Hey...somebody had to be first. Why not me. 
Seriously though, and only marginally related to the thread's title (That's called marketing by the way), the new specs of the 5DIII got me thinking about the future of DSLRs.
I know that whenever a new model of anything comes out, we convince ourselves that it is exactly what we have to have and if we just have that we will be happy forever...until the next model comes out. But, if the 5DIII actually performs anywhere close to what Canon is claiming, I am hard-pressed to think of what other features I might ever want in a DSLR.
Full disclosure here: I am not in the market for a full frame DSLR and don't anticipate I will be anytime in the foreseeable future (I am too addicted to the advantages of a 1.6 crop factor).
But, I look at the others specs of the 5DIII and realize that the promised ISO, noise and dynamic range would more than meet my needs. The autofocus would be more than sufficient for anything I am likely to shoot. I might have some small interest in a little faster frame rate, but probably not really. The resolution is more than adequate (I find the 18 mp of the 7D just fine and usually end up throwing away megapixels anyway. I've done prints up to apprx. 2 x 3 feet with no problem at 18 mp, so 22 is more than adequate for virtually anything I will ever do.
The point I'm trying to make is that for a full frame camera, this doesn't seem to me to be a camera on a two-three year replacement cycle. Rather, I could imagine this camera still being very viable for a decade. I know that's a risky statement since no one knows what the future will hold, and, of course Canon is in the business of creating "must have" features in order to keep selling new product. Yet, I do have a hard time imagining what those features might be.
I'm not saying this is the same for everyone, but I am suggesting that we may be turning a corner in the DSLR market where, as the technology matures, the old two-three year cycles won't be applicable in the future.
In my own individual case, I am a big fan of my 7D. It is the best camera I have ever owned and I am a former F1 owner. But, I do see that there are things Canon could improve on for the 7DII. If they follow the path they've set out with the 1Dx and now the 5DIII, I can well imagine a 7D that would also have an extended life cycle.
So, I'm just throwing this out there for others to pick apart. Are we reaching a point with DSLR technology where the viable life-cycle of cameras will grow far beyond the two-three year cycle we've seen in recent history and return to the more traditional five to 10 year cycles that characterized film cameras?
Seriously though, and only marginally related to the thread's title (That's called marketing by the way), the new specs of the 5DIII got me thinking about the future of DSLRs.
I know that whenever a new model of anything comes out, we convince ourselves that it is exactly what we have to have and if we just have that we will be happy forever...until the next model comes out. But, if the 5DIII actually performs anywhere close to what Canon is claiming, I am hard-pressed to think of what other features I might ever want in a DSLR.
Full disclosure here: I am not in the market for a full frame DSLR and don't anticipate I will be anytime in the foreseeable future (I am too addicted to the advantages of a 1.6 crop factor).
But, I look at the others specs of the 5DIII and realize that the promised ISO, noise and dynamic range would more than meet my needs. The autofocus would be more than sufficient for anything I am likely to shoot. I might have some small interest in a little faster frame rate, but probably not really. The resolution is more than adequate (I find the 18 mp of the 7D just fine and usually end up throwing away megapixels anyway. I've done prints up to apprx. 2 x 3 feet with no problem at 18 mp, so 22 is more than adequate for virtually anything I will ever do.
The point I'm trying to make is that for a full frame camera, this doesn't seem to me to be a camera on a two-three year replacement cycle. Rather, I could imagine this camera still being very viable for a decade. I know that's a risky statement since no one knows what the future will hold, and, of course Canon is in the business of creating "must have" features in order to keep selling new product. Yet, I do have a hard time imagining what those features might be.
I'm not saying this is the same for everyone, but I am suggesting that we may be turning a corner in the DSLR market where, as the technology matures, the old two-three year cycles won't be applicable in the future.
In my own individual case, I am a big fan of my 7D. It is the best camera I have ever owned and I am a former F1 owner. But, I do see that there are things Canon could improve on for the 7DII. If they follow the path they've set out with the 1Dx and now the 5DIII, I can well imagine a 7D that would also have an extended life cycle.
So, I'm just throwing this out there for others to pick apart. Are we reaching a point with DSLR technology where the viable life-cycle of cameras will grow far beyond the two-three year cycle we've seen in recent history and return to the more traditional five to 10 year cycles that characterized film cameras?
