Canon 1DX - The Megapixel race is over?

Canon have announced the new Canon 1D X DSLR camera to replace both the Canon 1D Mark4 and Canon 1Ds Mark 3. Interestingly the new Canon 1D X has 18 Mp replacing the Canon 1D4 that had 21Mp.

We will be having a hands on look at the Canon 1DX this week and will post a review of the findings plus hopefully a few photos after the event.

Despite the numbers the actual difference in pixel count between 18Mp and 21Mp is minimal so it could be a good sign that finally image quality and noise performance are more important than the headline grabbing mega pixels. Does this mean that the megapixel race is finally over and features other than the sensor pixel count are starting to be more important. Certainly from a photographic point of view an ISO range up to 200,000 is of more use than a few extra pixels especially for low light wedding shots and the massive files generated by big pixel counts are a negative for long term storage.

Does this mean that the Canon 5D Mark 3 will feature less pixels than the Canon 5DII? As the 1Ds3 featured the same sensor as the Canon 5D2 we could speculate that this new 18Mp sensor will find its way into the Canon 5DIII when it is released.

Canon 5D Mark III Rumours - Announcement Sept 2011?

There seem to be some fairly strong rumours circulating that Canon will be announcing a new camera in Sept 2011 which could well be the long awaited Canon 5D Mark III. It is now 3 years since the Canon 5DII was launched and 6 years since the original Canon 5D so on the same 3 year cycle a new Canon 5D3 is due now.

I've no inside knowledge from Canon but based on the Canon 600D that I am currently testing I would fully expect the following features to all be part of the Canon 5D Mark 3 when it is announced.

• Tilt/rotate LCD screen
• Flash controller built in as per the Canon 600D
• Video zoom up to 10x
• Video modes to include 50fps/60fps at full HD
• Additional JPG modes for smaller size files
• Convert RAW to JPG in camera applying various settings
• ISO up to 102400

Resolution of the Canon 5D III is likely to be an increase given that the Canon 600D is 18Mp and the current Canon 5D2 is 21Mp but I guess that the ISO performance is more important to most photographers than increasing the resolution above the current camera. Personally I still use my original Canon 5D in preference to the Canon 5D2 for some shoots as I just don't need the higher resolution and the subsequent slower response to opening the CR2 files on my PC.

As the Canon 5D was the first affordable full frame DSLR and the Canon 5D Mark II was the first DSLR to feature full 1080p HD video there is also likely to be an additional feature in the Canon 5D Mark III specification or spec sheet that is completely unexpected.

Canon 5D Mark 3 Rumours and Spec Sheet

It is now nearly 3 years since the Canon 5D Mark 2 revolutionised the world of photography and video by being able to shoot full HD 1080p video on a DSLR. It is also nearly 6 years since the original Canon 5D was released.

On these timescales we should be due the Canon 5D Mark 3 being announced in the next few months. What features should be on the Canon 5D Mark III spec list?

Clearly HD video has now become an integral part of every DSLR and as the 5D2 led the way with this in the same way the original 5D led the way as the low cost full frame DSLR, Canon are likely to have something up their sleeve to be another game changer.

The features that seem certain to be on the Canon 5D Mark3  are:

Rotating/ moveable LCD screen
Wireless flash control built in
Basic HD video editing in camera
720p HD video (hard to remember that the Canon 5D2 only has 1080p and 640x480)
HD crop mode to give digital zoom of up to 10x
ISO range up to 102,000

So which innovative feature is likely to appear that is the next game changer?

Shooting stills from video - not far off already?
Higher ISO range - unlikely to go much above
Higher pixel count - likely to be higher but not above the Canon 1DS Mark4
Higher frame rate? - possible or may be enable video still extraction
Auto focus for video? Would be highly popular

What do you think the Canon 5D Mark 3 should have on its spec?

New Canon Camera Rumours - Will there be a Canon 5D Mark III announced?

Apparently Canon are announcing details of new cameras on Thursday 26 August. Sony and Nikon have also revealed details of their new cameras over the last week so will Canon announce a Canon 5D Mark III to replace the Canon 5D Mark 2?

How could Canon improve the 5D Mark II? A tilting screen as suggested for the Canon 60D rumours could be one possibility. For video I think the ability to shoot 720p video as well as 1080p would be great as often the highest resolution isn't needed. The ability to crop image for video as per the Canon 550D would also be good.

The original Canon 5D was announced in August 2005, will Canon announce its successor 5 years on?

http://www.canonrumors.com/category/photography/canon-60d/