A90 wish list.

[stduc]

I'd like to see what other people would like Canon to do for the next camera in the A series, lets call it the A90 for now.
This is my wish list (in no particular order)

Keep the size and weight the same as the A70, they are just about right.
Move the zoom control back to where it was on the A20 - under your thumb.
Up the optical zoom to *6 or better.
Reduce chromatic aberration.
Keep all present modes as on the A70 - i.e. restore 640*480 movie mode. (In fact don't remove anything the A70 can do).
Up movie mode length to card capacity. (i.e. remove 30 sec/3min limit.
Up frame rate for movie mode to 30fps (switcheable back to 15fps).
Allow zoom during movie recording.
Add stereo sound recording.
Improve exposure algorithm in Auto and P modes so that after 1/125 sec the aperture is closed down.
Improve auto exposure modes to reduce number of dark shots in poor lighting over exposed shots in very bright light.
Improve sharpening algorithms so that the camera gives a better performance on Auto mode for newcomers.
Allow user to set LCD brightness to help in bright light.
Improve the AF assist light (or at least make it work).
Improve the red eye reduction lamp, again so that it works.
Allow manual focus to be set with the display off.
Display camera’s idea of distance to subject (and record this in EXIF data). This is to aid in setting/checking the focus.
Add an orientation sensor. (I believe this is present in the A80)
Add ability to zoom display when taking a shot to assist in checking focus on macro shots.
Add a hot shoe for flash (or at least an external flash socket so you can use a bar on the tripod mount)
Keep the price about the same.

If I think of anything else I'll post it another time.

Comments please.

[stopbath]

Here's my add on list of goodies for the etherware A90:

LCD:
Grid overlays (architecture, thirds...)
Blink overblown highlights.

Focus:
Blink focus (pixels with high contrast neighbors)
Magnify center of LCD for manual focus.
Aperture and Zoom sensitive hyperfocus guide incorporated with the manual focus scale (which has more distance markings on it) [displays only in manual or aperture modes.]

Misc:
Motion stablizer to help reduce camera movement.

Process data to card faster so that sequential shooting is faster.

Increase top shutter speed to 1/8000.

Flash sync at any speed.

Both first and second curtain flash sync available.

Add custom time setting (dial in time from 15 seconds to an hour or two.) Abortable by pushing release second time.

Multiple exposures (different overlay options.)

RAW files available.

Program shift. In Time, Aperture and Program mode, after pressing the button half way, you get an exposure read out. You can press the left or right buttons to shift the speed and aperture settings while retaining the correct exporsure. Such that during program mode, and the camera says: 1/125 at f4, you can press the left button and get: 1/100 at f4.5, again gets: 1/80 at f5... In Time and Aperture modes, this will update your setting.

Exposure bracketing (7 5 or 3 shots, by 1/3 to 2 ev variance)

[stduc]

Agreed and why not add:-

Reduced noise CCD settable from ISO 25 through ISO 800.

Histogram window.



Keep em coming.

[cA70]

I got this idea from my battery charger, what if you could either put 2,4 or 6 batteries in your camera and move a switch along to tell the camera how many it has. Cause 4 is heavy for a few quick shots, 2 would be better, but if you out for a big day, why not put 6 in.

Re-exposure duing the movies.

Gotta keep the swivel screen from the A80.

Keep the MP commin!

Mabey the webcam capability, i don't really wanyt it, but the amount of times people ask on here its not funny.

Mabey on camera image cropping

[stduc]

ca70 wrote:
I got this idea from my battery charger, what if you could either put 2,4 or 6 batteries in your camera and move a switch along to tell the camera how many it has. Cause 4 is heavy for a few quick shots, 2 would be better, but if you out for a big day, why not put 6 in.


Come on - 4 batts makes the weight just right and the camera's complicated enough - lets be reasonable here :-)
Now - reducing the power requirements so 2 bats are all thats needed might be worth the trade off.

ca70 wrote:
Re-exposure duing the movies.

I meant to say that myself. Very good idea
ca70 wrote:
Gotta keep the swivel screen from the A80.

Absolutely
ca70 wrote:
Keep the MP commin!

? ? ? ? ? ?
ca70 wrote:
Mabey the webcam capability, i don't really wanyt it, but the amount of times people ask on here its not funny.

And why not?
ca70 wrote:
Mabey on camera image cropping

Handy if you use direct print - but then I think it's already there isn't it?

I also thought of another one this morning. How about an automatic bracketing feature? Configurable as to exposure and number and of course something you can easily switch on or off.

