Zv said:
Maybe Canon realized there weren't enough people out there that needed a 40MP camera three years ago so waited it out? Even now there are very few DSLRs over 30MP. Look at the infrastructure - lenses aren't quite up to scratch yet, Canon are working on that first. Then there's memory, we are only now seeing CFast cards appearing. And then there's processing power. Three years ago most folk had about 4Gb RAM average on their MBP or whatever and were using Lightroom 3 or older. And then there's screen resolution. What are you gonna view that giant file on? 4K screen? Do you have one yet?
Maybe next year we will have all these things in place, right on schedule for a high MP body release. Nikon went and released something with high MP early without good glass. All you'll get is mush and a slow ass computer to look at your mush.
Patience young grasshopper, the real deal is coming!
I like your reasoning Zv! You are right in many ways, maybe entirely in the view of the average enthusiast/ event/ wedding/ social portrait photographer, and that may have been Canons take on it too..
i do completely agree that Canon are doing the right thing with updating the lenses first, this will always be the weakness. But I do think they are being slow at this too, to mask / work with the slow dev of the camera. look how fast Sigma are working at the moment.. they're on fire ( I love my 35 1.4!)
One thing too, its as much about the IQ as it is about the MP. Canon files break up soo easily when you push them a bit, I've tested D800 files side by side and its breathtaking how much you can push n pull them - as much as 16 bit MFDB files of which I have a lot of experience retouching with, no banding no shadow noise and breaking up.
Now some say if you expose correctly, yes I do for the most part but I like to give my work distinct looks and colour tonal shifts that easily begins to push a 5D III file.
I guess in an average city there are prob 500 proper pros that mainly do weddings , events, social that the 5D III is perfect for. For some reason many wedding guys use Nikon while in the Advertising & high end corporate nearly everyone in UK uses Canon(alongside Hasselblads and Phase one but everyone I speak to would love a high MP 5D III for the useability), but then again there are prob only 50 of these guys out of the 500 - and these are the main market for such a camera.
And how many (rich) photo students, colleges and enthusiasts in each city may buy one?
Say thats 100 in every decent city in the world will buy one.. and in big in cities like London, NY, LA, Tokyo, Paris etc it may be 10,000s how many would that be ..so an average of 150 per city say?
By my guestimations there are 2500 cities with decent population- Now that would be 150x2500 which would be a potential market of 375,000, and in 3years double that because computers and screens will have caught up hi-res will be the norm.
I believe they have the market waiting, but if they wait too long more options like the Sony will come along and people will crack. And if what I was saying is right that Sony & Nikon are not sleeping they are developing the next generation now whilst canon is developing the current generation at the same time.. Its always going to be a leap frog game but this could cost canon the hi-end pro market in the long run.
I think canon have done the maths and rekon that making a 5D type version, considering how perfect the 5D III is for the average pro and enthusiast. They will not sell more than 3 or 4 times the 1D version, but the 1D version can net 4times the profit easily.
Sidestepping slightly - how many Nikonians said in the past that they don't need the pixel size and now own a D800, but this may be different because of the price point , where they bought it because it was a long awaited logical affordable upgrade I see a lot of students and tourists with D800s btw, as I do with 5D IIIs
The 1DxS is long awaited, but not necessary a logical and definitely not affordable to the masses upgrade.
And the computer / monitor argument is valid, in a mirror to the Canon high MP scenario i've been waiting on the new Mac Pro for 2 years! As have many more video editors, and many have switched to PC's in the meantime and found them very cost effective compared to a Mac, but a Mac is a Mac and it runs better / nicer to use - which is similar to how I see a Canon functioning over a Nikon in ease and ergonomics.
As for monitors thats not quite relevant as much,( once we get 4K screens into the norm everything will look great tho) I retouch a lot of my images and combine different elements and passes, so work at 100- 200% zoomed in anyway. But more often thesedays I get client's wanting to use an image in multiple formats ( to get more usage from the shoot) So one image may be used on super wide thin crop , plus be cropped for a bus shelter or vertical banner display.
Yes thats why many use 50MP medium format cameras, but they are not half as nice to use with irritatingly slow AF.
Thats why i'm so keen for Canon to bring out one soon.
