Canon should release cameras like the auto industry

[pardus]

There are lots of topics and posts in this forums that are great but am getting so tired of the complainers when a new body is released that is not ideal for their type of photography. too many pixels, not enough DR... GAWD....

Imagine if the auto industry only launched one vehicle at a time, introducing the Dodge Ram truck. all the city commuters would be cursing Dodge that they are breaking their bank and polluting the world, would have to listen to those whiners until the next eco-friendly is introduced, then all the people wanting trucks would be firing off how these tree huggers are ruining the industry and the fact dodge released an eco-friendly car is now ruining their life. So silly.

Maybe if canon released all the new models at once, everyone could be happy and pick what body works for them and their needs. Just stop complaining... so over it.

btw - I am a commercial studio photographer and love both my 5Dmkiii and my 5DS R. both awesome for their own strengths and choose to use each one accordingly. Are they perfect, maybe not, but I use my skills and kit to achieve my desired result and don't blame my gear for the reason my photo sucks. (that's on me)

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I think that Canon has much more limited design resources, and will not put out multiple new camera models at once. Automakers do yearly minor updates, and more major ones every 5 years. It devalues the previous years model and encourages buyers to upgrade frequently.

Canon has said that they release a new model when the technology has improved enough to make a difference. They are very conservative and slow to react. Every change gets researched and tested to death. So far, this has been a winning formula, but I wonder about the long term. Sony may start catching up in consumer sales, and there is a lot of money in that sector. They used to hold <3% of the market.

 

[Nelu]

Imagine if the auto industry only launched one vehicle at a time, introducing the Dodge Ram truck...

If "DR" stands for Dodge Ram I`m fine with that; it`s all about DR

Nelu

 

[takesome1]

There are lots of topics and posts in this forums that are great but am getting so tired of the complainers when a new body is released that is not ideal for their type of photography. too many pixels, not enough DR... GAWD....

You have obviously not been to many of the car forums where people complain continually about the latest models.
People complain no matter how often they release upgrades.

 

[Vivid Color]

When I read your title, Canon should release cameras like the auto industry, in my head I heard the complete sentence to read: Canon should release cameras like the auto industry and then it could recall them. But then I remembered, Nikon already tried that with its D600 full frame camera body.

 

[benperrin]

This reminded me of an old joke

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated: "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollar cars that got 1000 miles to the gallon."
In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release reportedly stating the following:

"If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with these characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason, and you would just accept this, restart and drive on.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn, would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Only one person at a time could use the car, unless you bought "Car95" or "CarNT." But then you would have to buy more seats.

6. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, reliable, five times as fast, and twice as easy to drive, but would only run on five per cent of the roads.

7. The oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single "general car default" warning light.

8. New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.

9. The air bag system would say "Are you sure?" before going off.

10. Occasionally for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key, and grab hold of the radio antenna.

11. GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of Rand McNally road maps (now a GM subsidiary), even though they neither need them nor want them. Attempting to delete this option would immediately cause the cars performance to diminish by 50% or more. Moreover, GM would become a target for investigation by the Justice Department.

12. Every time GM introduced a new model car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

13. You'd press the "start" button to shut off the engine."

 

[kennephoto]

I love this. Thank you for sharing. I've been in the auto industry for 12 years and I haven't seen this before. I will have to print this and show the techs tomorrow they will get a chuckle.

 

[rcarca]

This reminded me of an old joke

I don't know if this is copyright protected or not, but it certainly made me laugh. Thank you!!!

 

[RGF]

People trade up cameras unlike cars.

If the 5D M4 is out but the 6D M2 is not, you may upgrade to the 5D M4 though the (eventually released) 6D M2 would have worked for you.

By staggering releases, Canon is maximizing the profits/revenues by segmenting the market place - Marketing 101.

 

[moreorless]

There are lots of topics and posts in this forums that are great but am getting so tired of the complainers when a new body is released that is not ideal for their type of photography. too many pixels, not enough DR... GAWD....

Imagine if the auto industry only launched one vehicle at a time, introducing the Dodge Ram truck. all the city commuters would be cursing Dodge that they are breaking their bank and polluting the world, would have to listen to those whiners until the next eco-friendly is introduced, then all the people wanting trucks would be firing off how these tree huggers are ruining the industry and the fact dodge released an eco-friendly car is now ruining their life. So silly.

Maybe if canon released all the new models at once, everyone could be happy and pick what body works for them and their needs. Just stop complaining... so over it.

btw - I am a commercial studio photographer and love both my 5Dmkiii and my 5DS R. both awesome for their own strengths and choose to use each one accordingly. Are they perfect, maybe not, but I use my skills and kit to achieve my desired result and don't blame my gear for the reason my photo sucks. (that's on me)

I do actually think the auto industry is a very good equivalent of the camera market in recent years. During the 00's and into the start of this decade the camera market was adjusting to the switch to digital and the very rapid advancements in technology that created. That ment both the potential for rapid growth AND a focus on a smaller number of models as updates were happening quickly and specds advancing, whats the point of releasing a "resolution camera" when its going to be better by a standard camera for resolution 2-3 years down the line?

