Blinded by the $899/$999 price of the Digital Rebel?

[The Photo Tuell]

I get the feeling that someone at Canon is laughing at us. Almost everyone is excited about the high quality 10D sensor being put into a crippled and dumbed down Rebel Ti body and being sold for $899.

Sure it is exciting, but I wish it wasn't such of a downgrade from the 10D. Things like the pentamirror viewfinder instead of pentaprism are OK, that probably saved some money, but arbitrary crippling like taking out the flash exposure compensation (which was in the cheaper G1, G2 etc) is almost going too far.

The only new thing on the Digital Rebel is the EF-S mount and economy EF-S lens. I wish Canon would announce an updated 10D (no crippled options, maybe even some new options) with the EF-S mount for ~$1200. I would buy that for sure whereas I'm still a little annoyed by all the arbitrary limitations placed on the Digital Rebel.

Something really new like a stabilized 10D sensor for same price as the current 10D would be really neat. Canon doesn't seem to have much real technical innovations besides quality and price. Sure those are important but real innovations like the anti-shake CCD on the Minolta A1 combined with Canons quality and price would be better. :)

Anyone else feel the same way?

[Hatem Eldoronki]

I thought it was a different sensor?!

[RichardtheSane]

Look at it fromt he marketing point of view, canon are NOT going to release a camera that people would buy to replace a 10D only a few months after the 10D was released. Just won't happen because it makes poor economic sense. No, they want to introduce a DSLR to the consumer market, and have done exactly that. I am suprised about FE compensation, but that is only really one feature.
They are targeting the people that would have spent 700-800 pounds on a high end digi camera such as a nikon 5700 - and tempting them with a DSLR that comes with a lens! Bet it works too.

[Dans_D60]

Sure a few sizzle features would be nice and like any product one would like all the competitive attributes included in one package. Nonetheless, Canon does get it. And I mean REALLY get it. Canon is the only organization that consistently exceeds even the most optimistic financial projections. They could have spent time and energy (investment money) on frilly features but instead they find a way to manufacture high-yield CMOS sensors, in-house, at a cost that no one has yet to figure out. They find a way to make acceptable profit margins where the competition must go into cash reserves just to keep up. Current projections show a whopping 500% increase in Canon digital cameras sales in 2003. Yep … they get it.

Dan
http://www.pettusphoto.com

[CyberDyneSystems]

And why would anyone need a $1,500.00 camera that was retrofitted to take Canons new cheap $100.00 lens?

[dadsgm]

Just wait til NOnember and get the 8MP Sony 818 with Carl Zeiss lens 28-105?mm

Believe this camera will cause both Canon and Nikon to standup and take notice.

[gandini]

Let's put this one to rest right away--a 2lb camera with 8 million high noise pixels and a nice piece of glass hanging off the front, especially when you don't need it. Yeh, I think Canon shakes in it's boots when it contemplates those hundred odd people rushing to get the Sony...
I think a lot (tens of thousands) of people will want Andre's little digital. Count me among them.

cheers

[Longwatcher]

dadsgm wrote:
Just wait til NOnember and get the 8MP Sony 818 with Carl Zeiss lens 28-105?mm

Believe this camera will cause both Canon and Nikon to standup and take notice.

Sony F828 pixel pitch 2.7um 8.0MP
Canon 10D pixel pitch 7.4um 6.3MP
Canon 1Ds pixel pitch 8.8um 11.1MP
Kodak DCS14N pixel pitch 7.9um 13.8MP
Nikon D100 pixel pitch 7.8um 6.11MP

Which of of the above is not like the others?

I learned from some image scientists I know who work on aerial cameras that for Visible through Near IR a pixel pitch of approximately 8um is the optimum size. So 2.7 is pretty far of optimum.

The Sony's low light capabilities make it a great camera for select applications, but in terms of quality it is obviously going to have problems. I may get one at some point because it will operate in lower light then the 10D, but since quality is always more important to me, with a pixel pitch of 2.7um, I can't see it getting very good quality in my terms.

[slejhamer]

Sony has really gotten some marketing mileage out of their "Zeiss" lenses. As has been widely reported for years now, their lenses are designed by Zeiss but are actually manufactured in Japan by ... well, not Zeiss. :)

This is not to say that they are of poor quality - who knows? it may even be the case that the Japanese-made lenses are in every way as good as those made by Zeiss (or Leica, or Schneider ... ) in Germany. But just make sure you know what you've got before waving the flag.

(I also recall at least one report comparing the Canon G1's lens to that of whatever Zeiss-lensed Sony was out at the time, and maybe the lens of another camera or two, and concluding that they were all the same!)

Good for Sony for finally ditching their proprietary media card and going with compact flash. It will be a popular consumer camera, as will the DigiReb. Just hope that the first releases of the DigiReb do not have the 10D's misfocus issues...

P.S. Anybody heard from Nikon?
(Expected response: Who? )

[In2Dirt]

Marketing and economics discussions will have to do I guess, while we wait for some good field reporting. We're long-cycle buyers, (Fuji FinePix 2400 still hard at work) and this product release really has my attention. You're always slightly wary about the product cycle, but with this one Canon seems to have lifted our gaze from the G3-level, and made it comfortable ($$$) to consider something more. So, blinded, (perhaps) I do count it a good day for having found this forum. Cheers.

[RichardtheSane]

Just wait til NOnember and get the 8MP Sony 818 with Carl Zeiss lens 28-105?mm

Thing is, sony are not looking to take the market from canon or nikon, and neither manufacturer will flinch with the release of it. At the end of the day, the sony will be a consumer P&S, it will be a high quality P&S, but it will not capture images like a canon can :)