No 1Ds Mark IV in 2011? [CR2]

[unfocused]

so developing such a thing is not what you'd call good business sense.

I'm always an optimist, so I hope that Canon does not completely abandon the commercial pros.

I still think Canon may be trying to gauge the market and determine if they can meet the demand with one body, or whether they need to split into two niche bodies. I'm repeating myself from other posts, but I think the needs of studio pros and news/sports pros are fairly distinct.

You need high resolution and excellent dynamic range. The news/sports market needs manageable file sizes, fast frame rates and reach. Those specs are not completely exclusive of one another, just a case of where the emphasis is. Seems like a question Canon may be wrestling with is whether or not they can design a single body that meets the needs of everyone or whether they are better off with two different bodies, each targeted to their individual markets.

I could see a single 1Ds-type body that offers different choices in file size for different shooters. Smaller files for news and sports and larger files for studio work. Virtual zoom that crops the image size to 1.6 or smaller when extra reach is needed and allows full frame when maximum resolution is needed. Some things that only Canon knows: what's the total size of the market, how price-sensitive is the market, is it more costly to build a single body that does it all, or to produce a couple different models each targeted to specific segments.

From what you've said before, I'm guessing that a 5D with slightly better build, improved autofocus, improved dynamic range and a pixel-density in the same range as the 7D (If I recall from previous threads, the 7D sensor works out to somewhere in the 40-50 mp range on a full frame) would not be all that far off from what you need. (At least until the 120 mp sensor comes out). Canon may be spec-ing out their options to determine if a "5D on Steroids" would be a better market decision than a new 1Ds.

[RuneL]

I really don't care whether they drop the 1Ds or not, I hope they won't but really, I don't care. It'll be a monumentally stupid decision, IMO, but as long as they keep updating the 1D I'm fine. I'm loving my 1D IV and it's the first since the 1D II that's actually worth the money, I think, the III was sort of disappointing.

The IV is still a relatively new camera, they might put off the 1Ds a while still, it needs to be pretty bloody good.

[macfly]

This is an absolute must watch, this is what Canon are up against!

http://tonacitran.com/red-epic-camera-top-ten-questions-reducation-promo-ted-schilowitz-tonaci-tran/

[Bob Howland]

This is an absolute must watch, this is what Canon are up against!

http://tonacitran.com/red-epic-camera-top-ten-questions-reducation-promo-ted-schilowitz-tonaci-tran/

That is an absolutely amazing camera but a few things need to be pointed out. First, it's only 14MP and the image is very oblong. Second, my guess is that the demonstrated system topped $15,000, which probably takes it out of the let's-blow-it-up disposable camera range. The price goes up from there. Third, one of the problems that I'm having with my Panasonic TM700 consumer camcorder is learning to zoom smoothly and slowly. It looked like the lens on his camera was the 24-70 f/2.8, which is manual zoom. Camcorders like the Canon XF100/105/300/305 solve this by having non-removable wide range power zoom lenses and giving the operators lots of control over focusing speed.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that people who are excited about the possibility of leveraging their  investment in still lenses into video production may be very surprised, perhaps unpleasantly, at how different a full blown APS-C/APS-H/FF video camera is from their still camera.

[macfly]

Indeed Bob, but it shows where things are headed, and also how Canon can stay one step ahead if they so choose.

The Red's stills ability is more of an 'also ran', it is obviously first and formost a system camera for serious film makers rather than the Vimeo market. I'd suggest that the x4 & x5 video will be a crucial form factor in the prosumer market soon enough, and if Canon wants its convergence cameras to remain relevant, it'll have to scale up to those standards.