I was too preoccupied with my Toastmasters event lately, hence too busy to do a write up (which every photo enthusiast is doing on the web). So now here’s my opinion from the pre-release, without any “hands on”.

DSLR war is on again. Canon has announced 2 new cameras lately – EOS 1Ds MkIII and EOS 40D. Let’s talk about the RM32k camera first. 1Ds has been Canon’s flagship camera with full frame. With Mk II, we have 16.7MP, while Canon boosted up the pixels to 22.1 on their Mk III. These additional pixels are targeted for the commercial photographers who need to print large, but do not want to be burden by the weight of medium formats. As for 40D, they have increased the pixel count by 20% to 10.1MP.

That’s not what impresses me most. Even though the pixel count increases, they did not affect the sensor area of each pixel. Meaning the noise will not be affected (hopefully). These cameras have the LiveView technology, and Dust Removal that Olympus first introduced. Too bad the 4/3’s sensor isn’t that popular. Canon also includes the 14-bit ADC that we’ve seen on Fujifilm since their S2Pro. Hopefully this translates to a wider dynamic range.

Canon also increases the continuous shot buffer for 40D to 6.5fps ( 5fps on 30D). There’s spot metering and they have finally listen to the customer to indicate alert when the memory card compartment is open. Both cameras came uses CMOS sensors which translate to lower noise, lower battery consumption and all.

So, how does the other brands responded? Right after the announcement, Sonly announced a 12.5MP CMOS sensor that can shoot at 10fps!!! That’s like totally puts the EOS 1D MkIII in history.

Wait, the Nikonians has also came up with a fight. The D3 is out!!! Wait, is that all you can do? 12.1 MP? No! We have finally made it to FULL FRAME!!! With only an estimate of 20 sensors per wafer. I don’t think it’ll come cheap.

Back to reading more about the updates. Will write a summary of what Nikons have to offer. For those who can’t wait….you can always visit my trusted DPReview.com. Till then…ciaoz!

Labels: Photography