What is your take on the Canon Powershot Pro1?

[MRCPhoto]

There is a short article about it in the latest PC Photo Mag. It has an L lens (28 - 200mm) but only an ISO equivalency of 50 - 400. On my film Canon SLR, I usually only use a Tameron 28-80mm and a Tameron 80- 210mm) but of course, I can go to a much higher speed film. I don't know. I feel utterly stupid when it comes to making all these decisions about switching to digital (especially on a budget!). Sorry, I'm not one of those photographers who (at this point in my career!) gets $5000 a session. I think I need a good stupid persons book on photography. Any recommendations?
Meesha

[Jerry Eisen]

Read this

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/canon-powershot-pro1.shtml

[rsnadel]

As an owner, my take is that it produces wonderful pictures in many situations. It also has some weaknesses that I wish were not there:
* delay in establishing focus/shutter delay
* weak onboard flash
* built only for limited action photography (i.e. works ok when you can "predict" where the subject will be, such as a cyclist rounding a track at a given time)

Having said that, I have taken some very pleasing pictures. But I also sent my camera back to Canon this week to see if they could do anything about the lag time in focus.

[John_T]

Of course it depends on what you want, what you have used before and what your expectations are as to whether it is right for you. Everything is relative, and since the Pro 1 is placed between P&S and EOS, you are covered for P&S and have some of the upper class goodies too.

I'm quite satisfied with mine because I use it to the full extent of it's capabilities, while not expecting it to do more. Given its size and weight, you get quite a lot of performance and features out of it without having to lug a ton around. Go to a store and play with one for a while, carefully checking out all its features, such as the flip out LCD which is more useful than you'd think at first glance.

On the other hand, if you already have a bunch of lenses, you might want to take a hard look at a DRebel. Whatever you do buy, soooner or later you will more, so get the one that will hold you for a while. You can get good images out of any of them, so that is not the most important factor.

[Andy_T]

Meesha,

you should definitely try it out ... as well as the DRebel before making a decision.

The advantages of the DRebel are
- faster and more responsive autofocus
- flexibility to use interchangeable lenses (like on your Canon film SLR)
- possibility to use your existing equipment (if it's EOS and not e.g. Canon FD)

The advantages of the Pro1 are (among others)
- compact design
- not much hassle to get good photos 'out-of-the-box'

Other cameras that might be interesting for you to compare might be the G5, the G3 (used) and the A80. They also make great photos at a lower price and are good entry level digital cameras.

Best regards,
Andy

[kb244]

It is really hard to make the comparism between an SLR and a Consumer Digital, as they are intended for different consumer markets.

Digital Rebel is more or less versitale, aimed towards the consumer that will buy all the accessories, lens, attachments, desire greater control and will use the camera above and beyound the point and shoot and prosumers.

The Pro1 is aimed at the folks who want a camera with alot of features, are not too particular about noise ( in comparism to rebel, keep in mind ISO 400 on the Pro1 is alot noisier than even say ISO 1600 on the rebel due to the smaller sensor size ) Probally will never print larger than 8x10 from a convetional home photo printer, or probally wont sell the shots. Also these are the people who want everything they need in a single box, despite drawbacks, its trying to pack everything into a jack-of-all-trades camera.

While the Pro1 image quality probally wouldnt match up to a digital rebel with an expensive lens(especially when it comes to noise, longer exposure, chromatic abberations, and other problems associated with smaller sensor size), for what it does you get it alot cheaper and are less likely to have to buy anything extra with it, and will probally become less confused with the pro1 than you would with the rebel.

Also as Andythaler first mentioned, the rebel because the motor that drives the focus is in the lens, and because it is an SLR (Single Lens Reflex) focusing is going to be far faster than what the Pro1 will be capable of.

Since it sound like you already have experience with Canon SLRs, the move to the rebel will probally be just as steep as a learning curve as the move to the Pro1, in my opinion you should go with the Rebel if you dont mind it's size. Because least with the rebel the knowledge you've gained on setting film speeds, shutter, aperture will be far more flexible than with the Pro1. You just have to keep in mind, any of the lens you have that will fit on the AF/EF mount, there is a 1.6x crop maginification, meaning that tamron 28-80 and 80-210 you have will actually yeild results in the 44-128 and 128-336mm range. Not a problem if you want more zoom, but can be annoying if you are aiming on the wide-angle of things. The Pro1's 28-200mm will yeild the actual 28mm equivilant upto 200mm. It is a little more expensive to find a 18mm or less wide angle lens to get the 28mm equivilance on the rebel.

Well thats my 2 cents, I'll shut up now before the post gets too big.

By the way I've owned the Canon Powershot G3 for about a year before finally picking up the rebel, great camera, alot cheaper than the Pro1, and in my honest opinion I could probally get just as good results as the Pro1 with it, although that might be somewhat blantant to say.

[John_T]

ISO50 on the Pro 1 is equivalent to ISO100 on the Drebel and there is a scale for the equivalents on up. Maybe somebody here has it. I rarely even think to move my Pro 1 above ISO50.

Noise is a relative and not a constant. Correctly exposed Pro 1 images have no noise while increasingly incorrectly exposed images may have increasingly more noise, though not necessarily. This is multi-factoral. I rarely have so much noise in a borderline shot that that can't be fixed. Over noisy shots are usually dumped for reasons other than the noise. These factors will be true of many cameras.

