10 questions I'll be asking Canon and Nikon at Photokina - join me and present yours

[orlanyc]

Great Questions Andrew, but I have a question sujestion for Sony (if they are going to be at Photokina):

When Sony is planing to have the As7 to record 4K internaly.

Thank you

[CaMeRa QuEsT]

I wish it were that simple! D5200 sensor marking Toshiba, same spec sensor in D5300 but with a less noisy circuit connecting it to the image processor had Sony markings.

Thanks for pointing that out.  My comments were made because your question states the D5200 image sensor as being made by Sony and my recollection of this was Chipworks' article on their findings that the D5200's sensor was actually made by Toshiba, so the purpose of my comment was to lead you to the correct facts.  But since I haven't previously dug about the later sensors from the D5300 and the D3300 I assumed that just like on the D7100 all were carrying Toshiba sensors.  Now, after digging further, I just came across Thom Hogan's findings that Nikon is basically making their own sensors for the D3300 just as they did for the D3200 and D3100 and that they might actually be using a Sony sensor for the D5300.  

 

Now all this makes absolutely no sense to anybody except Nikon, and their reasoning behind this scheme will be nice to know if you can get them to fess up.  I mean, they need to spend 3 times the same resources to design 3 cameras that share the same basic sensor specs, for what reason?  I doubt that none of the 3 different fabs they are using is able to handle the whole volume of Nikon's APS-C sensors by itself (Canon's fab can, and for the entire Canon line-up for that matter, even while that fab is ages old and should be highly inefficient by today's cutting edge fab standards, but then they are themselves their only customers), unless Nikon is doing this to prevent factory disruptions by forces of nature or politics, in which case they shouldn't even assemble cameras in Thailand at all given how explosive politics have ALWAYS been in that country, or at least divide assembly 3 ways between Thailand, China and Japan for all their cameras instead of placing each particular camera line on a different assembly plant as they are currently doing.  

 

This is highly interesting to me because I have basically gone through all of Nikon's 24mp DX line-up within less than a year and have found meaningful differences in the IQ of each one I've owned: I started with a D7100 I bought last Thanksgiving and it currently holds the highest IQ watermark for me, but I found it cumbersome to use and carry (it was my first DSLR after all, coming straight from cell phones, point and shoots and Nikon Fs) and didn't like how it handled artificial lighting in JPEG, which tended to output greenish, making everybody in the pictures look like little martians.  I then got a D3200 and loved its simplicity and lightness, I also held high hopes for its purportedly in-house Nikon sensor, but in actual use I didn't like its IQ as it consistently outputs under exposed and warm (maybe because of its simple 420 pixel matrix sensor, as surely the 2k one on the D7100 should be able to get more proper exposure and WB), plus its video output is very noisy compared to D7100's.  So now I have a D5200, which has IQ similar to the D7100 in terms of exposure, WB and noise, but with sharpness more akin to the D3200 and, ugh, buttons all over the body and in the wrong places.  I was going to wait until the D5300's price came down lower but there is a great deal going on with the D3300 and I am now waiting for one to arrive next week, just in time to try that 1080p60 on my kids next weekend. I was expecting the D3300 to get IQ and video noise akin to the D7100 as I previously thought that it has the same Toshiba sensor, but now that I know that it comes with a Nikon sensor I am a little pessimistic about this given how Nikon's own sensor has disappointed me in the D3200.  Well, I'll see how it fares in a couple of days' time, but if I have to go through the D5300 and maybe a future D7200 or whatever to attain IQ nirvana, then so be it. I have learnt from this experiment that digital cameras shouldn't be held for more than a year because technology is constantly changing for the better and therefore used prices for them suffer huge drops pretty fast, and because of that you should only buy a new camera when it is at its lowest price possible, so when time comes to turn it around you don't end up loosing much money: in my case I have profited on each camera I've sold.

[Andrew Reid]

Great Questions Andrew, but I have a question sujestion for Sony (if they are going to be at Photokina):

When Sony is planing to have the As7 to record 4K internaly.

Thank you

 

Thanks. That one has been asked already though. They said it couldn't do it due to overheating.

[Clayton Moore]

Your questions certainly reflect what I have thought now for sometime.  For Canon, its the big elephant in the room, is it there plan going forward to only roll significant video features in their C-line at this point?  It seems they have backed themselves into a corner to protect their Cinema line.  Problem is Panasonic and SONY are eating Canon's lunch in this way.  Even in the Cinema line.  As it pertains to the question of "........any 4K capable cameras in the works that will be priced within the reach of non-professionals." 

They will answer that when they release an LSS 4K camera.  If its priced over $8,000-12,000 then you'll know they have no intention of more serious video work in the hybrid DSLR market.  As for now they have to figure out what the future of DSLR in general is.  My belief is that Canon has been a hallmark brand for so many years that they have kinda sorta grown complacent and perhaps arrogant. They have some work to do.

 

DSLR Video blogger Dave Dugdale labeled Canon as unresponsive to customer questions vs other companies like Panasonic.  <- on just that point alone he was poised to leave the Canon family.

 

[kadajawi]

Can you please, I beg you, please! interview someone from Pentax too? The only one who seems to bother is that guy from the Pentaxforums, and his opinion is that video is completely unimportant and thus he doesn't ask about video at all. Giving Pentax the impression that no one gives a f***.

 

Most of all I'd like to know from them all of what you ask Canikon + why the hell they have deactivated in body video stabilization for video recording (in live view it is still active and working great!) (feel free to mention Olympus having in body stabilization and how that is a very big deal, and how they are upgrading their cameras after they were launched). Also why the awful codec, low bitrates, ... why no MJPEG if they can't do anything better, how unimportant video is to them, if they have noticed that some professional photographers do need to shoot video too for work.

