new rumours from the net.

[scott_lewis3]

KM intends to two release two new DSLR in 2006. One a replacement for

the 7D and one a new pro DSLR. For the time been they will be referred

to as the X7Di and X9Di. Also three new "G" SSM lenses will be

released at the same time.

 

 

Early 2006 at PMA

[clinton_abe]

Scott- I hope the rumors are true. Where did you hear this from? I hope the new "G" SSM lenses are cheaper than what the first two. And as KM comes out with more SSM lenses, perhaps Sigma will release their 120-300mm f/2.8 in a KM mount.

 

As for the 2006 PMA date, I've been saying that for a while, but everyone pooh-poohed me.

[clinton_abe]

Scott- Never mind, I found the source of your rumor. I hope KM-SEA is correct. But, I get the feeling from the name of the cameras, that neither camera will be the full-frame sensor model I was hoping for.

[scott_lewis3]

The DI is kind of a give away. The data came from

 

www.digitaldynax.com

 

KM-SEA has popped up on several forums to tell us the future of KM and up till now been 100% correct. Full frame would be nice but might be something KM are leaving to Sony.

[bill_thorlin]

Scott - this is exactly, word for word, a posting made by Eugene Cunningham on this forum on 26 May this year. We can take it that the poster you found and EC are one and the same person.

 

He got sort of close with the 5D except he stated it would be out in September and full-frame, so we will have to wait and see on this one ( or these 5 ).

[michael_hohner]

KM SEA is far from 100% correct. For example, he said that all future G lenses would be SSM. And then came the 35/1.4 G (D)... Also, he "announced" another 7D firmware update "real soon now" months ago. There's still no sign of that. I'd take his announcements with a truckload of salt.

[clinton_abe]

Bill- Where in that May 26th posting, did EC say the 5D would be full-frame? In response to my comment on a PRO DSLR, he said that it (the PRO) model would be full-Frame, not the 5D. As for the date on the 5D, he was off by about 2 weeks as to when it would be announced, but was correct on the actual sales date.

[scott_lewis3]

sorry Michael i didn't know about those posts I will now drop him from 100% to 85.6% ;)

[bill_thorlin]

Read his post of 28 May 2005 at 10.49.

[clinton_abe]

Bill- This is another example of you not reading the posts.

 

Eugene's post of May 28th, was in reference to my prior post which asked about a "higher end" DSLR being full-Frame. Eugene response was- "Clinton as far as I have been made aware of the new pro DSLR should be a full frame."

 

Since when is the 5D a 'higher-end' 'PRO' model??? Eugene and I had already gone beyond talking about the 5D and started talking about a future PRO model (a 9D).

 

You really need to keep up with the postings.

[clinton_abe]

I was reading a Reuters news article about Olympus decision to scale back on compact digital cameras and increasing their effort in the DSLR area. This quote at the end of the article was interesting.

 

"Demand for SLR cameras is growing faster than demand for compact models. SLR cameras also fetch higher profit margins than compact cameras, which are under intense pricing pressure with more than 30 makers now in the market."

[phil_derosier]

Why can't we all just get along?

 

Folks, this is simply a case that if KM fails to come out with new products on a regular basis, it goes out of business--plain and simple. This is no different than the strategies of any other enterprise.

 

So, absent of any indications from KM that it is throwing in the towel, we can expect new iterations and models from the company we all know and love.

 

Patience is a virtue.

[drjedsmith]

Bring it ON BABY! SQEEZE the competition! :-) hehe

<BR><BR>

It would be awesome for Minolta once again to be surfing the wave instead of just missing it and paddling back to shore...<BR>

Jed

[ivo_stankus]

Yep, I'll believe any rumours when I see the final product. KMSEA's predictions are so vague that he may actually be right, but the simple fact that he's been predicting the same stuff for several months now without any of them materialising makes him a very unreliable source, and im my opinion he's just making stuff up. I would expect an updated 7D early next year (maybe earlier) due to the huge price falls of the original model. I don't expect a FF DSLR for another several years. Canon's 5D left me hugely unimpressed, so I think it would be a step back for KM.

[scott_lewis3]

I think there will be 2 new dslrs next year (because I want to ;)) but I don't think there will be a FF dslr. If KM bring out any new camera's then I guess they will announce it at the PMA's with a mock up and produce the camera at FOTOKINA latter in the same year (like last time).

[miguel_rodriguez5]

and, what would be the need for a full frame DSLR? I think that it might be more profitable for KM to sell reduced frame DSLR since people who like wide angles will need to buy new wide angle zooms and primes... If full frame is justified just for people who have old lenses, maybe we will not see it soon. It might be cheaper to manufacture cameras with smaller sensors (and with AS) and producing new lenses for such cameras than producing new cameras to fit old lenses... Something similar to what happened with the move from MF to AF.. In fact, it is better to think it is a new system, since my old 5200i flash wont work and probably some of my sigma lenses.

