I don't know about you but the new body shows a few things:
1) MP are becoming less important. Otherwise it would have the 1DsII sensor on it.
2) The sensor dust cleaning things seems to work pretty well to stick it into a pro body. Given that I regularly have to clean my sensor (I seem to end up in lots of dusty environments) I would like to have one thank you very much. So it appears this will be one of the new features that everyone starts pushing.
3) I believe we've got the first completely weather-sealed rig: body, lens AND flashgun.
4) Most of the improvements are towards speed, bigger/double buffers, higher fps and so on.
5) Live view. I don't know if this is so much a good thing or more of a direct-print button thing. Although, personally I could really use live view in macro situations. One thing that I'd like to know is how much dust the sensor will get as it will potentially be working far more time, attracting dust. But I guess that's why they put in the "dust shaker" in there.
So I think the new D3 will have some if not all of the above. I don't think it will be FF but it will certinaly have some of the above. What remains to be seen is what else the D3 WILL have that the MkIII does NOT have.
I allways wonder where the dust goes do you have to replace or empty a dustbin?
once again: fooling around.
Nikon doesn't have a dust cleaning yet right? i wonder if the next generation will have anything like that... i'd rather like a solution that prevents dust from entering the body. i believe sigma has a solution like that (right?)
The dust falls on the sides of the mirror box. The surface material is sticky enough to keep it there. Hopefully the mirrorbox won't fill up during the camera's lifetime! I don't see how you can prevent dust entering the body when you have a lens opening at the front!
I found a statement at imaging-resource.com that pretty much sums it up:
"The EOS 1D Mark III isn't just for sports anymore. It's a more universal camera for the vast majority of pro photographers. With the multiple improvements in the new camera, photographers will no longer need to trade off resolution, image quality, and speed against each other. The 1D Mark III now has enough of all three to satisfy a huge slice of the market in a single camera body."
In a way, this looks to me like a digital F5, a camera that covers most kinds of professional use unless you need medium format. Unfortunately it's not a Nikon
The D2H image is at least as good as the one from the Canon. The problem is that they aren't comparable at all. When not re-sized, the Nikon image will print to half page A4 at 300dpi, while the Canon image will print full page. Re-sizing to full A4 and full A3 is not a problem either, but however much you resize, the Canon image will always cover twice as much area.
I re-sized the image of the skier on Canons homepage to 70x100cm (poster format) at 300dpi and printed a crop. That looked very impressive, and from a normal viewing distance for posters (around one meter), it gave the impression of maintaining every little detail, even the small screw-heads on the guy's boots.
It is interesting to see that the megapixel race seems to have wound down and whilst I think Canon have come up with a really nice all rounder camera I dont think that I would upgrade / change my d2x for it. In fact, I doubt that I would trade up my d2x to Nikon's next pro body. I just cannot see what they could come up with (that I need) that I cannot already achieve with the d2x. More pixels, more speed, greater range ... sure but have I really suffered over the last few years and have I lost out on assignments because of its 'limitations'? no
I am sure nikon will come out with something that will competing with this one. It's like one chess game between nikon and canon. And yes I am Nikon fan...kinda hard to give up something that I have been using for last 12 years and I like using. Whats going to be price of this canon camera anyways? Its gotta be expensive to begin with.
great images indeed. but give a fine camera like that to me and i manage to get real garbage out
i just wonder: can't we get these with the old 1d mk2? or even with a D200? Or am i completelly naive now? Guess my next dslr is going to be a S5pro, i will get real garbage out of that too. i dunno...
Azul wrote:
i just wonder: can't we get these with the old 1d mk2? or even with a D200? Or am i completelly naive now? Guess my next dslr is going to be a S5pro, i will get real garbage out of that too. i dunno...
I agree. As long as we talk about low ISO, and as long as the advanced features of the Canon are not needed, producing at least as good images with the D200, or even with the D80, is not a problem. The issue for a lot of pro photographers though, is that some of those features are sometimes needed, and in the case of the 1DIII, the list is rather long.
There's of course no reason to believe that Nikon has spent the last couple of years sleeping. There will obviously be one or more new pro models within the not too distant future. But just like the D200, and the D80, are very impressive cameras from Nikon's side, I think it's fair to admit that today, Canon has launched the most impressive pro DSLR body so far.
Nikon should be flattered that many of the new Canon's features are copied from the D2X, like low-light AF capability, grouping of AF points, dual-channel sensor readout... and it looks like Canon has finally left the stone age and is now using the same Sony battery as the D2X and D2H.
My spec sheet can beat up your spec sheet....... I've been making images since 1973 and I've yet to take a picture with a spec sheet.........
I'm sure there will be lots more spec sheets in our future and I'm sure there will be threads just like this one.
Actually this camera is nothing compared to what Canon has on the drawing board..........one word.....................NUCLEAR. No more battery complaints...it will have the ability to go to ISO 12K with abolutely no noise.
Well.....the specs are impressive......but the really important information is missing in these articles...............the REBATES!...
Mother of mercy.............Is this......the end of Nikon ........fade to black..............
I for one am really impressed. If the D3H had these specs we'd be prancing around taking photos of Nikon with a "Mission Accomplished" banner behind it
I'm sure Nikon has some good stuff, but this baby would be hard to top.