[KevinG]

ca70 wrote:
I got this idea from my battery charger, what if you could either put 2,4 or 6 batteries in your camera and move a switch along to tell the camera how many it has. Cause 4 is heavy for a few quick shots, 2 would be better, but if you out for a big day, why not put 6 in.


This isn't doable. The batteries are wired in series, not parallel.... ie... the extra two batteries are not adding extra time to how long the power will last, they are adding voltage.

Four 1.2v batteries wired in parallel (same ends connected together) will still produce 1.2v but will last 4 times as long (the load is shared).

Four 1.2v batteries wired in series (end to end) produce 4 times as much voltage (4.8v) but will not last any longer than a single battery - the current drain is still the same.

Only way you could make this work is to redesign the entire camera from the ground up to run off of 2.4 volts.


I like most of the other comments except one... the 6x zoom. You can't fit a 6x zoom in that small of a form factor without sacrificing image quality and light sensitivity... a lot of it. I'd prefer to keep the size and quality the same. Maybe a 3.5x or 4x zoom might be doable... ;).

[cA70]

How does my charger then either charge 2 or 4 bats at the flick of a switch?
I do know 6 would be heavy, but some days it would be good to know you could go out with a slightly heavier camera and not have to worry about taking another set of batteries and a bag, just the camera.

The other reason is so they can cater for everyone, if u think 4 is perfect and never wanna change, it will still be the right weight.

MP = Mega Pixels.

Webcam, well i dont have a fasanation to have live stream footage set across the net of myself.

Image cropping isn't, i don't really need it but i though i'd just bring up the idea.

[rainmanone]

Guyz... let me remind you that A80 is a LOW-END camera.

all these features will first go to the G series, then to the S series, and then to the A.

As for battary. After working in designing DigiCams (not in Canon...) I knw that the problem is not the draining of the battary, it's just that once the voltage drops below a certain level, the Camera will stop working, although the battaries are still usable.

They should use a better power circuit to utilize the Battary all the way down to 1V.

[cA70]

Has there been a flip out LCD in the G series before or is it the first for canon?

And to make a camera with all these things would be impossible for the price, thats whay its called a 'wish'.

[jlocatell]

add an indicator for % or how many MB CF card fullfillment.

-jl

[stopbath]

jlocatell wrote:
add an indicator for % or how many MB CF card fullfillment.

-jl

If you go into the format card option, it will show you how much card memory is used up. Just hit menu again to cancel.

Also, the camera shows you approximately how many more pictures could be made given your current settings (which is more valuable than just % of card used.) See the lower left corner for the number.

[cA70]

How about a % to show how much battery is left, rather then the 'black screen of death'. I've heard that because there NicMetHyd, this is either impossible or really hard to do.

Would be good though.

[stduc]

ca70 wrote:
How about a % to show how much battery is left, rather then the 'black screen of death'. I've heard that because there NicMetHyd, this is either impossible or really hard to do.

Would be good though.

Nice idea, but the camera has to know the theoretical battery properties. It can do this with a proprietory cell but not with 'any' cell as the A series can handle. It could make a crude guess, but there would have to be a way of telling the camera the milli amp hours of the battery and I think that would make it more trouble than most people could be bothered with. Anyone who has used a laptop on battery power knows that the technology of guessing battery life is pretty woeful anyway.

[cA70]

So these things will probally remain wishes for some time i'm thinking.

[stopbath]

Another feature that would be nice is a standby mode.
A little switch could activate 'standby' where upon, the camera will shut down power usage to a minimal current needed to check only the shutter button. LCD, metering, focus, zoom... it all shuts down until you hit the shutter button (the lens does not retract). Once you touch the shutter button, everything is powered on (no splash screen, just resumes where it left off) and you're ready to take pictures. The camera would go back into standby mode after a minute or so of no activity (no buttons pressed)
I suppose the flash could be 'optionally' kept charged in stand by.

The reason for this is that setting up the camera on power up takes energy and time. It would be nice to not have to turn on and initalize the camera for every picture if your pictures are spaced a fair time apart. Just turn it on, set it up, and put it in standby. Then when you see a shot you can snap it, but you're not seriously draining the battery until then.

[stduc]

stopbath wrote:
Another feature that would be nice is a standby mode..............


Nice one. I wonder how though how much power the CCD takes though as the rest (metering focus zoom flash) only seem take power when you press the shutter/zoom buttons anyway. So if you turn off the LCD have you achieved much the same effect? Anyone know?