[clinton_abe]

Miguel- A larger 'full-sized' sensor is better than a smaller sensor of the small pixel count. As my friend who owns a camera shop keeps telling me, "It's not just the number of pixels, the size of the sensor matters."

 

I'll leave it to others, better versed in this type of technical matters to explain it to you (and to me).

[bill_polley]

A larger sensor is the same as a larger film format. A medium format film that is identical to a 35mm film will produce sharper pictures of the same size because the larger format film needs to be enlarged less to get to, say...an 8X10 print. The film grain and imperfections are enlarged less, creating a sharper 8X10 print with the medium format film than one would get with a 35mm film (all other parameters kept equal...equal lenses and the same actual film type and speed)

 

A larger sensor with equal pixel density per square cm will produce an image that will be enlarged less to produce a given print size. Less enlargement of the original image means a sharper print.

 

Also, a full frame sensor, as you have said, means that a 24mm wide angle lense is still a 24mm wide angle lens. The smaller sensors that Minolta is now employing means that a 24mm wide angle lens now becomes a 36mm normal lens. Many landscape photographers will most likely switch to a full sensor body so they can continue to use their wide angle lenses or they will change to Canon or Nikon so they can use prime lenses instead of the zooms that Minolta offers.

[bill_polley]

Here is a better explanation of sensor size and resolution.

 

http://www.photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorsize/

[clinton_abe]

Bill Polley- Thank you for filling in the gap on sensor size and its effect on image quality.

[andrew robertson]

K-M could do a full frame camera, but it will lack anti-shake.

 

But no company other than Canon makes money with full frame sensors. Still, several are

offered on the market, so who knows.

[ivo_stankus]

Well, Canon isn't making much money either. The $8000 1Ds is a flagship that was never meant to be sold in large numbers, but apparently the 5D that was aimed to be more of a "full frame for the people" isn't selling as well as Canon had hoped. Maybe 35mm equivalent sensors are not the way to go. The main argument always was that you could use the already existant wide angle lenses to their full potential, but it looks like that this is not the case, as the sensors are more unforgiving in their demands on the lenses than film.

[bill_polley]

Ivo, could you elaborate please? How are full frame sensors hard on lenses? Is it that they are so accurate that the limitations of the lenses at the edges of the frame can be more easily seen?

 

I have always thought that the smaller sensor size, which effectively only reproduces the center portion of an image that the lens captures, is a main reason for the added detail in the newest cameras. The smaller sensors leave out the outside portions of the 35mm image, where film prints drop off in quality, thus yielding an overall better image, edge to edge.

 

The problem I see, or at least the reason that I am patiently waiting to switch from film to digital, is that I will not be able to use my wide angle lenses as such in the current Minolta system. I am not a pro, simply a guy who shoots his kids and family, shoots the occasional wildlife when I feel like hunting but don't need the meat (shooting wildlife with a camera feels about the same to me as shooting with a gun), and shoots landscapes when I see a beautiful or stunning scene. The landscape and scenic photos would be a bit different in perspective (I am guessing) if my 28mm becomes effectively a 42mm lens.

 

I am looking at purchasing a camera as an upgrade to my 600si, which has served us well for almost 9 years and works perfectly. The Maxxum 7 does everything that I have ever wanted to try in a camera. It has a lot of added features that my 600si does not, plus the AF is said to be MUCH faster. I have been looking at digital also. I am REALLY impressed with some of the pictures I have seen created by digital cameras. It has processing advantages as well. Unfortunately, I have enough other responsibilities in my life that going digital is not really an option. The 7D would be three times the price of a 7, I would need to buy several hundred dollars worth of flashes to have the equivilent of what I have now, and the lenses I have would shift in perspective, leaving a gap at the wide angle end. (OK, I think perspective would be the same, but because the magnification changes, I guess really just the angle of view would change).

 

Along with many others across the net, I really wish that Minolta would create cameras that were backward compatible with all of their existing equipment. I would really consider digital if my lenses could be uses exactly as they are now, and my excellent flashes could continue to be used, at least as slaves, with the 5600D telling them how to respond in wireless.

 

I understand that this will probably never happen.

[andrew robertson]

Ivo, the 1Ds and 1Ds II are selling about as fast as they can make them - 3000 units per

month. They make a lot of money for Canon. The 5D looks to make even more money for

Canon.

[andrew robertson]

And the 5D is also selling quite well.

 

Where do you get your numbers? Accurate ones can be had in Canon's annual reports.