5Ds lacking wifi and GPS?

<p>So I imagine I, along with a lot of rest of you, got the email announcement for the 5Ds and 5DsR this morning. Am I the only one who hoped wifi and GPS would finally be built into this camera. I'd trade the megapixels for those, particularly the GPS. Canon has this in some of their point and shoots, so why not in their $3,700 camera. Am I missing something here?</p>

<p>You're paying $3700 for the larger sensor, not WiFi and GPS. If you need either one you can buy an external unit. </p>

<p>It's really not in Canon's financial interests to put every feature anyone might want into a camera. I very much doubt that most of Canon's intended market for the 5Ds will really miss either WiFi or GPS. The 5Ds is limited in a number of respects. It has a lower frame rate than the 5D MkIII and it has a maximum native ISO of "only" 6400. It's not optimized for video either, lacking some of the advanced features of the 5D MkIII.</p>

<p>I think I am very much in their intended market. If they can put the wifi and certainly GPS in a point and shoot for $500, why not in this camera. It is much like the iPhone, why not include all those things, the electronics are pretty much the same. And for landscape locations, GPS would be terrific. The add on device is bulky and gets in the way. Just my opinion. But thanks for your thoughts.</p>

<p>I hear the DR is on the level of a 12MP rig. Well, I'll keep my lowly 24MP for a while (or longer), since I don't enlarge to anything larger than 16x20. It's all relative, I guess.</p>

<p>Les</p>

<p>Well they <em>can</em> put WiFi and GPS in, they just chose not to. It's called market segmentation I guess. They also have to leave something to add to the 5Ds MkII.</p>

<p>If you really need GPS and WiFi, there's always the EOS 6D, but then you don't have the 50MP. Better buy one of each!</p>

<p>I'm sure Canon do lots and lots of market research before deciding on what features to put into a camera. (and what they can leave out without adversely affecting sales). I agree that it would be very nice to have all of them, but that's not likely to happen. Cameras are designed for a market segment and to meet a price point. I presume what to put in and what to leave out is as much a marketing decision as a technical decision.</p>

<p>I'd like a 50MP full frame camera with ISO 102400, 10fps, WiFi and GPS. They can leave out all the video stuff. I'd like a swing out LCD too and a small built-in flash All of those features exist on EOS bodies but I doubt we'll see one body with all of them.</p>

<p>Bob, I just want ECF back. ;) Not likely to happen though. </p>

<p>Frankly, they can hang the GPS, the WiFi,<em> and</em> 50MP off the side unless they've (finally!) significantly improved the DR. To me that has the only thing missing from the last three+ generations of Canon cameras.</p>

<p>To me, unless they've improved that, they are shooting themselves in the foot. Frankly anybody whom upgrades for a FF 'MF replacement' is going to be feeling it, and that market segment is probably vastly more critical to it's adoption than the WiFi/GPS crowd. The ironic thing is that w/ 50MP to play with, they could easily build a native "DR" mode to improve it by 4 or 5 stops - no fancy new sensor technology required.</p>

 

<p>Canon have confirmed the 5Ds sensor is a totally Canon designed and fabricated. Apparently they have not changed their basic fabrication and design technology yet. Rumors of a Sony collaboration on the sensor have turned out to be false.</p>

I just got off of DPR. There were almost a thousand comments on the 5DS/R. There are a lot of

attacks upon Canon for what they did not do. I am using a 7DII with GPS (I worked on civil aviation

GPS for about 7 years) and I have not seriously tried GPS yet to see if it works. It is not essential

to me for picture taking. What I think the best thing about the 7DII is superb and highly useful

focusing and tracking and the new exposure system. My work is not so precise that I worry about

dynamic range. I have a fully articulating screen on an SL1 which is nice but not essential.. To me

GPS and Wifi are like accessories on a car; they are not essential to the actual function of moving

the car or to taking pictures. What I care about when I get to shooting sports is the control of light,

tracking, sharp frame rate and noise. The more I learn about the 7DII the more precise control I

find I have over how to use contol functions. I just shot an indoor swim meet at ISO 6400 to make sure

achieved good shutter speeds. The pictures take some processing but they look good on the web

and in print once that is done. The swimmers really liked them. Once I have the camera in hand basic functions are what I care about; not the bells and whistles.. Those essential functions are what make the pictures. I have

proven to myself over a long aviation career with a lot of different airplanes that given enough

practice I can adapt to almost any reasonable physical function.