Which gives me another thought - precharged flash would be nice and avoid that extra delay on top of focus delay after pressing the shutter button indoors. (All overcome by pressing halfway for a bit I know - but that's not always possible and it is vapourware were discussing here! :-)

[stopbath]

Thanks. Stand by is a feature I would really like since I often forget to turn off the LCD.

Having a flash always ready, would suck the juice out of the batteries. The capacitor does not store the energy well, so would continually need to be topped up.

Now if only the engineers in Japan, would log in, and read this thread! We could see a really cool next generation.:)


Oh another feature! Water/dust/dirt resistant. (not water proof to 10 meters, but enough to handle rain and snow.)

[Matzzzy]

Or atleast have an underwaterhousing as an included part.
That would surely be a nice surprise.

[cA70]

I have the underwater case, and it does get very bulky, and its expensive so the price of the combined package would be to much.

I'd like somthing that the olympus already does, its a slide cover over the zoom. And its strong compared to the two little plastic bits that they use now.

[Matzzzy]

Yea, I wouldn't mind having the underwaterhouse, but I'd first like to buy another lens for the camera.
I'm thinking of not paying my rent for a few months and only buy some stuff for the camera :)

[stduc]

matzzzy wrote:
Yea, I wouldn't mind having the underwaterhouse, but I'd first like to buy another lens for the camera.
I'm thinking of not paying my rent for a few months and only buy some stuff for the camera :)

So you'll be able to get some great shots - but be homeless!?!

[Matzzzy]

stduc wrote:
matzzzy wrote:
Yea, I wouldn't mind having the underwaterhouse, but I'd first like to buy another lens for the camera.
I'm thinking of not paying my rent for a few months and only buy some stuff for the camera :)

So you'll be able to get some great shots - but be homeless!?!



I'm sure my landlord won't put me on the street that fast...I could decorate his apartment with my photos :)
Nah, I'll write an extensive wishlist for X-mas instead.

[sklco]

Great topic, I started a similar one several weeks back - "My next Camera".

I would really like to see the JPEG2000 format catch on - better pix, smaller file size = more pictures on a memory card.

Also, a USB 2.0 HI Speed interface. This can't cost more than a dollar or two to implement, why aren't we seeing it on lots of digicams? I don't want to bother with an external card reader - my desk is cluttered enough! I like the convenience of just grabbing a cable and downloading the pictures directly from the camera.

I very much agree with the hot-shoe flash mount and the better zoom range. 5x might be just right.

...my A20 is hanging in there until the right feature set is on the scene!

[stduc]

sklco,

Thanks for your few kind words. I wish my A20 was still fully alive - I could have skipped the A70. Re your post, I totally agree with you, although personally I use a card reader for downloading.

I have a couple of items to add to the wish list however.

1 - Fix auto white balance - it's still as naff as the A20 on the A80!

2 - Add a 'Best Shot Selector' function. Basically, it works like continuous shooting except the camera modifies the focussing and the exposure slightly and only the 'best' shot is saved. It's simple to impliment because the way jpeg compression works ensures that (for the same subject) the clearest, most focussed image with the best detail will result in a larger file size. So the camera just deletes the smaller files. Obviously it only works on static subjects such as landscapes and flowers etc - but it would sure help in many situations.

[stopbath]

AWB: perhaps the standard white dot Auto White Balance could be an additional option to the TTL modes. It would naturally add a bit to the cost having another light sensor added to the camera.

Best Shot Selector: I think it's a poor choice of name Stduc... A better name would be Largest File Selector, as compositionally best can easily be skipped for a photo that just happend to have more clutter. Best Shot is too personal to reduce down to a file size check. Might miss the shot with the eyes in focus for a shot where the shirt is in focus (but not the face).

That reminds me of another feature: Shutter release on Focus. You select your focus area, then manualy preset the focus, then when the camera reads a subject being in focus in that area, it takes the photo. You just compose, then when the subject enters the frame, and gets in focus, bingo, a focused composed action shot. Available in sequential mode too.

[stduc]

'Best Shot Selector' would be for static images only! If the camera or the subject moved it would be useless! I was thinking of either macro mode and perhaps telephoto of medium distance subject. Perhaps we could additionally chose 'select' or 'mark' where select would only keep what the camera thinks of as best and mark would keep them all but put something in the exif data?

I quite like your idea of 'Shutter release on Focus' stopbath - one use might be as an intruder detector system!

