50D announcement woes - anyone else?

Hi,

 

i am certainly not one of those condemning technical evolution. In fact i am an development engineer and am

pushing forward technology myself (at least i hope so ;)

 

But i am a little annoyed with the 50D announcement. I have upgraded this spring from my trusty 20D to the

all-new-and-shiny 40D and could not be happier.

 

Although my happiness should not be diminuished by the 50D, i am a little angry, that Canon has now introduced

some new features (mainly the VGA display) i have been lusting for since the new Nikon's were announced.

 

Don't understand me wrong, i am sure of two things, a) technological evolution should be fast and b) my camera is

still great, BUT this seems like a little bit of a rip-off to me. Why does Canon introduce a camera with several

major benefits only ONE YEAR after the predecessor? Why couldn't they include at least some of the features in

the 40 already ( i understand, that there was plenty of work to include the new 40D features, but nonetheless...).

 

OK, just had to share a little bit of my anger.

 

Greetings

 

Chris

Chris -

 

One word - Competition!

 

Nikon has came out with several new bodies over the past 12 months and Canon had to do something to keep up with the "Jones' " as it were. Nikon made big inroads by selling the 12.3 mp D300 for $1699 US in the high ISO market. The 20K plus ISO of the D3 / D700 meant that Canon had to do something to regain the lead or keep pace.

 

Sony is rumored to be coming out with new bodies...Olympus too.

 

I've basically came to accept that the marketing life span of a DSLR is now about 6 months.

 

My advice - Define what features are important to you, review the new features, determine if it makes sense from a financial and feature perspective to upgrade then do it or not. One thing that doesn't change with a new camera - they don't automatically disable the ones that they are replacing...Your 40D will continue to take photos for a long time! The other good news is that (unlike computers) there isn't some third party (based in Redmond WA) that keeps adding "Features" which would compel you to upgrade due to lack of expansion / memory / speed / etc... !

 

Dave

Interesting review

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbrutusbloggar.blogg.se%2F2008%2Faugust%2Ffalttest-av-canon-eos-50d.html&hl=fi&ie=UTF8&sl=sv&tl=en

Ohnestly saying I don't really care about all these new cameras. If there really is something I need to upgrade - it's

my skills. EOS 40D is even more than I need to get good pictures. I have bought EOS 40D only because the quality

of developed films I got from lab was getting worse and prices of films were getting higher (because most people were

using digital cameras).

 

If there's something I'm angry about it's deleting features that were available in film cameras. I can't understand why

there's no custom function allowing spot metering with active AF point. I also really miss the eye controlled focus (it's

great). I don't need better LCD - I need the firmware update which would allow magnifying the real image. I don't need

live view nor face detection, EOS 40D's AF is enough for me. Higher ISO? Certainly useful - but I almost don't use

ISO 1600 anyway... If there's something I really need it's 1 cm higher grip, spot metering with active AF point and

ECF. Besides I'm kind of a person who likes to use one camera for few years. Once you know it well enough you

stop thinking about settings and just focus on taking pictures.

"Why does Canon introduce a camera with several major benefits only ONE YEAR after the predecessor?"

 

Because they can!

 

Sell your camera and upgrade. Get with the program! :-)

 

On a serious note... as you can attach an external monitor to your camera, the solution to your problem is an easy and inexpensive fix.

 

I have a 5D with that 'wonderful' monitor. I have a D300 with a truly superb monitor. I prefer the IQ of my 5D and use it substantially more in spite of its limitations in advanced features. I want superb image quality - a fancy monitor does not improve IQ.

 

Enjoy your camera. When Canon comes out with the 60D in about a year, that will be the right time for you to upgrade if you still feel the need.

It's extremely unlikely that the 50D is going to make your pictures much better. If you get caught up in the whirlwind of upgrading or getting disappointed every time something new comes out, you are simply going to be wasting your time. I've only briefly looked at the 50D specs, and while in most cases they far surpass my 30D's specs, I don't see anything that is going to make the sunrise perfectly every day. People are shooting fantastic pictures with 35mm cameras that are 20 years old, point and shoot cameras with half the features of DSLRs and LOMOs.

 

You say in your post that you couldn't be happier with your 40D, so then what's the issue? Unfortunately, it's impossible to have the latest and greatest, because everything is constantly evolving, there's always going to be something new around the corner. In a year, there's going to be a similar thread, except about the 60D. If you find yourself getting frustrated with all of the releases, then just stay away from the internet and spend that time out shooting, or go out and buy a film SLR, there's not going to be many new upgrades to those to fret about.

I have a different thought. If you chase technology in cameras you can just never get comfortable with the camera you are using. The 40d seems like a great camera. I would stick with the camera and if you feel the need to buy something buy some really good glass (lenses). I have been using the same 5d now for several years. I know the camera and I feel confident that I can get the shot because I know it. Just a different idea.

 

Joe

In light of recent post in recent threads....all I can do is laugh.

 

Jason

I'm done chasing Technology. They can come out with a new camera a month, I don't care anymore. I'm not playing their game anymore, I am happy with what I have.

 

now repeat

 

I got to this point with computers years ago. So now I have to say for cameras

 

I'm done chasing Technology. They can come out with a new camera a month, I don't care anymore. I'm not playing their game anymore, I am happy with what I have.

