neuroanatomist said:
@ jrista – you seem to be taking the line of thought that including a touchscreen would come at the price of removing dials/buttons, but there no reason to think that would be the case on a higher end dSLR. Rather, a touchscreen would add functionality. If the 7DII has improved DPAF, would you really want to drive the AF point around the frame with a joystick?
As others have stated, touch screens are becoming the norm - on phones, on remote controls, even on microwave ovens. Your average teenager or twenty-something can type two-thumbed on an iPhone at wpm rates faster than most people can achieve on a regular keyboard. Those are the people becoming professional photographers today.
That's not my line of thought. My line of thought is, adding a touch screen and all the firmware
requires resources at Canon to perform.
They have to implement it, test it, work the bugs out of it, etc. All that...when there are other things Canon could be investing those resources into. My line of thought is, for everyone who puts lack of a Touch UI at the top of their list of deal breakers or the thing that makes them must frustrated about the 7D II...they are very short sighted. My line of thought is, while I fully agree a Touch UI is nice (
I've used the EOS-M's touch UI...its nice), it is the farthest thing from the most "essential" feature that the 7D II could possibly get.
That's my line of thought. Personally, the deal breaker for me, is whether Canon does something fundamentally new with their sensor design or not. Personally, the biggest bummer for me, would be if Canon doesn't include a 1DX/5DIII class level AF system or not. Another bummer for me would be if the 7D II gets a massive video update...but still has the same old IQ issues that Canon's past cameras have had. THOSE are deal breakers. Those are real things to complain about. Those things would show that Canon has lost touch with what their customers want (which they so far have a good track record of, Canon has listened and listened well to their customers in the past), and THAT would be the single worst outcome of all with the 7D II release.
Not having a touch UI...it doesn't matter to me one way or another whether they include one or not, so long as it doesn't cause them to NOT do something that really IS a deal breaker. I'd be pissed if the 7DII hit the streets with a super awesome kick ass touch UI...and the same old freaking sensor, same old iFCL metering sensor and limited metering behavior, and worst of all...same old freakin gimped out 19pt AF system that can't reliably maintain a SOLID lock on a target. THAT would piss me off. I could care less if it has a touch UI, though.
Maybe it's just a matter of perspective. I've invested a lot of money in Canon equipment, and I want them to progress on all fronts. I don't think the inclusion or lack of a touch UI has anything to do with the fundamental bottom line for how consumers and professionals see Canon as a company, or grade their products relative to other companies. I do think, however, that Canon releasing another camera that still has the same IQ as the 5D II did so many years ago now, would have a SIGNIFICANT impact on how people perceive Canon as a company...and much like other major companies in the past, that could be the focal point that sends Canon into a long term decline, affecting their R&D budgets for the future, affecting their ability to legitimately compete on the multiple technological fronts that they are having to do battle in, etc. I don't want to be stuck with a $13,000 lens and a brand new Canon 5D V five years from now that...isn't any better than my 5D III from a fundamental IQ standpoint, while Sony sensors are literally cranking out 15.8 stop of DR with 16-bit RAW files in Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, and every other camera manufacturer on earth.
Canon has a problem. I know you do not believe that, but they do. It's a
perceptual problem, and it could seriously affect their revenues and ability to fund the necessary R&D in the years to come. Such things have happened before, and often companies, even if they were on the top of the world, NEVER recover (Kodak?) So...seriously...touch screens and touch UIs?
Anyway, I'm out. Got other things to do.
Not touch screen, super durable LCD cover" is that the touch screen has been left off due to durability issues, but that seems to be a controversial supposition. I'm not versed enough on the design elements to say whether that is a reasonable design choice. Some seem to think a touch screen should be as tough as a non-touch screen.