[sunman]

My question to Canon:

 

The Canon 1DX gets improvements and updates, the 1DC not.
Canon has promised that the 1DC is the same photo camera as 1DX. That was a lie !

The 1DC is neglected by Canon and do not get updates. The 1DX now has a better autofocus as the 1DC.
Why does not Canon support the 1DC ?

[Quirky]

My point is this: if I want slow-mo I go to Sony, or Red (rent an Epic). I don't go to Canon. If I want low light I go to Sony, again. Not Canon. That's two lost sales right there. If I want best bang for buck at $8k again I go Sony with the FS7. Looks superb. Canon have no answer to it, so at time of release the FS7 will get my $8k and Canon will get $0k. Do you see my point? And they have no decent mirrorless camera, let alone a 4K mirrorless camera, and they have no answer to the FZ1000 either.

 

So what's the problem? The obvious and the most logical solution in your case would be to put your Canon gear on eBay and use them to fund the purchase of some more useful gear. Thank goodness we do have plenty of alternatives and more than one brand to choose from.

 

 

Quite surprised at how many misunderstandings keep cropping up in this thread. My audience seems to have changed a lot from the days when I could just say something on level terms and be understood.

 

When your blog has existed and grown in popularity for a number of years, it's obvious that the audience will change and start attracting more 'mainstream' audience, too. I don't think that belittling your new audience is going to 'fix' that, though.

 

No offence intended, but in this particular case, the only 'problem' here seems to be your obsessive devotion to still hold Canon (Canikon) on a holy pedestal, for some strange reason. A pedestal they no longer deserve, if they ever did in the first place.

 

Times change, and a big bunch of your (new and clueless) audience have no problem in adapting other brand gear that (better) fits their needs. Gear that in the right hands is capable of delivering good results, without killing the wallet. 

 

Maybe I'm indeed totally clueless, too, but to me this looks like much ado about nothing. From an outside point of view you're throwing tantrums towards your favourite brand that doesn't give you the toys you want, instead of being happy with those who at least try. That doesn't seem too productive, does it.

 

You might as well join the fun on the new bright side and change the name of the blog from EOSHD to something closer to today's reality. Nothing here is eternal. 

[tpr]

 

You might as well join the fun on the new bright side and change the name of the blog from EOSHD to something closer to today's reality.

 

"Non-EOS 4K - Directed by Mirrorless Filmmakers"?

[Clayton Moore]

Stop ragging on Andrew, seriously — he is a big boy and understands he can sell and or buy - whatever.  His observations are important against the backdrop of the way in which social media works now.  Normally the way companies got feedback was - sales.  Now its a combination of sales and customer feedback via things like social media.  The conversation is important to have trust me.  Every company has a culture.  Sometimes it works for them, sometimes not.

Canon has an old one and in need of updating.  If Sales drop thats one thing, but without direct customer feedback how do you know why or what people are doing instead?

 

Canon got into the SLR market in the late 60s and proceeded to be one of the major players in high end imaging since then.  Today across all divisions they have a market cap of over 40 billion dollars. They have been a major player in photography for decades and when they kinda sorta stubbled into video with the 5DMII they changed everything for filmmaking for the masses.

Now it seems they have fallen away from the leadng edge of technology.  Perhaps its only how it seems as compared to the market and there-in lies Andrews voice here.  Today, the speed of communications and interactions between companies and customers makes markets move faster then ever before.  Today its no longer good enough for a company to rely on sales for feedback.  If as a company you want to be around in 5 years you had better start getting hooked up on line.  Andrew is part of that culture and his conversations are tailored to that end. EOSHD combined with many other voices give companies like Canon information they need to be more nimble and responsive.  If all Andrew did was quietly move away from Canon, then a valuable voice would be lost.  This is a public forum and it serves a purpose they way it is.

 

Its just not as simple as one guy complaining. 

 

My 2 cents….

[endlessmikehellstrom]

Hey Andrew

 

2 questions sorry if these are repeats dont have time to read the whole thread

 

Sorry Atomos question

1.When you see that guy from atomos could you ask him if they have any plan in releasing their own cut price version (40%less?) of the Odyssey 7Q. i'd very much like to view multiple cams with the ability to record four 4k signals simultaniuosly n be able to view them together aswell as cycle through each image separately (with out spending £2k)

 

2. With the huge rise in video created conternt over the last 7 years and If Nikon have no pro video camera markert(10bit-16bit internal) to canibolise why havent they given us

1.either a video orientated s35/ff, dslr/mirrorless with better than competetion video features or

2.their own verson of a c100,fs100,af100,bmprc surely thats possible? So far i guess not.

 

Thanks

[Christina Ava]

Very tough questions Andrew! especially the 1st one...ouch! they wont recognise they are left back,im not seeing any real answers they can give to your questions.

admitting defeat? they will deny everything, in their mind they are still better than everyone in their technology.

 

ask them about magic lantern and what they think about that..if you ever get a reply.

 

good luck! have fun!

[utsira]

2 questions to ask the Sony rep, or the Atomos rep (if this isn't too off-topic):

 

1. are there 4k external recorders in the pipeline that are more compact than the Shogun, more towards the Atomos Ninja end of the price/ weight scale?

 

2. are you going to put XAVC-S into the A6000, or release a A6100/ A7000? Or are you too worried now about cannibalising A7 series sales to do a proper high-end APS-C camera?