A New Style of Camera From Canon Currently Being Tested [CR2]

[HarryFilm]

Canon would literally KILL Hasselblad and Phase-one dead in one fell swoop if that 25 fps at 50 megapixels specification is actually TRUE! Even MORE SO if the 2nd version came out at the same time with a 120 megapixels MF sensor size at 8-to-10 fps!

I agree. BUT am still not convinced MF would be a truly profitable business proposition for Canon. Market simply too small, even 100% of it. For a large company like Canon. Small niches are game for (somewhat) smaller players ...

so ... don't believe Canon will launch MF system ... and agree with this:

I am casting my lot for those who are voting for an XC-15 type video camera with an EFmount.
While it is tempting to fantasize about Canon making a kitchen sink fanboy wet dream, judging from their history of conservative development that is not what they would do.
They have a very large user base that by and large is happy with incremental change ....

... as evidenced by scores of mirrorslapping, no adapters, Canon-apologists around here ... and by Canon market share as they love to point out ;D

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It's no longer a "Niche Market" if 30%+ of the pro-level Canon Sports, Action and Wildlife Photographers switch over from the 1D-series to a Canon 50 megapixel 25 fps Medium Format Camera. 400,000 Users switching within one to two years years at up to 16 000 Euros is over 6 400 000 000 Euros or Almost 8 BILLION US DOLLARS! That is a market ANY manufacturer would loooooove to have!

In fact, I say it's a NO BRAINER FOR CANON to offer a Medium Format Camera as a higher end version to the 1D-series....BUT AGAIN....the ABSOLUTE KEY FEATURES are 25 FPS burst rate (5 second buffer) at 50 Megapixels and 4K (4096x2160 pixels) at 60 FPS 10-bits-per-colour-channel 4:2:2 video sampled from the ENTIRE sensor (i.e. NO crop sensor sampling).

Those two features ABSOLUTELY MUST be in the camera TO HAVE ANY CHANCE of bringing over the current 1D-series pros! If the stats are true then Canon has a COMPLETE WINNER on their hands!

 

[Ryananthony]

How big would a 400/2.8 or 600/4 equivalent be if it has to cover a medium format sensor?

 

[scyrene]

How big would a 400/2.8 or 600/4 equivalent be if it has to cover a medium format sensor?

I was about to say something very similar! I have seen precisely one account of someone using a MF camera for wildlife, I can't recall where they got the lens from, but it was big! Essentially it would be impossible to produce supertelephoto lenses, the bread and butter of sports and wildlife, that weren't impractially huge and heavy, for a MF system (unless there is some paradigm shift in optics, which is unlikely in the near term).

 

[AvTvM]

How big would a 400/2.8 or 600/4 equivalent be if it has to cover a medium format sensor?

I was about to say something very similar! I have seen precisely one account of someone using a MF camera for wildlife, I can't recall where they got the lens from, but it was big! Essentially it would be impossible to produce supertelephoto lenses, the bread and butter of sports and wildlife, that weren't impractially huge and heavy, for a MF system (unless there is some paradigm shift in optics, which is unlikely in the near term).

totally agree with you here .. for once

... except ... last half sentence ... it may still be a while .. and maybe never find its way into "consumer" imaging gear ... but ... paradigm shift in optics is getting closer: https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2018/01/single-metalens-focuses-all-colors-of-rainbow-in-one-point

But ... whether such a metalens can adequately replace a 600mm eq. lens for the "soon to be released 120MP Canon MF camera" ... is yet another question. ;D

 

[HarryFilm]

How big would a 400/2.8 or 600/4 equivalent be if it has to cover a medium format sensor?

I was about to say something very similar! I have seen precisely one account of someone using a MF camera for wildlife, I can't recall where they got the lens from, but it was big! Essentially it would be impossible to produce supertelephoto lenses, the bread and butter of sports and wildlife, that weren't impractially huge and heavy, for a MF system (unless there is some paradigm shift in optics, which is unlikely in the near term).

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I can tell you from a materials perspective that by going to full magnesium alloys and using different formulations of "Glass" aka AL203 or OTHER fully transparent ceramic, it is FULLY POSSIBLE for Canon to keep the weight for BOTH the lenses and body to not that much more than a fully loaded 1DxMk2.

In terms of size, the physical dimensions of a Medium Format sensor requires a lens diameter of about 1.7x the diameter of the current system so it wouldn't be too bad physical size-wise. By using some of the folding optics used in modern astronomical photography systems, I would suggest to you that a 600mm f4 telephoto would maybe be only 10% to 15% longer than the current lens. Weight-wise, it might even BE LIGHTER than the current 600mm IF the ceramic glass is used for the optics and all-magnesium alloy is used for the lens barrel and internal metal parts!

I actually would not be surprised if the final weight of a 25 fps 50 megapixel and 50x42mm sensor Canon MF camera comes down to being near-equivalent to a similarly outfitted 1DxMk2!

Anyways...We shall see SOON ENOUGH !!!

 

[dp3294]

LOL at including a random drawing that has nothing to do with the article which confuses everybody.

 

[jeffa4444]

The issues for MF are a. Wide angles and b. F stops so I don't see Canon going down this route not since the arrival of the 5DS/r and a prototype higher MP camera at the last Photokina.

If Canon are making a mirrorless camera to take EF lenses then they may well play around with the packaging to deliver something more useful for video whilst still able to take high quality stills.