 

I have to keep saying it till my pixel lust subsides. What is the photography equivalent of a cold shower?

 

Like its been said above, there is nothing in this new camera that will help make my pictures any better

 

repeat to myself there is nothing in this new camera that will help make my pictures any better

 

 

:)

I've had my 40D since Nov. Love it.

 

The 50D is a nice upgrade, but, like Adam said above, it won't make me a better photographer. If Canon had installed an articulating LCD screen in the 50D that would have had me thinking.

 

I am more interested in upgrades to the EF400 f/5.6L (hopefully an IS version) and EF100-400L (maybe a 120-500L with better AF).

 

Cheers! Jay

I looked at 50D specs and I'm happy with 40D's I have now that replaced my 20D's. You shouldn't worry. Afterall in RAW

mode you can squeeze off 17 frames before the buffer fills to the 16 with the new 50D. :-)

<i>mainly the VGA display</i><br> Whay are you lusting after it? Yeah, it is "nice to have" but has no direct impact

on the IQ and helps only a little in judging the sharpness. Now, for many uses (macro, tabletop) a tilting high

resolution, high contrast LCD screen would be great, but high resolution alone is a "shrug off" feature IMO.

To much marketing, mega-pixels and digi whatevers for me. I need to improve my ability and not my camera.

Why be angry, this does nothing to reduce the IQ of the images you will get from your 40D.

Bring back the swivel screen on the G10. Lol. What everyone else said wrt common sense.

the king is dead, long live the king

I guess I'm happy I jumped on the 5D two months ago, with my 20D still used as a second camera for sports. But I

am intrigued by the description of superior autofocus in the above review noted by John G. The reviewer says that

autofocus is better than the 1DMKIII, which has to make a professional wonder. That would be a major carrot for me!

If his impression about autofocus is verified, then Canon have to be planning on a new professional model, to get

past the MKIII fiasco, ASAP. I keep thinking that Canon engineers will be coming forward with new ideas, that

will bring them back to top professional standard -- at the Olympics this year I saw a lot fewer white lenses

compared to years ago.

 

 

Dave

I'm with Adam on this one, I'm sick of "upgrades"! My first DSLR was the XTi and I loved it. I still would have it except the controls on the camera were to easy to inadvertantly change with the kind of usage I was giving it. I bought the 40D because the controls are such that they cannot be altered unless you really want to. Image quality between the 2 cameras is extremely close, probably so much so that if you mingled them together you wouldn't know what camera took a particular shot. The biggest difference was in the AF, the 40D is head and shoulders above the XTi. What can any other camera do for me that the 40D won't? I'm thrilled with it and plan to keep it until it gives up. Thanks but no thanks Mr. Canon!

i just upgraded my rebel xt to the 40d in july and i couldn't be happier. the more megapixels and nicer display would have been nice but i still love my 40d. i figure that i will keep the 40d for three years before i even consider another body - unless of course i win the lottery. i wonder if the price of the 40d is going to go down now - now that will p me off.

<i>the MKIII fiasco</i><br>Please, not this again: the "fiasco" exists only in the collective mind of the internet. (and

that consitutes a tiny-weenie fraction of the target audience...) 99.99% of people who feel compelled to talk about

the "AF issue on 1D3" have never been within spitting distance of the camera in question, so what's your point? Do

you own/use one? I do shoot with 2 1D3 bodies and seldom, if ever, have an AF issue not directly attributable to the

conditions or pilot error... Yeah, there were some issues with AF on some 1D3 cameras but that's been fixed

<b>regardless</b> of what certain fanboys and other ninnies are saying. <br><br>And if the new generation of AF

is

superior - great! After all 50D is technologically at least 18 months newer than 1D3, so it better be technologically

more advanced as well...

I'm still happy with my 10D.

 

Michael J Hoffman

I'm just mad it's not full frame.

 

Stupid Canon.

 

On that note, I love my 40D, and don't find it lacking in anything... except FULL FRAME. Stupid canon.

It is the nature of technology development and new product introduction. Eventually you'll learn to not lust after the "next

big thing," but to instead enjoy the power of the tool you have.

 

At least for a while.... :-)

 

Dan

How much lower does 40D need to go?

 

I thought hard and I passed on buying a 40D brand new from cameta for $839 and instead I bought my 2nd 5D for

$1,749 on June 26th 2008.

 

I kinda doubt 40D will go below $839 since it sat there for 2 months before heading back up. I'm more curious to see

how quickly or slowly the 50D drops street price.

 

Would I buy a pro quality crop sensor 50D eos? I Doubt it, I own no ef-s lenses and I really enjoy full size viewfinder,

full frame platform. My wife's using my two month old 2nd 5D now so I guess we'll bypass all the future crop format

dslrs, though 50D is very appealing I'm pretty certain she'll never go back to a tunnel vision viewfinder common to aps-

c dslrs.

 

50D is a sweet camera spec wise. I'd say it will hurt nikon D300 future prospective owners and about end Hoya's

pentax logo. Pentax seems preoccupied with offering a really inexpensive stripped down dslr for photokina instead of

a pro-body or more lenses. I'm glad I switched to eos digital imaging this year and got two 5D before the price went

up $1,000 on the pair in just 3 months.

 

Lindy

I might pick up the 5D if 5D Mark II is above $2200.