Competition heating up. Canon, get off your duff.

Has Sony raised the bar once again? I’ve been looking over a few reviews at http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/AA7​00/AA700A.HTM and from the sample pics Sony has clearly caught up in the noise department easily matching the 40D at ISO-3200 and providing a very usable ISO 6400 as well. Couple that with unlimited buffer shooting jpeg, 5 FPS, 12.2 mpix, and in body IS providing 2~4 stop improvement, and a high res 3” LCD and a price tag equal to the 40D it looks to be a strong competitor. I’m not ready to dump my 40D, XTi or 5D just yet but come on Canon, hear them footsteps and pick up the pace.

I agree, with Nikon upping the ante and now sony. Canon needs to do something to stay ahead or up to speed. I'm sure they will do though.

Being the market leader you'd hope they'd be capable of keeping up with the next generation... maybe Canon will surprise us with some awesome in-body IS in the 50D

nah i wouldnt want in-body IS. But i realy hope (and believe) that canon is gonna pop a big one soon. They have to. You dont just go from the leading name in DSLRs to third. They didnt stop their R&D or anything and its probable that they knew what Nikon was doing so im sure they have something up their sleeve.

FlexiPack wrote in post #4185220
I agree, with Nikon upping the ante and now sony.

Didn't Nikon buy their latest sensors from Sony? Or am I misremembering?

In the silicone world you can't always be the leader. Especially not with Canon's crappy attitude toward the customer. They will come back at some point after they fire part of the marketing division and merge the 1D R&D team with the xxxD/xxD/xD team. But i don't expect them to make a comeback in less then a few years. Think Intel vs AMD.

The fact that Canon choses to cut prices rather then keep up with the competition performance wise leads me to believe these is a classic story of turtles and rabbits

I am not sure there is any reason to berate Canon!
If Nikon or Sony come out with a 22mp + built in IS and filter coffee maker, does that mean Canon people have to sell their equipment?
Will your canon not take pictures as good as it used to?
If people are worried about keeping up with the neighbours, they are probably not photographers.

In the silicone world you can't always be the leader. I totally agree with this statement. I do however don't believe that Canon has a crappy attitude towards its customers. How do you come up with this. I think that if you saw a customer satisfaction survey of a broad range of Canon customers that they would rank fairly high.

We are going to have Canon leading the pack for a period and then Nikon will step ahead. I firmly believe that for the foreseeable future it will be these two in the battle. I don't see companies like Sony, Pentax, et all to be a threat in taking away first place from either of the first two.

I always find it interesting that as soon as someone comes out with something new that Canon has dropped the ball.

ssim wrote in post #4186986
I do however don't believe that Canon has a crappy attitude towards its customers. How do you come up with this. I think that if you saw a customer satisfaction survey of a broad range of Canon customers that they would rank fairly high.

Actually
http://www.news.com/83​01-13580_3-9768037-39.html
http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1188​507146.html

And if you check the date that was before Nikon's home run with the D300&D3, before Sonys A700, before the whole 1D3 AF fiasco, before the major CQ issues suffered by the 40D.
What i as actually referring to was the way Canon's marketing division treats us. The way they've been pushing things to the brinks of rudeness just because they could, going as far as crippling firmware features. Sure, you'll probably say that it's just economics but compare that to Nikon's approach and i think in all fairness Nikon proves to regard it's customers a lot better. Before D300/D3 they were not the best, but they've always did their best to provide considering they have a lot less resources then Canon, and to my knowledge they never crippled a lower camera, they just added more bells to the higher one. And i think that shows in the survey.

I think many people have lost sight of the fact that most success in photography is because of the person behind the tool, not the tool in front of the person.

madhatter04 wrote in post #4187662
I think many people have lost sight of the fact that most success in photography is because of the person behind the tool, not the tool in front of the person.

I've been hearing that a lot lately... psychologically speaking it's a textbook last resort consolation which Canon shouldn't take lightly.
Thing is, while certainly true in a sense, it would look a lot better in someone's signature instead of being off topic, in a threat regarding the value you get for your hard earned money, marketing and gear, rather then art. Sometimes it's wiser not to mix art-talk with gear-talk. Another statement that would go well in a signature

Umm... yeah. Ignorance is bliss sometimes, I suppose!

We need to remember that there are 3 markets out there.

The professionals, who spend big dollars on the best of the best, and invest heavily in complete systems. As individuals they spend a lot, but as a group they are relatively small in the DSLR market, and hardly factor in the camera market.

The hobbyist/semi-pro/keen amature. As individuals they spend more than the average, on a camera and want something with more flexibility and power than a compact or P&S . They currently make up the bulk of the DSLR market, and a healthy dent in the camera market.

The average Joe. As individuals they will spend the lest on a camera, but are potentially the largest market as the currently make up the bulk of the camera market, although they tend to shy away from DSLR's because of the cost and complexity.
Of course as interest in "Having the best" increases, and the cost of DSLR's drops, this segment of the market becomes more and more important, and the marketing will be targeted more and more at them, since they are the most open to it.

Until they do something about the cost of some of their lenses, I don't care how good the body is... it's the system we're buying into.

Matt

hitmanh wrote in post #4188180
Until they do something about the cost of some of their lenses, I don't care how good the body is... it's the system we're buying into.

Matt

I was talking with a pro shooter last weekend about this very same issue. He was trading in his whole Canon kit to go Nikon in November - he picks up his new D3s November 23rd - and challenged him on lens price difference. His comeback was basically even if the Nikon stuff is 15-20% more expensive, if as a pro that is what it takes to have the best tools available, no worries - it's a done deal. I was specifically talking to him about his 600/f4. I was hoping to nab it when he traded in. He basically said that if the price difference of $6999 for the canon vs up to $7999 for the Nikon made a huge difference to you, you needed to go back to the shallow end of the pool. You spend what you need to spend to get then best end product. If he can shoot at ISO 6400 or higher and get the same or better results then Canon at 3200... no issues. He also said the $3000 price difference between the Canon and the Nikon would more then make up for the lens price difference.

I was all set to go Nikon too until Canon re-announced the 200 f2.0.

I do think Canon got fat dumb and complacent - at our expense. They had a business model where they were going to slowly milk us for small improvements... small hops like the 20/30/40d, hoping the same crowd will do the same upgrade to the 50d in 12 months. I don't think Canon has any great things they are holding back. They played their trump card - the 1Ds MkIII, and it didn't rock the world. And they increased the price by $1000. Nikon has held their prices with each generation. Canon is slowly introducing price creep into the mix. As someone who has shot Canon since 1986, I am feeling a little used and let down. I am not a brand loyalist.... don't really care it its a ford, chevy, or dodge. I just want value. It that is Canon or Nikon (or even Sony\Minolta), so be it.

Oh snap.... did you see that the sony menus rotate when the camera is rotated.... dang. Someone was thinking.