Upgrade to film 1V anyone?

[pbizarro]

I know this is an odd subject in this day and age, but I have this

hope that Canon have not totally abandoned their film-based pro-line

of EOS cameras. I know that they can boast about their full line of

DSLRs, that caters for all sorts of photographers, from pro to entry

level. But...

 

I for one would buy an EOS 1V up-grade, with ETTL-II, and even more

robust and long-lasting shutter. I think Nikon are generally

more "traditional", hence the F6. I had the pleasure of handling one

F6 recently, and it is a wonderful camera, perfectly balanced,

responsive, nervous, just pushes you to shoot. And I supose that

since Nikon does not have a full-frame DSLR, there may be Nikon folks

buying this camera.

 

The F6 project turned into the foundations for their D2X-H DSLRs, but

eventually also saw the light of day as a film camera. Couldn't Canon

migrate some of the 1Ds "learnings" into a 1V upgrade? I don't think

it would cost a lot to produce such a camera, and the 1V sort

of "deserves" it to be up there with the F6.

 

All right, I will wake up now...

[vincent_j_m]

Canon usually comes out with an upgrade to the model just below the 1 series first. The 3 came out before the 1V and the 5 was before the 1N. I too am hoping that we just might see a 3V, with ETTL2, a quiet shutter and mirror, and build quality more like the 1N or 1V. Who knows, they just might surprise us next year.

[john_jovic]

"Couldn't Canon migrate some of the 1Ds "learnings" into a 1V upgrade?"

 

Paulo, what "learnings" are you referring to? Do you mean the 4fps of the 1Ds? I think I'll stick with my 1VHS's 10fps and 36 shot buffer...

 

I would appreciate the selected metering mode being displayed in the viefinder, a'la Leica R8/9. This would make switching from spot to evaluative much easier and avoid having to reposition the camera to confirm which mode is in use.

 

It seems silly to me that the metering mode should automatically switch to evaluative as soon as the flash is switched on. It stops carefull spot metering where the flash is just used for fill. I find I have to switch off the flash to meter and then I turn the flash back on to shoot. It's stupid.

 

The camera does NOT connect solidly to tripods in that it has too much play due to the socket being so close to the front edge of the camera body and there fore having very little contact area on one side of the tripod head. The tripod mount on the bottom of the camera should definitely be redesigned (moved to the centre of the camera and be surrounded by metal, not plastic).

 

My 2 bodies under expose by 2/3rds of a stop. I compensate accordingly and have no problems. I know of another photographer who exposes the same way I do although we came to these conclusions independantly.

 

Regardless, I think the 1V is fantastic camera. The focusing accuracy is astounding, anywhere on the focusing screen and not just the centre.

 

JJ

[steve_dunn2]

<p>I doubt it. There's really not much missing from the 1V, and really not enough to make a new camera worthwhile. The 1V is a major upgrade over the 1N. The 1N was a major upgrade over the 1. The 1V II ... what could Canon put in the 1V II which would make it a major upgrade over the 1V?</p>

 

<p>E-TTL II is a big deal on digital, where E-TTL had some shortcomings. On film, E-TTL has a good track record. E-TTL II is also a useful upgrade for unsophisticated users who did the focus-recompose-shoot dance without bothering to use FEL; pros presumably take a bit more care and know a bit more and would be less likely to mess up their exposure that way. A 1V II would surely include E-TTL II, as every new body has had E-TTL II lately, but this is hardly a reason to upgrade.</p>

 

<p>An even more robust and long-lasting shutter would certainly be nice, but I can't say I recall hearing a litany of complaints about how flimsy the 1V's shutter is. The whole camera is just about bulletproof already so there's not a lot of room for major improvements there.</p>

 

<p>It would be very difficult, technically, to crank up the frame rate, and really, if they got it up to (say) 12 fps, it wouldn't be that huge an improvement over the current 10 fps. Ditto for the AF system.</p>

 

<p>I'm not even sure we'll ever see a 3 II, and I'm even less confident that we'll see a 1V II. Haven't most of the pros already gone digital?</p>

[andrew robertson]

I'm still doing fine with my 1n. If and when they do make the 1vn or whatever they would

call it, I'll probably pick up a 1v for about $250 just as I did with my 1n.

[r._j.]

I've been shooting specifically for an archives in recent times and I can tell you digital is not the be all and end all.

 

Ditto says a panorama photographer friend who shoots film panoramas, hates sitting in front of the computer (joining digital images together side by side when he could be sitting in front of a national park landscape) and says there's simply no digital equivalent that suits his panoramic wants, photographically or personally.

[pbizarro]

Very good points indeed. There is really not much that could be done to improve the 1V. However, the cost for producing a replacement can't be a show stopper. The basics are there, and it should be cheap for Canon to come out with it.

 

It is a tribute to the 1V that the pro-DSLRs are still using its 45 AF module. But there is always room for improvement. More cross AF sensors (from 7 to say 9 or 11?); improve the auto-exposure algorithms a bit (my 1V is dead-on about 90 % of the time in evaluative, with slide film). I would like to see an LCD on the back, like the F6 one. Or the joystick for AF point selection, like the 20D.

 

Probably not many pros with buy the 1V update, but I wonder how many amateurs would buy such a camera? Let's say it would be priced at USD 1500, that is a very good price for a lot of camera. The cost of film plus processing is not the reason why amateurs choose DSLR.

 

5 years ago, amateurs with film cameras would shoot what? 20-30 rolls per year? Even 100 rolls per year? And then print 6x4? Now with a DSLR they are probalby shooting more, and saying that they are saving on film. I still remember the argument about "film is cheap".

 

I wish Canon would also add a shutter button to their BP-E1, while they are at it.

[isaac sibson]

Not going to happen.

 

For a while I thought canon would come out with a new film body that replaced the EOS 3 and the 1v at a stroke, as the magnesium build of the 1v has come down in price (now in 20d and 10d), and bringing in a new AF and metering system. However, it hasn't appeared, and every month that goes by without it means its less likely again. There's no more money to be made from film cameras.

[StuartMoxham]

I still use the EOS1 body that I bought back in around 1994-1995.

[eric merrill]

So what's to upgrade?

[karl_lehmann]

What's to upgrade? The major defect with the 1V is its eccessive weight. If it weighed half as much I would have bought one.

[michael_beckmann]

They have lighter cameras. You could buy these. Given the weight of lenses used by professionals, I wouldn't consider the difference in weight between a lighter body and a not so light body to be a major contributor to the weight of the system as a whole.

[robert_davis7]

I doesn't seem like an upgrade to 12 fps (as someone mentioned) would even be enough to attract photographers to an EOS 1V2. The only people I know who use that kind of blazing speed are sports photogs who shoot for newspapers and magazines ... and they've all gone to the 1D. So it seems like there isn't much of a reason to upgrade the 1V. Unless you pull a Leica and make a gold-plated collector's edition!

 

I still use my EOS 1n when i shoot film. Still a hell of a machine.

[andrew robertson]

Just unscrew the power winder if the 1V is too heavy (or get an EOS 3). It's not like a

Nikon F5 where you are stuck with a gigantic square brick.