Canon lenses = Ancient History?

buze wrote:
If Zeiss made a DSLR, it would cost the price of 2 cars (they just released a a "new" 35mm film rangefinder that costs almost the price of a 5D )

Nice camera it is:
http://www.zeissikon.c​om/index.htm

Does anyone know a technical (not economic) reason that the IS in lenses could not be upgraded like firmware? I don't know the pin outs of the contacts and this may be a stumbling factor? I suppose then they could sell some sort of cradle to fit it into to do this. Wait, they do already - a digital camera!

A good portion of the IS system is hardware, so there isn't much to upgrade unless parts are replaced.

That's an interesting question. My guess is the changes in the IS versions are largely firmware related. The basic hardware seems to be two solid state gyros and a corrective element controlled by two moving coils. I would assume all the loop control and modes are just firmware.

The thing is if Canon provided a method to upgrade the code. It may be the "code" is in a none writable device like ROM or ASIC rather than EPROM or FPGA or there is no method to upgrade without taking the lens appart.

Didn't read the whole thread, but CDS gave me an idea when he mentioned Galileo. So I googled "history of optics" and this is what I found.

Edit: To the original subject, I was pleasantly surprised to see those lenses mentioned were so new, expected them to be a lot older.

Since IS has progressed from a claimed 2-stop boost to a 3-stop boost in hand-holdability, I think we can take it as read that the sensors themselves have been improved and are of increased sensitivity. Further, the "tripod recognition" capability would most likely require additional circuitry.

Canon's short back-focus distance makes it possible to adapt most mechanical lenses to it. That is not true of Nikon or others. It's the same reason I bought a Pentax 645--it could easily be adapted to fit my lenses with the Pentacon Six mount. And the lenses made for it by Pentax are as superb as Canon's best for small format.

Plus, I'm a Canon owner since 1972 and became familiar with the electronic modal user interface with the T-90. I like the user interface used by Canon. My wife has an N70 and a D100 both from Noink, and those two are radically different in their approach, and not at all intuitive. By contrast, my Elan II and 10D operate very similarly.

And I think Canon is the best-run company in the biz. That means that they'll be first to bring prices down because of volume, and the least dependant on third-party suppliers.

Rick "who appreciates and selects lenses for their intrinsic character rather than their extrinsic specifications" Denney

But the perspective on the scene won't be the same from that different camera position.

Rick "camera position determines perspective, lens determines magnification, and format determines field of view at that magnification" Denney

Maybe but not necessarily. The tripod detection is almost certainly just an algorithmic based detection. The improvement of stop range could also be algorithmic. We just don’t know.

I agree, the IS itself must be just a form of a feedback control system that can only damp out to a certain range of input movement, once outside this limit it can't do much more. My guess would be that the input variable is just being looked at for tripod detection, ie if the input is below a certain value for a certain time then the camera must be on a steady surface.

Exactly. And the improvement in stop range could be by using a more advanced loop filter, all most likely algorithmic.