster than f/2.8, like the 60D.  These are the two new non-$4000+ cameras that have it (I think the 1D Mark IV has it as well, maybe the Mark IIIs).  It has more sensors than the 60D overall, and you can read some impressions on these forums about how its tracking and overall accuracy compares to the 7D.

When in doubt, look up a page of specifications on DP Review!  I make mistakes.  Correcting that one, though, thanks!

[Rocky]

The 60D's autofocus is its own beast.  It has fewer AF points than the 7D (9 cross-type compared to 19 if memory serves), but, like the 7D, the center one is "additionally sensitive at f/2.8 or faster," which wasn't the case with any previous non-professional (not the 7D, not the i.e. the 1D / 1Ds series), affordable camera.  The autofocus points also may be a different size, which has its own repercussions.

60D has the same focusing system as the old 40D and the 50D. 9 point all cross ,with extra sensor for lens faster than f2.8 at the middle sensor.

[Grendel]

Doesn't mean that it's 100% the same, sensors may have been tweaked. Also, the software that drives the system is in the 4th or 5th generation, Canon may finally have implemented a PID controller making the AF micro adjustment obsolete.

[richy]

I remember when they released the 5d2 they said it had virtually the same af sensor as the 5d BUT that the chip that did the maths (as opposed to the sensing) was much faster. Its probably 50% marketing and 50% fact.