The PMA show is coming soon, and the camera companies are starting to make their product announcements in anticipation of the show. I’ve been hoping, like many others, that there would be some nice relevant camera introductions, by which I mean a replacement for the Canon 30D / response to the excellent Nikon D200, and/or a second generation Canon 5D. There’s nothing wrong with my Rebel XT, and it’s been a fine compliment to hear photographers that I respect exclaim when they find out I am shooting with the lowly Rebel. There’s lots more room for me to grow with what I have, but there are a number of limitations that I’ve run up against. If a new body came out that addressed them all, then I might be interested.
Instead of a “relevant” camera, Canon announced the EOS 1D-MK III, which takes the spot in the Canon lineup typically reserved for sports, photojournalists and so forth. These are the “real” professional cameras, and they cost major money. So much money, in fact, that I’ve never really bothered to learn much about them. This time, I thought it was worth taking a look, because it’s likely that some of the features of the MK III will make their way into a camera that would be relevant to me. Canon has published a big white (marketing) paper about the camera. I think that I probably shouldn’t have looked at that, because there are lots of refinements and features that look really appealing. Imaging Resource has a preview of the new Canon 1D-MK III, including pictures shot at ISO 6400. Since I do a lot of low-light shooting, I was pretty interested in this. The picture quality at 6400 looks much better than my XT at 1600. I can only hope that some lower end camera will also do ISO 6400.
I wish someone had told me how much photography was going to cost before I started….
Update: Of course, that’s the EOS 1D MK III, not the 1Ds. I told you I never paid much attention to the pro cameras.
You seem to be confusing the EOS 1D Mk III (10 megapixel) just announced by Canon with a non-announced possible replacement for the EOS 1Ds Mk II (16.7 megapixel) which rumor says might have a 22 megapixel sensor. The 1D series is a high frame per second product geared to action and sports. The 1Ds is a slower camera series aimed more towards advertising and art work where more pixels are important
Hmm… I know what you mean. I’ve spent ~£10k on photography in the last two years and I’m dreading the day I see the spec for the 1ds2mkIII. I think the 5D will be coming down in price quite significantly soon though 🙂
Ted –
The announced camera is the 1D MKIII, not the 1DS MKIII. Many of us are hoping that a 1Ds MK III will be launched later this year.
-Rob
I keep hearing people say that Canon needs to “respond” to the D200, but when I look at the D200 specs I just don’t see anything that needs responding to.
Okay, it’s 10 megapixels instead of 8, but I would hope that the people buying cameras at this level of sophistication are smart enough to understand that the difference is trivial.
I guess that some people are attracted by the partial weather-sealing of the D200. But it seems to me that partial sealing is not much more useful than no sealing.
I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with the D200, mind, but I also don’t see anything there that “demands” that Canon respond. The D200 seems to deliver the same feature set as the 30D at a price about $200(US) higher. Maybe I’m missing something here?
I’ll also take a quick poke at your characterization of the White Paper as being a marketing piece. Canon’s DSLR white papers are the primary sources for technical information about the various systems involved. If you want to know how a particular camera system works, and why it works that way, the White Paper is the place to turn.
Thanks to all for the corrections. My mind knew which camera was announced, but honestly it wasn’t untill the Mk III announcement that I was finally able to get the 1D and the 1Ds straight in my mind. Obviously that hasn’t completely happened yet. My apologies if I got anyone excited for something that hasn’t happend yet.
Doug,
D200 items on my personal list: build, bigger viewfinder /w larger coverage, better AF, built in wireless flash controller. Megapixels is not an issue.
As far as the Canon white paper, all I am saying is that the paper will tend to portray the camera in the best possible light, and for things like actual assessments of the 14bit adc stuff and the actual image quality at iso 3200 and 6400, I prefer to have a 3rd party verification of that.
Great site. Haven’t commented before, but check it out a bit. You may have seen some incoming links lately because I added you to this list of Tech blogs I like. You can see it from the link in my comment name.
Just an idea I had and wanted to see how far it would go. Seems to have caught on a bit.
Ted, don’t get sucked into the “latest and greatest” trap.
Camera and lens are important certainly, but the rapport with the subject, the knowledge of light, and the ability to visualize are the real requirements. The Strobist approach, making do with homemade, is how many photographers work. As you find homemade doesn’t work so well, you buy professional tools to do the job. Carry plenty of gaffer tape, clamps, and cardboard just in case though. You’ll eventually accumulate what you need to work with. (I’m not the best example of this I know, but at one time or another I ‘needed’ each piece of equipment.)
Commercial photographers, paid by the job, in a competitive environment, may certainly be looking for the next “edge” but they’ll write off the equipment anyway. (And I expect many aren’t happy with the rapid depreciation of digital bodies!)
I’d be happy to loan you one of my 30 yo film cameras that still work great, or my plastic Holga for that matter, if you’re looking for an exercise. Black & white is still cool, IMHO.
Oh, and having been out in the Chilly Hilly in the pouring rain, I can say that the weather seals on the D200 hold up just fine!
Rick,
I did say might, not definitely would. I’ve got plenty of exercise, but I’m also feeling a little burned on some of the DIY stuff, since the new cord that I ordered to fix my long sync cord didn’t solve the problem. By the time you add up the money I’ve spent trying to avoid buying something expensive, I’ve wasted a lot of time and been nickel and dimed. But that’s the topic for another post.