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 p.91 #12 · 'Unofficial' Photokina RUMOR Thread | |
After reading through all the chat rooms I find it amazing that people can feel a company like Canon could show up to a worldwide show such as Photokina with an empty bag. Presentation of already announced entry-level camera is not the venue for Photokina. Three years ago Canon began the development of their 1D 16 million pixel camera. 30 months ago they began beta testing the 1Ds2 camera. 24 months ago they released it at Photokina. 30 months ago the 1Ds began the development of what will currently be released (six months ago it was out for beta testing) and I'll bet my $.15 that there will be an announcement in their pro-lineup next week. If there is not a release it would have been due to a catastrophic last-minute failure with their beta testing. That would be big news. And quite frankly I doubt it.
Several weeks ago there were big question marks on whether their new the third level processor would be available this year or next. There are/were plenty of doubting Charlie's about that too. Those doubts came to rest when Canon announced its recent consumer cameras, G7 and SD900. The D2 processor is the major reason why the presence day 16 million pixel camera fires at four frames per second. Putting the D3 processor in the present day 1DSmk2 camera would result in an action sports camera and 16 million pixels at eight frames a second, just from a throughput perspective. The only technology improvement with the above is the development of the third level processor which we know exists. That alone would be huge news, 16 million pixels at eight frames a second for their new 1D3. Having watched this company pretty closely over the last 12 years my guess is that we will see something(s) exciting next week from Canon.
My remarks regarding losing the lead comes back to a foot ball analogy. When the coaching staff prepares for the next week's football game or season, they don't engineer the win for a one-point victory. They want to crush the opponent, as soon as possible, and dominate the entire match.
Canon’s 1D team is a separate group of engineers/staff that have a mission separate from the other teams within the Canon organization. Canon has an entry level camera team, and a consumer camera team, among other groups. They all have different missions, budgets, and schedules. They operate independently. And they have different schedules when they release products. There are overlaps with regard to the imagers and processors of course. You will see that all/most of the new consumer cameras and the entry-level single lens reflex cameras will be using the D3 processor.
If Canon relaxes because they feel they have a lead, trouble will commence, and the competition will pounce if they perceive a weakness.
Sony is a force to contend with. They have huge capital and human resources; and have been making digital imagers for their multimillion dollar network studio high definition television cameras for many years. Only recently has that elevated to high definition. Go into most studios in New York City; go on field at any/most NFL football game. Look around what do you see,,, Sony digital video cameras attached to huge 40x high-resolution image stabilized Canon zoom lenses. Now that Sony owns the Minolta camera company, they possess a footprint to jump in to the single lens reflex market, with an installed base. Couple that with their ability to produce high definition low noise low light level digital imagers, it makes for a huge potential competitive force, and Canon knows it. This is not the time for Canon to take a rest in the third quarter.
Everyone has their eyes on Nikon over the next few years; I have my eyes on Sony. SONY has the in-house capability for fabricating imagers they have experience making them for Nikon and they have in-house capability for making high-quality high-resolution image stabilized lenses. For those professionals that want lens name recognition, Sony has a multi-decade experience / relationship with Zeiss.
The wonderful occurrence with these high technology products is the enthusiasm that is generated in our modern society. We are creating the hype for these new product releases. Canon knows the schedule of Photokina which has been there for years. they have been using this venue for releases of their flagship cameras dating back to 1998. The PMA show in February of each year is really not the venue that Canon chooses to announce new flagship professional equipment. PMA brings a venue for Canon adding features like the release of their 1Dmk2N, adding the N symbol for some improvements, LCD, Color Management Styles… You don’t see “N” added to Canon cameras at Photokina… Maybe this will be a huge disappointment, and a big house cleaning of Canon engineers/product managers,,, however, I seriously doubt it.
Have a great week and pay attention to the Photokina announcements, and all the speculation will come to rest early next week.
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