I regularly print drop-jaw Pro 1 images at 13"x19" that will rival those from any camera. That being said, prints of images from any camera will be more relative to the quality of the printer and paper than the camera. Anything said to the contrary is flatly untrue.

The Pro 1 has a USM driven L lens, and with the TC-DC58A that gives a 28mm-300mm focal range in a package that is a pleasure to tote around. I've toted SLRs with all kinds of lenses all over the world, so I am very delighted with the size and weight of the Pro 1 and willing to take the effort to get the most out of it.

The Pro 1 is designed as an upper end all in one that largely succeeds and we can hope the next generation will fill the bill even more.

The DRebel is the low end EOS DSLR compromise for the sake of price. It is suitable for those who want an entry level DSLR that, in this sense, does the job well.

The Pro 1 and the DRebel are two different animals. You will find unfounded, inexperienced, slanted and ignorantly concocted opinions all over the web, but that doesn't give them any validity. Picking a camera is not a head trip.

[deermatt]

hey this is my first reply.. I was shopping for a nice camera for a while , and my choices were the pro1, d rebel, nikon 8700. I wound up buying the pro1 for many reasons. First, it has 8mp resolution so if you want large prints, it will print crisp. The pro1's lcd screen also has around 250,000 pixels in the screen, thats over 100k more than the next camera in its class. The lens has a ultrsonic zoom that is quiet and can zoom quite far. The body is made out of a hard metal aloy , apposed to the digital rebels all plastic body to save money. The pro1 has a L series lens found on other high end canons. I will be selling it shortly because i would like a 10d, but im happy with this camera.

[John_T]

Wait a bit Deermatt. There are rumors, as always, that at Photokina Canon will be coming out with a 3D, a much better DRebel, and a super 10D. You may want to go for either of them, or take advantage of a probable 10D price drop.

Pure speculation of course... :wink:

[kb244]

... it has 8mp resolution so if you want large prints, it will print crisp....

I wouldnt be too swayed by the megapixels, I've printed super-crisp pictures on 8.5x11 off a Powershot G3 which is 4 megapixels.

Provided the lens and focus was good I've found that even with 4 Megapixels you can print just fine even past 8x10. Possibly even upto 16x20. But I guess I would have to ask how large is large in your opinion?

[ScottK]

10d prices already seem to be dropping. I was at my local camera shop this afternoon, which usually is a bit overpriced, and they had it on sale for $1299 - the same price B&H has right now. I also just noticed B&H has the 300d kit for under $900.

When is Photokina? I've been waiting for the next round of dslrs all year....

[John_T]

http://www.koelnmesse.de/wEnglisch/photokina/index.htm

:lol: :D :D :D :D :D :shock:

[John_T]

(Chueeezzazz!????! :roll: :roll: Subdividion of DIA for Disinformation, Washington, DC)

8MP gives you double the cropping options and/or BIG prints without stretching or interpolation.

(Cheeezzzuzz!????!! :roll: )

[sdommin]

I looked at the Pro-1, and I really wanted to like it. Having used the G2 and G3, I thought that the Pro-1 would be an improvement (as if you could improve the G3! :? ), but I became very concerned about the amount of CA in sample photos that I saw. I think that Canon (and other camera makers) has gotten a little too wrapped up in the "more megapixel" thing, while not doing enough about the CA. I'm not concerned about noise, as I usually shoot ISO50 all the time anyway, and I really like Canon's way of rendering colors. I like the 28mm wide angle lens, and I really like the extra features (the built-in neutral density filter, for example).

Maybe their next prosumer model will be better.

[Cadenza]

I really like Canon's way of rendering colors. I like the 28mm wide angle lens, and I really like the extra features (the built-in neutral density filter, for example).

Maybe their next prosumer model will be better.

I really hope so, there's a lot to like in the Pro1. Does
anyone know if the Pro1s are selling more than Sony
F828, or any of the other 8mp models?

[I just don't understand the appeal of the Sony; an
8MP prosumer of that size and odd shape seems only
marginally more convenient to carry than a DSLR
system, at about the same cost of Digital Rebel kit.]

For the Pro2, a usable ISO 400-800, faster autofocus,
and maybe f2.0 is just about all we need. Am I asking
for too much?

[John_T]

One thing I've noticed with 8MP is that I frame my shots more generously, giving myself more room to play in PS with reframing, rule-of-thirds, etc., knowing I will always get the minimum of an A4 out of it.

Of course the reverse side of 8MP is that the sensor is amped up to deliver it, so under certain circumstances the pixels start to jump around, i.e. noise. It's the same with my G5, still a great camera. After all the noise about the noise, you can be certain Canon are going to do something about it, but then again that is dependent on the development of CCD/CMOSs. If you consider what the development of CPUs has reached, you know it's going to get better.

I very rarely see CA with my Pro 1, and when I have, I have seen it equally framing the same shot through my Swarovski binoculars. I can hardly fault the camera for that. Under certain conditions you will get CA with any optics. On CA, the Sony is king, couldn't believe it 'til I saw it.

My thing is that I live now, and I want what there is to have now. The Pro 1 will evolve or fall off the top of the product line. I don't care. Some new babe will show up.

As for the Sony 828, I can only imagine it must have some subliminial Trekky appeal. The A2 has Transformers appeal, the 8080 Roseanne appeal and the 1Ds has Schwarzenegger appeal. That's marketing... :wink: