Canon D Series Digital Cameras
Expectations for Canon 5D mark 3 or equivalent?
Hiya,
I’m just wondering where Canon, and the professional camera market will be heading.
When might the 5D mark 3 or equivalent come out? What I’d consider equivalent is something with the same image quality as the mark 1 or better, at a similar price or less.
Also, assuming they decide to, when might they remove the mirror component? Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s not really necessary for digital cameras?? Like the new Olympus “PEN” series. No doubt shutters will become unnecessary too? And last but not least, what are expectations for the development of cameras with greater dynamic range? As I see it, if the mark 2 is capable of 30fps (Ok… only HD resolution, but still) … then I can’t see it being impossible for the camera to take successive shots quickly and combine them into a composite HDR image automatically?
1) 5D with 1D image quality.
That’s exactly what you get. The 5D and 5D Mk2 have an awesome sensor in a consumer grade body – plastic shell, sluggish auto focus… everything about the 5D line is a cost cutting measure EXCEPT the image quality. Since the 5D Mk2 is still pretty new and the upgrade cycle of Canon’s higher end bodies isn’t as fast as with their Rebels, I don’t expect a replacement until 2011/ 2012.
2) Redesign without the mirror.
Forget it. The Olympus EP1 is drawing a lot of attention for the small form factor but the lack of a proper viewfinder makes it a glorified point & shoot. The attachment viewfinder for the 17mm lens addresses this, but it’s a cludgy solution. Olympus has announced a model with an electronic viewfinder for this Fall, but even that is no substitute for a decent optical VF. All electronic viewfinders introduce a 0.1 second delay (for the image to project on the viewfinder) and that in itself means that they will always be inferior. Add to this that EVFs become sluggish in very low light, and that LCD screens can be unviewable in very bright light. Untill they fix all of that, you’ll always want an optical viewfinder for serious work.
Personally, I hope that the EP1 sells like crazy and draws Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Voigtlander into the digital range finder market, too. Maybe something with a full frame sensor and a Leica M mount… I’d gladly pay $2000 for that. (The Leica M8.2 is priced for retired doctors – not photographers.)
3) Built-in HDR
Nikon dSLR cameras can sort-of do this with single shots with “D-lighting”. The solution that you describe is something that I could see happening pretty soon. As it is, any camera will let you bracket at 3 to 6 FPS, and computer software will pretty much automate the process of combining the images into a single HDR. So it would be a nice-to-have, not a must-have. Besides, with this kind of thing (as with black & white conversions), if you want stellar results you’ll still have to do things the hard way – with RAW image files and a proper workflow in Photoshop.
Canon D Series Digital Cameras
Terminology – Digital Cameras
It helps when learning to use your new digital camera to also know what some of the more common terms mean. Below you will find many of these common terms defined..
Automatic Mode — A setting that sets the focus, exposure and white-balance automatically.
Burst Mode or Continuous Capture Mode — a series of pictures taken one after another at quickly timed intervals with one press of the shutter button.
Compression — The process of compacting digital data, images and text by deleting selected information.
Digital Zoom — Cropping and magnifying the center part of an image.
JPEG — The predominant format used for image compression in digital cameras
Lag Time — The pause between the time the shutter button is pressed and when the camera actually captures the image
LCD — (Liquid-Crystal Display) is a small screen on a digital camera for viewing images.
Lens — A circular and transparent glass or plastic piece that has the function of collecting light and focusing it on the sensor to capture the image.
Megabyte — (MB) Measures 1024 Kilobytes, and refers to the amount of information in a file, or how much information can
be contained on a Memory Card, Hard Drive or Disk.
Pixels — Tiny units of color that make up digital pictures. Pixels also measure digital resolution. One million pixels
adds up to one mega-pixel.
RGB — Refers to Red, Green, Blue colors used on computers to create all other colors.
Resolution — Camera resolution describes the number of pixels used to create the image, which determines the amount of
detail a camera can capture. The more pixels a camera has, the more detail it can register and the larger the picture can be
printed.
Storage Card — The removable storage device which holds images taken with the camera, comparable to film, but much smaller. Also called a digital camera memory card…
Viewfinder — The optical “window” to look through to compose the scene.
White Balance — White balancing adjusts the camera to compensate for the type of light (daylight, fluorescent, incandescent, etc.,) or lighting conditions in the scene so it will look normal to the human eye.
About the Author
I need (want!) a new digital camera. Can you recommend any for less than $200?
I tried out the Cannon 500 series and it takes great pics and is easy to use. I’d prefer one which also acts like a camcorder. Any other brands, or would you take the Canon over all.
Also, what kind of camera takes those panoramic pics?
You’ve already got a budget, so that’s a good start.
Next, find a friend who will help you learn how to use the camera. This “friend” could even be the clerk in your local photo shop. By “photo shop,” I mean an actual camera shop or at least a camera department where the sales staff only deals with cameras and not dishwashers, too. Buy the camera that your friend recommends so that they will be able to teach you how to use it.
After you know what you are doing and are ready for your next camera – and this will come sooner than you think – you will be in a position to make your own choice.
If you have some vague ideas about price and desired features, go to http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp and see what they select for you.
Choose the best one by deciding what you want to do, how much you want to learn, how far you want to progress and how much you want to spend.
http://www.dcresource.com/buyersguide/
http://www.dcresource.com/buyersguide/shopping_tips.shtml
http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html
http://www.popphoto.com/buyingguide/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sidebyside.asp
This link has some under-$200 cameras:
http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3148/top-5-digital-cameras-for-august.html
Consumer Reports for November 2006 has ranked the Canon Powershot A620 as the best compact digital camera. It is becoming almost a legend for longevity at the top of various consumer lists. It looks like this model has been replaced by the A630, which I would expect to be just as popular. The A640 is virtually the same, but it is 10 MP instead of 8 MP (A630) or 7 MP (A620).
Digital Camera prices rant (and why older models go for so much)