If those sample pictures is what the fuss is about...what's all the fuss about? Is this a camera designed for geeks where only specs give you bragging rights and actual performance gains have to be measured by emotion rather than practical benefit? Seems so. It has lots of bling-bling for the gear collector and a lot of so-what stuff for the serious photographer. How does adding a "must have" feature such as a shaking sensor add to Canon's claim of better reliability? Adding the complexity of more moving parts doesn't prove the claim. Only the test of time will prove whether or not it makes the camera more reliable. If the self cleaning sensor works so well how come the software that comes with it has "Dust Delete Data" functions?
I don't care what brand is stamped on the frame, clearly this a piece of equipment designed for cash laden point-and-shooters. I wouldn't be surprised if it came with window decals to stick on a pimped 4x4 as well. If this is what Nikon and the photography industry in general is supposed to be aiming at to stay in the game it doesn't look good for serious photographers and photography.
The camera lists for $3999, as for Nikon, they will be fine. I have a D2X which meets just about all of my needs no matter the new latest greatest Canon, I am happy for the Canon shooters.
suppose i have the money to buy such a nice new camera... hm i think i would like the 200-400 F4 vr more sheeesh i'd like that! i will put a sticker on my D40 body reading D3Xi. Dunno what the i stands for but it sounds nice... i think i really like that lens...
Why? i dunno... i think it will be nice next to the 70-200
nevertheless a D3Xi with a 200-400 is also nice....
How is it possible that i worked with a minolta film slr for 10 years... just 1! Strange... i never bought additional lenses. if i needed superior resolution i slapped in a iso25 film.... aaah life was easy then...
Everyone has different needs but this camera satisfies almost every shooters desires.
I've switched to Nikon from my 1D based system at great expense and have been very haapy on the whole of it. The problems that the 1D gave me were few but happen to hit to the fundamental ways I approached shooting and were a real liability for me. It's interesting but besides the point for me, that many with the same body and the same shooting genre work around the problem and are content - but I was not.
I find problems with the D2h and Nikon in general but not of the problems are as fundamental so I am far more happy. That is not to say all is perfect.
Most of my problems with Canon revolved around focus and ergonomics.
This model fixes one of the two showstoper focus details and most of the ergonomic biggies.
The addition of the focus selector to the 1D is a huge closing of the gap to nikons previous advantage. REad the white paper. That things focus setups are Wow and fabulously versatile. With the focus selector Canon has taken away the biggest reason that I moved to Nikon. Now for me the question is about how the focus algorithm is. Before it had too much jitter but if they made focus tracking as Nikon has it - this camera would be a perfect body. It has enough megapixels for any realistic need and not so much that the megapixel count makes sports shooting a drag. My compliments to canon for having the wisdom not to get carried away with megapixels here - we all know this could have been much more if they simply wanted specmanship.
The focus point layout now is the best in the biz. The selectable points are easy to get to and quick to change have the benefit of having the invisible points in those times where one fails to get a contrast edge right over one of the primary points. I say this is better now than the Nikon way with the selector because while I love it - I also have huge hands and have found that with nikon people of small hands have a hard time using the ergos with portrait mode. Canon has gotten the buttons more exactly identical with this model between portrait and landscape mode so it looks like they are really listening and refining the brand. Same goes for the new way with all the buttons.
We need to appreciate this model for the progress it brings but not be short sighted. This is going to be out in a month. (that is sooo cool compared to Nikon where the product ships so soon after anouncement - while Nikon ussualy takes six months!) I would be very happy to feel a bit in second place for up to a year or so with the D2h waiting for a D3h. I want Nikon to get the next one as much better from the D2h as canon has done with the step from the mark 2 to the mark 3. I want that kind of refinement and am willing to be patient. Heck why not when I will keep any D3h for years. It's worth the wait and not to panick.
What I believe are still Nikon strengths are The high speed crop mode and the feel in hand for the way I like to work. What I would like to see in the next D3h is HSC, the focus points brought in closer so they cover a tigher area. I shot once with a F6 and it was perfect! So I am crossing my fingers for those two things. Other things that are important to me is an iso 50 (please! I need it!) and the ability to save settings in the banks so they can be changed back easily (like on the D2x) - and that is about it!
If Nikon gives me those few things I will be a happy Nikon shooter - despite having to look at all these white lenses at each race which will have the new mark three attached and knowing that the bodies are fantastic with nothing really bad to say about the "other" brand.
I have respect for the progress that Canon has made today. It will be a fantastic body.
But that takes nothing away from how good I feel about my D2h while I wait for the D3h.
I may even get exactly what I have been waiting for and perhaps even in less time than I think. Who knows there may even be other goodies such as it being in exaclty the same form as the F6. Now that would make me feel like and idiot if I had no patience. Suppose I got an F6 with a 1.5 crop 10 megapixel sensor that was expanable with the push of a button to a 6 megapixel high speed crop of 2x. Suppose it could shoot at 8, 9 or 10 fps ( I really don't care which as 8 is good enough) and hold 60 raw files in buffer. (the 1D mk3 hold 30 raw). Suppose it came in at $3600 and shipped in two months after the big announcement.
It would make me a very happy nikon shooter, who has to admit that even the canon guys have it good. But it's not really about us vs them anymore - or should not be - just the same way as it's not about only megapixels now.
A bit of patience then. These are good times for all.
do you have to replace or empty a dustbin? 
