Soothsayer

[Mike Farley]

Photokina is nearly upon us and there will be a slew of annouincements for new products over the next few weeks in the run up to this biennial show. Thom Hogan has looked into his crystal ball to let us know what to expect.

http://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/the ... nosis.html

[Mike Farley]

Now Amateur Photographer is getting in on the act. I wonder how much they really know, but are under NDA, and how much is speculation? We will know soon enough.

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/ro ... okina-2014

[davidc]

I think the biggest question in all of this is "Will Mike be getting the 7D2?", considering it looks to be quite a capable piece of kit

[Mike Farley]

I think the biggest question in all of this is "Will Mike be getting the 7D2?", considering it looks to be quite a capable piece of kit

That's an interesting question. There are two reasons why I have not being buying Canon equipment for the past two or three years. Apart from already having the lenses I need, Canon has not provided any incentive to update my camera. I have not felt the lure of full frame, which only offers what I consider to be marginal benefits, and Canon has left its APS-C offerings in a time warp for the past five years while others have moved on. We will not officially know the spec of the 7D2 until 5 September when the NDA expires, so it remains to be seen whether Canon will finally be embracing new technology or the 7D2 is just another lukewarm upgrade. My view is that it will need to do the former in order to remain competitive in the long term.

The second reason for reluctance to invest in DSLRs is weight and bulk, as I have said here before. Most of the time I am out and about, I am shooting on m43 mainly using consumer level gear which is actually very capable for most of my purposes, but without the size and weight penalties. At present, I am more likely to buy an Olympus E-M1 than a 7D2. That I have not done so is mainly down to a reluctance to make a substantial investment in a system which does not yet match the capacity of my DSLR. I have considered selling my Canon gear to fund the purchase of m43 equipment, but so far have not been prepared to make the sacrifice that would entail.

If the 7D2 really is as good as everyone seems to predict, that would present a dilemma as I do not expect m43 to have anything comparable at least until next year, which is the earliest that an E-M1 successor is likely to appear. That said, I think that the 7D2 will have to be something really special to overcome my concerns about regularly carrying camera and lenses which are bulky and heavy. I suspect that for the moment I will be keeping my powder dry and sticking with what I have got.

[Mike Farley]

I have been lugging my Canon gear around Dartmoor for the last few days, so I am desperately hoping that the latest 7D Mk II specs posted on Canon Rumours are true.

http://www.canonrumors.com/2014/08/are- ... fications/

Lots of interesting goodies, but seemingly no new sensor design, thank goodness. That probably means that the imaging performance is similar to the current model, although I would expect high ISO performance will be better. So why am I pleased about that? Well, Dartmoor has a lot of interesting locations, but many of them are well away from the road and car parks, often at the end of some steep ascents and descents. Whether going up or going down to reach somewhere does not matter, a climb will be involved and I really could do without having several pounds of DSLR gear on my back. If Canon is going to continue with its existing sensor technology, it means I do not have to think about committing further to the system and funds remain available for the day when someone brings out something smaller and lighter to replace it.

[Mike Farley]

Canon Rumours is being very bullish about the specs for the 7D replacement and is confident that it has identified the main specs. There remains some doubt about the technology for the new sensor, but elsewhere I have seen it referred to as a "Fine Detail" CMOS sensor. It is alleged to be the same size as the one in the 70D (although 24 MP has also been suggested) and I am wondering if this simply means that the AA filter has been removed.

http://www.canonrumors.com/2014/08/eos- ... photokina/

If this is more or less the final spec, for me it would certainly make the (non) buying decision that much easier.

[Mike Farley]

Well, 5 September has come, but not the 7DII announcement. According to Canon Rumours a couple of days ago, the date they had been advised for expiry of NDAs was incorrect and the actual launch date is uncertain. It does make you wonder about the veracity of the other information they have gleaned. What I will say, the 7DII needs to be one heck of a camera and attractively priced if it is to play a part in reversing Canon's declining sales. Another item of note is that the long touted replacement of the 100-400 lens is not expected to feature. Again.

http://www.canonrumors.com/2014/09/a-ru ... photokina/

[Mike Farley]

Thom Hogan's predictions of the dates when we will see Photokina announcements.

http://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/mar ... is-it.html

Sony seems to have opted to go last week with a couple of "lens style" cameras, but nothng for its main range of cameras and could have something else lined up. Fuji opted for today (10 September), but so far nothing from Canon or Nikon, with Olympus, Panasonic and Samsung also being quiet. It could be an interesting few days.

[Mike Farley]

Nikon has just made its Photokina announcment. Somehow it has managed to find space between the D610 and D810 models to fit in the D750. I suspect that Thom Hogan will be less than impressed by the increasingly small market segments that Nikon is chasing.

Meanwhile, Canon Rumours is very confident that it has got the spec of the 7D II nailed and that Canon has opted for this coming Monday, the day before Photokina, to tell the world.

http://www.canonrumors.com/2014/09/cano ... confirmed/

It also seems that Canon will have a number of new lenses, including a new Diffractive Optics (DO) design, after a long interval when it had appeared to have left that particular technology behind.

http://www.canonrumors.com/2014/09/the- ... -do-is-ii/

For those who want to follow all the fun, DPReview has page dedicated to all the Photokina announcements, including a countdown to the opening of the big event.

http://www.dpreview.com/showreports/Photokina2014

[Mike Farley]

As predicted, the announcement of the D750 left Thom Hogan wondering about Nikon's strategy, the D750 becoming Nikon's fifth model in its full frame line-up. By comparison, Canon only has three and that does not look set to change in the near future.

http://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/d75 ... -late.html