APS-H & 120 MP announcements: revealed too soon?

[ahsanford]

(CR admin please keep this thread separate from the main 120 MP discussion, thx.)

It's been a wow sort of Labor Day weekend. In adjacent 24 hour news cycles, we hear that:

• An SLR with "approximately 120 effective megapixels" is coming our way.
• APS-H may not be dead after all, as it's apparently involved with a 250 MP sensor.
• Chasing the highest end 8K video on Cinema rigs is apparently more important to Canon than allowing widespread 4K use on SLRs. :

I appreciate that Canon must generate buzz about new tech that may not be in final form. I also appreciate there is a ton more to a camera than its MP count and we are missing a ton of answers right now.

...but am I the only one thinking that these announcements smack of desperation?

• 
  Why tip your hand on something so clearly far down the road like this?
• 
  Why drop all three announcements together and not periodically dole out the news to keep the Canon faithful excited over a longer period of time?
• 
  Why commit to something that may steal the energy from products that they are trying to sell today or in the near future? Without a date listed, anyone who was sitting on the fence over upgrading to a 5DS (or any other future high MP body under 120 MP) would clearly climb off of it knowing that the 120 MP rig is eventually coming.

Every imaging company has broad ambitions in their 5-10 year pipeline, but few are foolish enough to share those ambitions as they will become market expectations -- the consumers, the analysts, etc. Every investor call Canon will now have to fend off questions of when this new hotness is coming. So all this feels like Cortes has burned his ships upon reaching the new world and making it clear that there is no turning back. That's not the Canon I know at all.

- A

 

[Canon Rumors]

• 
  Why tip your hand on something so clearly far down the road like this?
• 
  Why drop all three announcements together and not periodically dole out the news to keep the Canon faithful excited over a longer period of time?
• 
  Why commit to something that may steal the energy from products that they are trying to sell today or in the near future? Without a date listed, anyone who was sitting on the fence over upgrading to a 5DS (or any other future high MP body under 120 MP) would clearly climb off of it knowing that the 120 MP rig is eventually coming.

1) They've done development announcements before. The EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x was the last major one I remember. I think they do it because there's a perception (even if incorrect) that there is no innovation going on at Canon. They did admit to dropping the ball on 4K implementation, so they want to get out ahead of the competitors. They were also behind on the megapixel front for quite some time.

2) The Canon EXPO is the perfect time to announce and showcase it all, as they only do it every 5 years. There are a lot of other coming products that can maintain excitement beyond what they've shown is in development this week.

3) I think Canon has finally realized that if you're going to cannibalize sales, you may as well cannibalize your own. I suspect the 120mp camera is going to be a specialized product that will cost far beyond what the EOS 5DS cameras cost, and is at least another year or two away. The EOS 5DS is for a niche market, and the people that want one are going to buy one.

 

[ahsanford]

Low hanging fruit theory #1 on this? It's a panicked move on many fronts (Cinema, stills, etc.) to reassure folks that Canon is still innovating. Possible, but very unlike them to do this.

Low hanging fruit theory #2 on this? Has Canon had a major re-org? This might be a very brazen new exec who believes in telling the competition what's coming in a very cocky way. "I'm going to throw you fastball on the next pitch -- let's see if you can hit it."

Reeeeeeeeally Left field theory? They had a Sony-level hack and realized that their strat plan and pipeline were imminently going to be exposed, so Canon decided to get ahead of it and own the story.

Sorry for all the riffing here, but 'Because this is how Canon normally operates' is not remotely believable with this.

- A

 

[ahsanford]

• 
  Why tip your hand on something so clearly far down the road like this?
• 
  Why drop all three announcements together and not periodically dole out the news to keep the Canon faithful excited over a longer period of time?
• 
  Why commit to something that may steal the energy from products that they are trying to sell today or in the near future? Without a date listed, anyone who was sitting on the fence over upgrading to a 5DS (or any other future high MP body under 120 MP) would clearly climb off of it knowing that the 120 MP rig is eventually coming.

1) They've done development announcements before. The EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x was the last major one I remember. I think they do it because there's a perception (even if incorrect) that there is no innovation going on at Canon. They did admit to dropping the ball on 4K implementation, so they want to get out ahead of the competitors. They were also behind on the megapixel front for quite some time.

2) The Canon EXPO is the perfect time to announce and showcase it all, as they only do it every 5 years. There are a lot of other coming products that can maintain excitement beyond what they've shown is in development this week.

3) I think Canon has finally realized that if you're going to cannibalize sales, you may as well cannibalize your own. I suspect the 120mp camera is going to be a specialized product that will cost far beyond what the EOS 5DS cameras cost, and is at least another year or two away. The EOS 5DS is for a niche market, and the people that want one are going to buy one.

Ah, I didn't know about the infrequency of the expo. That might explain it. Thanks for the insights.

- A

 

[rrcphoto]

(CR admin please keep this thread separate from the main 120 MP discussion, thx.)

It's been a wow sort of Labor Day weekend. In adjacent 24 hour news cycles, we hear that:

• An SLR with "approximately 120 effective megapixels" is coming our way.
• APS-H may not be dead after all, as it's apparently involved with a 250 MP sensor.
• Chasing the highest end 8K video on Cinema rigs is apparently more important to Canon than allowing widespread 4K use on SLRs. :

8K is going to be BIG in Japan.

they are doing broadcast testing of 8K distribution starting in 2016. the plan is the 2020 olympics will be entirely broadcasted in 8K.

Also the expo probably is the leading reason for this - it's a pretty special canon only event where they show off some of their "future" work, pie in the sky ideas and concepts,etc.

for certain this will create a buzz.

besides, other manufacturers have done it .. Sony used to display camera mockups under glass for up to a year in advance.

Also the term "effective" has been used in canon literature in the past.

 

[KeithBreazeal]

When this announcement hit the wires last night I thought it was a joke. A 120 MP DSLR is going to be a challenge to milk the best possible image from. Since it was announced as a DSLR, that eliminates the removal of the mirror to reduce vibration. Lens technology is going to be a key factor when trying to utilize the sensor's resolution. There might be more to this announcement than meets the eye right now.
Look for digital zoom to enter the arena.

 

[wockawocka]

Canon does this though.

You have to take into account how they operate. They're generally very good at keeping stuff on the low down and when they release something they are honest and go 'Here is xxxx and it does this' - No hype, no fanfare or crazy raised expectations.

I like Canon for that reason, their stuff is always as good as they say it is and every now and again they say something is in development. Admittedly I would like to see something that doesn't look like a horseman camera to illustrate the 250mp camera though. I want to visualise the product.

120mp is going to be useful to many, many folks. Myself included and it could really screw a lot of manufacturers over who operate at the high end luxury commercial sector of photography.