Click Click Click

Right, that makes more sense now. I initially thought you were saying they were actually using *D like how pentax uses *ist.

Anyhow, looking a bit closer at the 1d I can see that it'd be too bulky for a lot of uses. it has a second grip and shutter release button on the bottom to make it more comfortable to use in portrait orientation.

You can get the vertical grip for all of their SLRs now, I think. I have one on my 10D. It makes the camera a bit bulky but it gives me the ability to put two batteries in the camera at the same time which is nice.

I'm considering getting one of those grips too. I think it'll have to wait for now though. I'm on leave for two weeks after today (friday for me). I'm going to melbourne for a week and then I'll be driving to sydney with my brother in his 4wd and we are going camping in the mountains on the way. I need to start making a list of things that I'll need like extra batteries and adapters so i can charge stuff on the road...

The big selling point for the 5D has been full frame sensor -- Canon knows there are a lot people with a desire to use the full range of lenses like wide angle, architectural, or photomicroscopy.

Now that Nikon is offering the D3 there is more competition for that full frame that is NOT a crazy costly "pro only" type camera. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond3/

Canon USA ran a newspaper insert yesterday that I assume was nationwide.The only full frame featured was the 5D. Much bigger feature for the Rebel/450D , all the point and shoots and some digicams. The only thing that appeared to have "factory promotions" on them were the video stuff and maybe a high end printer.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos40d/
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canoneos450d/

The 40D has DIGIC III processor and faster fps. Speculation is that Canon will add a 7D or go to the i or x designation to offer a full frame camera to have more of a head to head with Nikon, but pricing is hard to figure out -- the Canon Rebel line is very attractively priced, as are the Nikon reduced frame DSLRs, but full frame pricing can't go too low or the Pros will get sucked off the high margin cameras...

The way my household expenses are going I'd have to win a MegaMillions Lotto to buy anything like this -- I got to head to a truck stop and stock up on tickets.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2008 06:26AM by stan adams.

...but the 5D is not that ridiculous for a full frame sensor.

I do wonder at the near 3 tier pro line, one with compact sensor and two with full frames.
I'm just glad Nikon made the jump because frankly I'm still trying to find a hard reason to upgrade my 10D and the 20D - 40D is just evolutionary really. Some really great changes since the 10D, don't get me wrong, I'd not turn one down...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2008 05:02PM by rino.

I keep forgetting to post this but the thing that gave me the last little push to actually buy the 5d was deciding to go to Melbourne for a couple of weeks to hang out with brother.

I've posted some photos that I took on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonseeber/

great photos, simon.

Nice trip. Some great shots.
I had to triple check that those are Melbourne, I had no idea. Previously I never wanted to go, now it seems intriguing. So much more character infused.

Insanely jealous...

I've been there before adn even I was surprised at the character it has. The last time i went I didn't really get out of the city though. This time I did get out to collingwood to wander around and look at some art galleries. Just about every second shop is an art gallery in that suburb.

Hrm... damn photographer terrorists .

Morg "or not?" anti



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2008 07:41AM by morganti.

yeah, the "war on photography" has been getting lots of attention lately.

Nikon D700 -- http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikond700/page2.asp

Might just be the fist real sign that full frame sensors will eventually get the kind of market acceptance to drive down prices. With its on camera flash and simplified menus this a device to make people happy to have a full frame D-SLR ALL THE TIME...

Canon will be forced to respond. Competition is good.

...and at 3k US the prices need to come down.

No rumors or news about Canon's pro-sumer line successor to the 40D. Maybe with intro of yet another Rebel model something is looming?

Stan,

Isn't the D700 a response to Canon's 5D?

Sorta, though the timeline is very hard to say it is a "response" so much as logical outgrowth of the Nikon program to have their own full frame 35 mm sensor. Really a big "upping the ante" for Nikon. For a long time Nikon made a big deal about there being NO NEED for such a thing, being the primary force behind the "new technology will rule" camp and doing a lot to promote the quality of their lenses sized for the DX sensor.

My personal take is that the engineers, marketers, and decision makers are a bit surprised that there was / is such demand for full sized sensors. This in not JUST a nostalgia / tradition response, I really thing that Nikon realized that it makes more sense to EXPAND the market for cameras and lenses -- the real risk that they probably had to respond to was not just the 5D but the increasing pressure to differentiate their DX sensor size cameras for the PROLIFERATION of non-full frame D-SLRs. No one expected this! Photoshop junkies /HDR afficindos almost certainly outnumber the "home darkroom" crowd that peaked in the 70s. There have never been so many people working with the "low level" guts of photographic techniques.

When they hatched the pure pure D3 they made no secret of the "follow on" to come, the D700. The Canon 5D is a nice camera, but is dated. Further there is a dramatic size difference in the D700, it is really sized like the D300. The 5D is physically bigger. This is big deal. The mindset is "smaller is better" is well established in many parts of the world of electronics, but now the D700 is making the case that "bigger on the inside and smaller on the outside" is the way to go.

Speculation is that Canon may rev the 5D with an 'x' or 'si' designation AND release something that better respond to the D700. If Nikon took the plunge into making the D700 more than "geek only" it bodes well for something from Canon to answer that shot.

Good observations.

The appeal of the full frame sensor is to landscape photographers. If you shoot sports, nature close-ups, and the like, the smaller sensors actually work to your advantage.

That said, Canon has always struck me as a company that introduces stuff on their own schedule, sometimes to their disadvantage. I know they've been that way in the camcorder space.

The "industry" has been expecting a 5D upgrade since January. I suspect one will be introduced this year, especially when you compare it to not only the D700, but to Canon's own line up. It is definitely growing long in the tooth.

Yep.

Still holding my 10D -- still a very capable camera.
As someone who spent about 10 years in a darkroom and had a mini career making art with my photographs I am definitely interested in a full frame camera.
Competition is a great thing in this space considering there is so little.

I really want something the size of my Oly OM1 with a good small lens. Of course achieving the impossible of an all mechanical digital full frame SLR would be nice too.
tee-hee.

Another benefit of the FF sensor is that you can get a fast 50mm lens dirt pretty cheap. Not as easy with a cropped sensor.

You can get Carl Zeiss Distagons in 24mm and 35mm, and 50mm and 85mm Planars, and a Makro-Planar in 100mm, brand new in Nikon mount. The same lenses that made Contax epic.

A D700, with a Zeiss 24mm and 50mm and a Voightlander 180mm f/2.8 Sonnar clone, would be identical to the focal lengths in my very first Nikon kit, a second hand FA with third hand AI Nikkor lenses, only, you know, four grand more expensive.

SoupIsEyeingHisCreditCard Warily

whoa. this sounds awesome.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0807/08072102panasoniclx3.asp