Yohan Pamudji wrote in post #10955797
This is Canon we're talking about. What you propose would be a huge paradigm shift for them. I wouldn't hold my breath for it if I were you.
I agree, it would be a huge paradigm shift, so I'm not holding my breath at all.
Besides, I disagree that either one would have to be dropped if they got too close. Look at how close the D700 and D3 are. But again this is Canon, and they definitely have their product segmentation paranoia demons to deal with.
I'm not saying that they have to drop one if they get too close, I'm saying that based on Canon's historical tendency towards overprotection of their product line, it's extremely unlikely that they'll let two products in their line, that have such a huge price difference, get that close.
Canon can, of course, greatly disappoint once again by producing a 5Dmk3 with Yet Another Variation of their Fisher Price autofocus system. But if Nikon steps up to the plate and offers higher resolution and 1080p video in their D700 successor, Canon's offering will be a laughingstock. The previous offering gave video and a substantial improvement in high ISO performance, so wedding photographers and videographers, both of whom saw significant use for the video feature and quality, ate it up. But this time Canon will no longer have that to fall back on as a distinguishing characteristic. Game changing features such as video aren't something you can pull out of your hat every generation or two. The 5Dmk2's success is as much the product of luck as anything else.
So: if Canon keeps the 5D series on the same track and puts yet another variation of its Fisher Price autofocus system into the 5Dmk3, there's little they could do to make it a truly compelling upgrade for the current 5Dmk2 audience, and such a camera certainly won't be of much interest to new full-framers when, by that time, they'll be able to pick up a 1Ds3 for not much (if any) more money -- and get a real autofocus system on top of the other pro-level features the 1Ds3 has to offer. At that point, the only thing the 5Dmk3 would really get you over the 1Ds3 would be video and perhaps somewhat better high-ISO performance, and it would offer nothing over Nikon's inevitable successor to the D700.
If they finally put a real autofocus system in the 5Dmk3, then suddenly it's nipping at the heels of the 1Ds4 for anyone other than working pros, and that's something their marketing dweebs who control the company go through massive pains to avoid (just look at what they did with the 50D's "successor").
At that point the only thing they could do to really separate the 5Dmk3 from the 1Ds4 would be to put a massively high resolution, high dynamic range sensor in the 1Ds4 and not do the same for the 5Dmk3. I could see them doing that, because working pros would certainly pay the kind of premium that the 1Ds series commands in order to get medium-format levels of resolution and dynamic range.
And that last is really the only play I think Canon may have left that would allow them to keep their product differentiation intact while making the 5Dmk3 worth buying.