[stopbath]

stduc wrote:
'Best Shot Selector' would be for static images only! If the camera or the subject moved it would be useless! I was thinking of either macro mode and perhaps telephoto of medium distance subject. Perhaps we could additionally chose 'select' or 'mark' where select would only keep what the camera thinks of as best and mark would keep them all but put something in the exif data?

I quite like your idea of 'Shutter release on Focus' stopbath - one use might be as an intruder detector system!

Exif data would be nice. That way you could confirm or disagree with the camera (since any auto function is never perfect and 'best' is subjective.)

Thanks but the "Shutter Release on Focus" isn't my idea. I've used it on Minolta film cameras. Great for moving subjects that is difficult to track focus on. True about the intruder alert, but you might just want to hook up a release (somehow) to a motion detector, and then shoot the entire room whenever something moves anywhere in the frame.

[Long]

-- -->[/quote]

[stopbath]

First and second curtain sync are really carry over phrases from film photography.

In SLRs the shutter is made with two curtains (little sheets of cloth or metal ) which traveled from one side to the other, one following the other. At 1/1000 second they would travel together with about a 1/4 inch seperating them. At the flash sync speed, the first would complete it's travel, then the second curtain would follow (sync would be only when both curtains are fully open.)

Some SLRs use metal leaf shutter curtains which run from top to bottom. This provides a slightly faster flash sync but are more fragile.

Flash could be synced to trigger after the the first curtain completed it's travel, or before the second curtain began it's travel. If your subject moves through the shot, flash will freeze the subject but ghost trails will result from the other movement. Swapping the curtain sync can alter the placement of those ghost trails.

You can't change the curtain sync on the a70 (which is why it's on the a90 wish list.)

I have a new item for the wish list:
The zone system: Using the spot, you select a hightlight, and a shadow reading. Ok. So far so good, but then you select the zones for the camera to place them! So read a cloud in the sky at zone 9, but you want to under expose for zone 8. Then you read the shadow (zone 1) and you want it at zone 2 (over expose). The camera now knows you want to contract the contrast, and highs and lows are to move. The same can be done for shift (read midrange zone 5, and place at zone 6)... This would be great for those shadow / sunlight shots. This naturally could result in two shots, the unmodified, plus the modified. Bonus here is that calculations are done in camera at a higher bit count! With careful setup, the original zone system jpeg would be printable as is.

Actually, they could add a further twist:
The zones could even be represented as a curves tool to keep things simple. (left right select zone, up down to modify in 1/3 steps.)

[mveach]

Here's my add on list of goodies for the etherware A90:

LCD:
Grid overlays (architecture, thirds...)
Blink overblown highlights.

Focus:
Blink focus (pixels with high contrast neighbors)
Magnify center of LCD for manual focus.
Aperture and Zoom sensitive hyperfocus guide incorporated with the manual focus scale (which has more distance markings on it) [displays only in manual or aperture modes.]

Misc:
Motion stablizer to help reduce camera movement.

Process data to card faster so that sequential shooting is faster.

Increase top shutter speed to 1/8000.

Flash sync at any speed.

Both first and second curtain flash sync available.

Add custom time setting (dial in time from 15 seconds to an hour or two.) Abortable by pushing release second time.

Multiple exposures (different overlay options.)

RAW files available.

Program shift. In Time, Aperture and Program mode, after pressing the button half way, you get an exposure read out. You can press the left or right buttons to shift the speed and aperture settings while retaining the correct exporsure. Such that during program mode, and the camera says: 1/125 at f4, you can press the left button and get: 1/100 at f4.5, again gets: 1/80 at f5... In Time and Aperture modes, this will update your setting.

Exposure bracketing (7 5 or 3 shots, by 1/3 to 2 ev variance)


You can have all this except the price. Sounds like you need another $2,000. But while we are wishing, I like all yours + larger ccd

[stopbath]

....See above...


You can have all this except the price. Sounds like you need another $2,000. But while we are wishing, I like all yours + larger ccd

Not sure about the price increase, it's mostly software, and most of it is easily done. Add a few buttons, add a flywheel gizmo, add some more instructions in the ROM.

Did I forget the full frame CCD! If Kodak can put on in an SLR, (just under 14megs in a Nikon SLR body...) why not compacts!!! (This is a wish list anyways...) Larger CCD (or CMOS) would help noise issues so much!:)

[bibby]

Does anyone know - when can we expect A90(if that name is gonna be)?

[stopbath]

Exactly sometime between soon and awhile from now :)