 

 

The other thing that I have trouble understanding is the visceral hate and bashing of Canon. I have

no control over what they do. I just buy a tool from them if I like their product and use it. If one really needs

dynamic range go to Nikon. I accept what I get and learn how to use it. Stuff is so good these days

there is a lot of choice. I took a foray into Sony about three years ago after over twenty years with

Canon while still keeping my Canon gear. I sold the Sony gear. It had some flaws. Canon

compatibility and lenses are really important to me, I find..

<p>It could be just as simple as the fact that it's a 5DIII chassis with just a few changes made internally - different sensor, different mirror box, different connector (for USB3), different processors. Each of these changes directly support the higher MP spec of the camera. I suspect they just vetoed anything that didn't do so, and keeping the same chassis without any modifications lowers costs. And the introductory price of this thing is very reasonable considering B&H still lists the 5DIII at $3099 (yes, other places have it cheaper, but also yes, I think the 5DS will drop in price in the first year after release unless the yen makes a spectacular recovery).</p>

<p>I'll be amazed if the upcoming (rumored) 5DIV doesn't have GPS. That's where I'd expect to see wholesale changes on the scale of, say, the 7D to 7D II.</p>

 

<p>Trying to use WiFi with the 5DS/5DS R to transfer files from it's nominally 50+ megapixel RAW files, would be a painfully slow and laborious waste of time, even if they had adopted 802.11a/c, which I do not believe they could have due to size/weight/power constraints. Of course JPEG would be much faster, but you bought a 50 Megapixel monster to shoot jpegs? The USB 3.0 Port (10 GB/s) and tethering takes care of file transfer needs significantly faster and more efficiently.<br /><br />As for GPS, if you don't already know where you are, a Quick and Dirty workaround is to have your smartphone with you, take a shot of you setup and thereby record your GPS position, and when you offload the files to a program like Lightroom or Bridge, simply copy and paste the appropriate GPS coordinates from the phone images into the Canon image metadata. Zero expense, minor workflow step.<br /><br />Unlike when Microsoft ruined many of their products, such as Word and Excel, with "Bloatware", Professional cameras are built to satisfy a broad base of user needs without becoming a Swiss Army Knife of every conceivable feature meant to satisfy every undiscriminating Photographer's needs.<br /><br />The new 5DS/5DS R is meant to satisfy a distinct niche of users who need unsurpassed resolution imagery, but not to include everything but the kitchen sink.</p>

<p>Its lack of GPS and WiFi capability doesn't bother me in the least, but like many, many EOS users, I'd like a sensor with greater dynamic range. With two young children, I often find myself shooting in the midday sun, and long for a digital sensor that gives me the DR of the Kodak Ektar 100 film that I use (all too rarely these days).</p>

<p>Are there any online specs of the DR of the 5Ds yet?</p>

<p>Wi-Fi and GPS were the first things I shut off/disabled on my 6D. I would love to slip a CF card into either of these DSLR's and take a few shots with my 100mm f2.8L and the new ultra wide angle zoom.</p>

<p>I don't agree with it, but I sort of understand the visceral hate and bashing of Canon mentioned by Dick. Any company that gets to the top gets picked apart in this day and age of nitpickiness...DPR though that is some site.</p>

<p>For my part I just purchased a 300mm Fujinon lens for my 4x5 this week, and excited to use that. My newest Canons other than G-series are a couple of 1ds and a 40d,so "I'm good". I've used gps in a professional capacity in my work (sub-centimeter accuracy) and have no use for it in any camera, as well as wifi and flip up flashes. I'm glad we all have choices though.</p>

<p>5Ds Mark2 will have Wi-Fi, GPS and large format printer.</p>

<p>"long for a digital sensor that gives me the DR of the Kodak Ektar 100 film that I use (all too rarely these days)."<br>

<br>

Just found one article touting dynamic range of ektar being "between 8 and 12 stops", Canon sensors currently average around 11.7 stops if my information is correct. Sony supposedly is 14 stops. What are you doing that boosts that DR of ektar? You're not printing it on photo paper...</p>

 

<p>I disabled GPS and Wi-Fi on my 6D. Wi-Fi is too slow to be very useful and GPS didn't work for me most of the time. I'd rather carry less batteries too. </p>

