In my opinion!
These are some of the highs and lows for Canon in 2008. Agree or disagree, it was a year that sparked a lot of conversation.
*Note: Some things may have been announced in late 2007, but didn't reach mass market until 2008.
Best New DSLR Camera 2008
1. 5D Mark II (* The firmware will fix the issues.)
2. Rebel XSi/450D
3. Rebel XS/1000D
The 5D Mark II is producing fantastic images (black dots aside) and the movie mode is quite spectacular. A worthy upgrade from the 5D.
Worst New DSLR Camera 2008
1. 50D
I don't think it was much (if any) of an upgrade over the 40D. Canon needs to seriously rethink the xxD line.
Best Point & Shoot Camera of 2008
1. G10
2. SX110 IS
3. SD790 IS / SD990 IS
I'm not all that excited about Canon's P&S offerings in 2008. The G10 is a very solid camera, but isn't a great camera. It's coming to the time where Canon needs to step up in this market as well. My favourite P&S on 2008 was infact the Panasonic LX3, I only wish it was larger in size.
Worst Point & Shoot of 2008
1. E1
What the heck were they thinking? Grossly overpriced, no special feature set and frankly one of the ugliest cameras ever created. It will sit nicely next to your TX1.
Best New Lens of 2008
1. EF 200 f/2 IS
2. EF 800 f/5.6 IS
3. EF-S 55-250 IS
The first 2 are probably tied for first. Everything I've seen from the 2 lenses is remarkable. The 55-250 shocked me with its image quality, it's a great budget telephoto zoom.
Worst New Lens of 2008
1. EF-S 18-200 IS
It costs a lot and has below average build quality, no USM and mediocre image quality (A trait of most superzooms). It has a list price of $699 and is being dumped by retailers at $499 now. That tells us it isn't selling.
Best Third Party Lens of 2008
1. Sigma 50 f/1.4
2. Carl Zeiss ZE 85 f/1.4
3. Sigma 200-500 f/2.8
I love the first 2 lenses (if you get a good copy of the Sigma), both produce some great images. I only put SigZilla on because it's just cool. I've never used one!
Worst Third Party Lens of 2008
1. Tamron 18-270
Maybe I just hate superzooms. =D
Best New Feature of 2008
1. 1080p Movie Mode in the 5D Mark II
Worst New Feature of 2008
1. Continuing the more megapixel nonsense in DSLR's and more annoyingly in compacts.
cr
43 Comments
I am a Canon user, to be honest, I think canon failed on all fields this ear . . . The first half part of the year they were going pretty good with the 450D. But after Nikon bring out the D700 and D90 Canon totally lost in and quickly pushed some camera on the market that only make things worse. The 50D is a joke … a 40D with more megapixels but at the sametime more noise. The 5d mark II, sure a good thing, but I am sure they should have figure the problems out during a test and fix them before the release. Next year better Canon.
I’m a Canon user (and a tiny share holder), but lately I’ve been intrigued by some of Nikon’s offerings. This is especially true of the D700. I went and looked at one at Best Buy last night, and it’s a thing of beauty. It’s built like a tank, the viewfinder is very nice, and it feels good in the hand. I snapped off a few pictures in the store, and at ISO 6400 the results were very clean. I think this is definitely something that Canon needs to address.
I’ve also been looking around at what people are saying in Nikon-land. While Canon users are clamoring for a body like the D700, the Nikon users seem to be begging for lenses. I have a 24-105mm which I really like…it’s a very nice walk-around lens. There doesn’t seem to be a real equivalent on the other side. It seems like they have lots of DX format lenses for a cropped sensor, some very expensive lenses that are suitable for full-frame, and not very much in between. I also get the impression (could be way off base here) that unless you have the best high-end lenses, the incredible AF system they have is pretty handicapped.
I think Canon definitely needs to come up with something compelling to compete with the D700. I’m not a pro by any means, but when I take a picture I want quality. For me, flexibility is key. A lot of the pictures I take are when I’m traveling. They may be action, they may be landscape, who knows? I don’t need 21mp, but I want good AF. Like a lot of people here, I’d love to see a 12-15mp FF or even 1.3x crop with good high ISO performance. I must admit that movie mode is intriguing, but I’m not sure if I would use it.
I’m curious about how Canon decides what features to put into cameras. Is anybody watching? If so, I think you need to be paying attention to discussions like this. People are looking over the fence, and they’re seeing some very green grass over there. You’ve got the lenses, all you need is a body with the right balance for the enthusiast.
Paul
I totally agree with Paul F, maybe I expected too much from the 50D. I expected that to be my next upgrade since the higher end 5d and 1d are too expensive for me. But because of the bad results of the 50D I am holding back now and wait/hoping that the next iteration will be something worth to invest in. I am also not buying any lenses now . . why ? Nikon is really getting very attractive, if the next iteration of the DXXX is released and make the D700 drops . . Canon better filled in the gap, I think lots of people that haven’t heavy invested in L lenses will definetly take a look at the other side. . .
I am not sure if Canon is watching the forums and website. I expect such a large company to have things planned years ahead . . . and it may take more then 1 year to get to the right path . . but I think more then 2 years will be a bad move.
I own the 30D (with around 90,000 shots), the 40D (with around 65,000 shots) and now the 50D with a couple of thousand already. The majority of these are shot at ISO 800 or greater. Everyone can complain all they want, but I’ve found from experience that the 50D takes better detailed images with no worse noise performance. I shoot mainly wildlife in less than ideal lighting and am more than happy with the 50D’s image quality.
The 5D served well over the last 2 years without a single failure for mostly timelapse photography. Being more of a video than photo guy it was an immediate decision to be on my dealers waiting list and to buy when it came out 4 weeks ago.
The image quality was fine on the 5D1 but the higher ISO and Liveview in a much improved LCD really makes it for me.
From a video-point of view the 5DMK2 just ROCKS!
Just in case Canon is listening: Yes, i DO WANT 24/25P and all the MANUAL CONTROLS and XLR AUDIO INPUTS WITH NO AUTO-GAIN as lots of people do, and maybe it’s coming. Over the last years I have shot 35mm / Super 16 and have messed around with these DOF-Adapters (a $10K mini35 to be precise) but this little DSLR beats them all in quality if you know how to use it right (Again, if Canon is listening: I got me a couple of Nikon adapters and i do use the older Nikons for the video now). But there are lots of other issues. The film or DOF adaptor shoots always required a lot of light. The MK2 in video-mode doesn’t need any of it to get it done, so me and my equipment will drive to a set in a regular car rather than a light truck when shooting.
People are complaining about a FAT32 limitation that allows to record only 12 minutes of HD video at once? How about a 35 mill 400ft roll of film instead (lasting 4 mins at 24fps). And when i just flip through my latest 12 bit scans of a series of 2K film scans: the quality is comparable if not better).
I could shoot anything with the MK2 from documentary to commercial tv spots to corporate internet videos and i will do that along with a seperate audio recorder, a proper frame rate conversion and CC.
I very much thought about getting a REDone but the workflow isn’t really my cup o’ tea. Soon there will be FF videocameras with all the features the MK2 is lacking. In the meantime the MK2 is the best money i spent for the last 2 years.