The interwebs are abound with rumors about what the next Canon cameras to be launched will be. We know that there are events going on August 19th and September 1st. Canon Rumors says that the former will be for Powershots and the latter for the EOS line, seemingly the 1D Mk IV. But we’ve also been hearing rumors that the lower mid-level EOS line will see some more revamps on the 19th as well. Here’s a compilation of all the rumors we’ve seen and heard up to this point in the year so maybe we can sort this all out.
January
We were hoping for an announcement of some sort about the pro line of cameras back around this month, but we really didn’t hear much. All we got was that a budget was in place.
February
This month is when a little bit more buzz started coming out. We started hearing more about the Canon 60D or Canon 7D and more 1D Mk IV rumors and speculation. This is around the time when the 7D started sounding more like a Nikon D300 killer of some sort. This is also when we heard speculation about the use of a 16MP full frame sensor in the 1D Mark IV, while still maintaining 10 fps.
April
In April, different 1D Mk IV rumors started coming out pointing and different possibilities for the camera. We heard things like a 16MP full frame sensor, 18.2MP full frame sensor with 12fps and built in WiFi capabilities, and a 16MP sensor with 11fps. The speculation here grew even stronger because around this point we started to hear more and different things, which made trying to weed out the truth even harder to do.
June
The 60D and 1D Mk IV rumors continued. It was claimed that the 60D will have GPS built-in with WiFi as an additional option. Further, the 1D Mk IV was speculated to have the same features as well as have an APS-H sensor.
July
The Canon 3D rumors started pushing their way back to the top again. Whatever it is, it sounds very similar to the 7D in that it’s supposed to blow the Nikon D300 away. It was also said at this point that it will be announced after the D300 successor. With the D300s already announced, there is a possibility that we may hear about it soon.
Analysis
It makes total sense that these announcements will come as the 50D and the 5D Mk II were announced at around the same time. Additionally, the 1D and 1Ds are both in dire need of an upgrade. With the 5D Mk II still moving units very quickly, Canon probably will not replace it yet and will surely wait to see what Nikon has to give us in the form of the D700 successor. However, Canon needs something new to take on the Nikon D3x, D3, and D300.
As it is, Canon may have a hard time sticking with an APS-C sensor camera to take on the D300. Take a look at this chart and you’ll see why.
(See it larger here at Phillip Bloom’s Blog)
According to the chart, there are two types of APS-C sensors. Canon uses the smaller one vs the one that Nikon and Sony use. Because of the smaller sensor, they can surely make the smaller body cameras that will appeal to users with smaller hands. However, when it comes to sports and photojournalists that need those great quality shots, Canon will not really be able to compete with the bigger sensor. In this case, they need to put an APS-H sensor in a smaller camera. Whether that means putting it into a 5D Mk II body or a 50D body is what we will have to see.
Photojournalists and sports photographers love APS-H. Canon’s 1D Mk III shot the Olympics last year and photojournalists appreciate the ability to use the nice L lenses with a larger sensor but not as large as something like a 5D Mk II’s full frame sensor.
The point is that a need for the APS-H sensor camera is there, not only to move units but also for the Canon users. However, they also don’t want to just leave their 40D/50D users in the dust. Canon has to find a way to get more 40D users to upgrade.
As for the 1D Mk IV, they obviously have to meet Nikon’s D3 head-on and then best it in some way or another. GPS and WiFi built in would be a very nice and useful feature to help photographers get their images to their destined source much faster in order to compete with other photographers and normal folk using something like their iPhone.
It’d be very interesting for Canon to make the successor a full frame camera instead of making it APS-H again. Is so, then it will surely take on the D3 in terms of being the low-light king.
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