<p>The 5Ds and 5Dsr are specialist cameras for those who need 50mp. Most photographers don't, and the large files might even be a hindrance. The camera that will hopefully appeal to most photographers will be the next iteration of the 5DIII, a 5DIV? The 5DIII has pretty well everything that most photographers wanted except a dynamic range that allows shadows to be lifted in post processing. It is the one limitation my 6D has. I don't think I will ever use WiFi or GPS but others might find these very useful.<br>

I doubt if Canon will ever make a 'one camera does all' model. That would be all we needed and we would not buy the next upgrade, or would we? <br>

I must say I liked the ECF on my EOS7e, but I find the petty crippling of functions on lower priced models annoying (I would love to have AF at f8 on the 6D).</p>

<p>No WiFi on 5Ds isn't a deal breaker. I do use my 6D WiFi, but this feature isn't so important that I would say I would never buy a camera without it. The 5Ds offers other features of significant value to me that would be important. I am looking forward to seeing the images and IQ people will be getting from this camera.</p>

<p>I'd say that if Canon really wanted to load those cameras up with features, they'd make them do everything the 70 D does and more. Frankly I'm not sure why they don't. The Nikon D750 seems like a VERY popular camera, and that thing ain't cheap. I have no doubt that if Canon made their answer to the D750 and the D810 in one big, loaded camera, they could probably charge $5,000 for it, and it would be considered the ultimate camera for someone who doesn't care about shooting fast. Sony did something like this in the mid-range market (these Canons are high-end in their range) with the A77, which WAS loaded. It had GPS. It had a fold-out screen. Like most high-end Sony cameras at that time it had in-body image stabilization. It had super high resolution for its day. It had weather seals, like Sony's high-end cameras. It could even shoot at 12 fps (faster than any Sony before it). The truly amazing thing was that camera cost less than $2,000. And I think it sold quite well. If Canon really wanted to sell these 5Ds and 5Dsr cameras, they would have included all the extras. It's not as if they couldn't do it. Nikon can do it in their little D5300, so it's really not an issue of having enough space. I think they are penny wise and pound foolish. It's dumb, bean-counter thinking. It's not as if people aren't going to buy extras for these cameras! There's the powerful flash units, the lenses, the battery grip, spare batteries, and a whole lot more. It's just dumb that they crippled these cameras, and it's going to cost them sales of camera, which will cost them customers. Some of the Nikon shooters who might have switched if the cameras were truly loaded will wait and see what Nikon makes instead.</p>

<p>I guess they'll sell a separate Wifi unit as they do for the 1D X?</p>

<blockquote>

<p>And I think it sold quite well</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It's all relative I suppose: well for Sony poor/unacceptable for Canon would be my guess.</p>

<p>Couldn't care less about GPS and WiFi. I have them on the 6D and never use them. Lack of dynamic range is a complete red herring in my opinion. All I can say is if you are having problems with DR, something must be up with your exposures. I also find the idea that it doesn't match Ektar in practical output laughable.</p>

<blockquote>The other thing that I have trouble understanding is the visceral hate and bashing of Canon.</blockquote>

 

<p>It's surprised me as well. I'm a Nikon shooter, but I've been lurking for the last few days to see what people think. Sure, I'd love the Canon to have fixed the dynamic range disadvantage (for the sake of my Canon-owning friends), and we're only assuming that they haven't until it's properly tested. Otherwise, these seem like perfectly good cameras to me - albeit with a "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" perspective.<br />

<br />

Nikon got bashed for the D800 not being a "real D700 replacement" (whereas the 5D3 really was a pretty direct upgrade for the 5D2). They got mildly bashed again for the D750 not being the D7200 or D400 that people apparently wanted (or, still, the D700 replacement) - although it quieted down a bit when people seemed to realise it was a very good camera. Canon <i>did</i> (okay, eventually, but still faster than Nikon) produce a 7D2, which by all accounts is extremely good. They're fixing the resolution disparity compared with the D800 for the few who care. Unless I'm missing something, I'm not quite sure what people were expecting from Canon. With the exception of the dynamic range thing (but MagicLantern) and 4K video, the 5D3 is still a very good camera, and these complement it. Were people expecting something very different?</p>

<p>I will stick with my WiFi Pro card. My 5D3 is plenty of camera and but the WiFi link really rocks people when I shoot and have the shots show up on my tablet right in front of them. My GPS solution has not been working out as I carry a Garmin eTrex with me on Euro vacations, etc and attempt to geotag photos based on time but it seems to think my longitude is positive and that puts me Kazakhstan. Garmin needs to fix basecamp, or I need to find a better alternative when I have time. </p>