More recently though the camera market is maturing, more potential users already own one and tech advancements are slowing down. The natural response is to offer more choice both to maximise sales and because theres more point to releasing specialist equipment when its less likely to lose its advantage quickly.

I think you can see Canon, Nikon and Sony are going this direction with there FF cameras as well as the big two also offering mirrorless systems and a lot of fixed lens cameras. One thing Canon and Nikon do seem to be a bit unsure of is offering a none double gripped pro camera with high FPS, I suspect though that this will change soon and we'll see 8 FPSish on cheaper FF DSLR's relatively soon.

One area I think Canon and Nikon are missing out a bit is actually in terms of a smaller higher quality APSC DSLR if you ask me. The 760D was definitely a move in that direction but I think something the size of an entry level body but with superior build, handling(Canon offering some of that) and AF(Nikon offering some of this) in one package could do well. A lot of the sales of higher end APSC/m43 mirrorless are IMHO being driven by Canon and Nikon not offering such cameras.

 

[Maiaibing]

Imagine if the auto industry only launched one vehicle at a time, introducing the Dodge Ram truck.

Yup - that's the problem for us DSLR users, because you get tied in with lenses etc. So you can see Nikon has the body you desire for 3 years+ and so people end up cursing Canon for not delivering or if desperate having to take a substantial financial hit to move over.

Meanwhile those who have three kids and two dogs and are happy with the opportunity to get a new Dodge Ram truck will call you a whiner etc. because you happen to be a aging single photo nerd that just wants a small economic compact that can get you from A to B on a discount.

Finally, once your compact car is released after many years of waiting the family crowd will tell you that the car is useless because there's no space for the dogs and three kids and obviously you just got it for the bragging rights...

 

[pardus]

This reminded me of an old joke

That's fantastic...

 

[jeffa4444]

Canon are already like the Auto industry we should not forget the other cameras in the range its not just DSLRs.

Powershots, S120, G16, G7X, G3X, G1X then bridge Powershots, SX400 IS (multi-colors), SX410 IS (multi-colors), SX 520 HS, SX 530 HS, SX 60 HS

Then the DSLRs grouped as:- Beginners (EOS-M in this group), Enthusiasts, Professionals

Segmentation just like the auto industry. Cars dont change models every year they have minor changes & mid-life make-overs but generally remain on sale for six to eight years.

As a "new" year make-over much could be done with firmware like the major upgrade they gave the 7D in 2012.

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Just stop complaining

Then sites like this would go out of business. ;D

CR stands for Complaining and Ranting don't it?

 

[Travler]

The only part I would like to see be similar is that you could custom order a camera the way you can a car. That way you could have the body, FPS, MP, and other options that you want on a camera. If you didn't want to have video then don't order it. But the down side is that this would most likely drive the cost up.

 

[LonelyBoy]

There are lots of topics and posts in this forums that are great but am getting so tired of the complainers when a new body is released that is not ideal for their type of photography. too many pixels, not enough DR... GAWD....

Imagine if the auto industry only launched one vehicle at a time, introducing the Dodge Ram truck. all the city commuters would be cursing Dodge that they are breaking their bank and polluting the world, would have to listen to those whiners until the next eco-friendly is introduced, then all the people wanting trucks would be firing off how these tree huggers are ruining the industry and the fact dodge released an eco-friendly car is now ruining their life. So silly.

Maybe if canon released all the new models at once, everyone could be happy and pick what body works for them and their needs. Just stop complaining... so over it.

btw - I am a commercial studio photographer and love both my 5Dmkiii and my 5DS R. both awesome for their own strengths and choose to use each one accordingly. Are they perfect, maybe not, but I use my skills and kit to achieve my desired result and don't blame my gear for the reason my photo sucks. (that's on me)

What exactly do you mean? Car makers often only launch one new model per year. The difference between (say) a 2015 Accord and a 2016 Accord is very small - typically an option or two, and maybe colors, or a slight tweak of content. There's a change to the fascias (a "facelift") after a couple of years, but very little change during one generation of a model. Even sequential generations can be extremely similar under the skin. You can buy a card during the first year of a generation, or the last, but the age of the model has nothing to do with your ability to buy it.

Similarly, Canon isn't forcing you to buy a Powershot one year, then a 6D the next, then a Rebel, then a 1D. You can buy whichever you want, though some were refreshed more recently than others. It's actually nicer than cars, because you can't get a new Accord (or whatever) 4-5 years into a generation for 55% of the original new price.