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#1 Jeffrey Sanzare

I have a question for Canon. Will they have a model that better competes with the Nikon D200 such as an upgrade to the popular 30D? Most of the lowerend DSLR's have been upgraded to include more features than the 30D.

7:07 pm - Tuesday, March 6, 2007

#2 Steve Reed

To Fuji:

When will you implement true OIS capabilities in your cameras, rather than the increasing of ISO to achieve a measure of IS?

7:34 pm - Tuesday, March 6, 2007

#3 Tony Harris

Can you please ask any manufacturer of low end DSLR's if they can spend a bit more on the construction of their cameras and use pentaprisms istead of the cheaper pentamirrors. A pentamirror viewfinder is like having tunnel vision, it really isn't good enough to say it is all down to cost, after all my old OM10 had a pentaprism!

Thanks

7:48 pm - Tuesday, March 6, 2007

#4 Evan Zamir

Can you please ask manufacturers when will we start to see 35 mm CCDs (not CMOS) in DSLRs? I'd get a DSLR in a heartbeat if I could use my 24 mm wideangle Nikkor lens.

8:29 pm - Tuesday, March 6, 2007

#5 jay zzz

Can you ask Nikon:

1. If they will be implementing VR in additional non-telephoto lenses (both zooms, like Canon's 17-55 IS, and primes below 105mm, including wide-angles), and if not, why not? Is there a technical limitation to VR, or some negative effect on optical performance, that prohibits its application in shorter focal lengths, especially the wides? And, if no, will there ever be a Nikon with in-camera stabilization, instead?

2. What's happening with the overall lineups of primes? When will we see new, fast primes below 105mm, particularly wide-angles, in both DX and full-frame? Much of the present lineup is comprised of lenses over 20 years old, and looking at the Canon inventory, they have a full complement of fast, USM primes available now (for full-frame at least, their cropped-sensor EFS line is equally lacking in this department). What's going on Nikon?

Thank you.

[btw, I can't stand this intellitxt crap. Constantly popping up all over the place. It's no surprise this is a Microsoft product. Intrusive, irritating, and useless.]

8:37 pm - Tuesday, March 6, 2007

#6 Marcin Bieszczanin

Please, ask Canon representatives if and when they plan to release a Pro2 (i.e. a new version of PowerShot Pro1). *Lots and lots* of people would love to know the answer!

9:36 pm - Tuesday, March 6, 2007

#7 jay zzz

My mistake on the intellitxt. It's not a MS product. It kept pointing to MS Live, thus my assumption. Nevertheless, still irritating.

Pardon the interruption. Now, back to the thread...

10:08 pm - Tuesday, March 6, 2007

#8 Prognathous

To Kodak: Will there be a P880 replacement?
To Fuji: Will there be an Fxx camera with a 28mm lens and a histogram?

Thanks!

Prog.

2:18 am - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#9 Zoltán

Hi Mark can you please ask Olympus whether

1) they are planning to finally release some "OM-sized" primes for the FourThirds mount now that they have OM-sized bodies

AND whether

2) the E-1 successor, codenamed P-1, is going to have a higher viewfinder magnification than the original E-1 (which was 1.00x with a 50mm lens attached).

Thanks!

8:21 am - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#10 Henny Waanders

Question for Canon:
Cannon claims that they can surpress sensor noise in the firmware, by storing the dust spots. However, the shape of the dust spot (=shadow) is very dependent of the used aperture and the focal length. So their dust surpressing feature can only be a compromise at best. Do they agree? How can you then use the system to its optimum?

10:27 am - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#11 Joan-Manuel Parcerisa

Two questions about Panasonic TZ3: Is the optical zoom enabled for recording movies (as it was with TZ1)? Are the AF, AE, and OIS enabled while recording movies?

10:30 am - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#12 guy villeneuve

am i waiting in vain for a better SONY slr to match the new ZEISS OPTICS

2:22 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#13 TSANG CHEE MING

to all digital camera maker,

hello, I'm Ming Fai from Hong Kong, I have been using DSLR since year of 2000, yes it was the nikon D1, what I really want from a digital camera, is that it can get WB right indoor, not those super yellow image, and get the exposure right even with a flash, so that I don't need to convert and correct RAW one by one.

everytime I shoot wedding or any event that has 500 or more pics, I will need to spend a few days to balance WB and exposure, thanks

2:39 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#14 TSANG CHEE MING

I'm Ming Fai again, another problem is that please please, all digital camera maker, don't make exposure based on the focus area, camera like canon 10D, fujfilm f30, and nikon 80D, tend to always blowout the light area, and it just pure white with no detail in there.

calulate all zone or area, expose based on the brightness area, and everything should be fine, just don't based on focused point

2:44 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#15 Diana Yong

Question to Canon:

When the Powershot S4/S5 IS will be announced? Do I need to wait until September?
Why not to iclude manual and automatic focus and zoom and a bigger sensor?

Thanks.

2:48 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#16 Diana Yong

A question to Fuji:

The F6000fd is an excellent camera. Beautiful colors! Excellent design! Why not to include OIS in the UZ? and in the picture mode: Sepia and B&W?

Thanks.

2:53 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#17 Mark

Please ask Fuji where or when we can expect 4G xD cards.

3:07 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#18 Marcel Geers

To Fujifilm:
Is the S6000fd line to replace the S5k series as an intermediate ultrazoom, as the newest seems to be crippled with respect to it's predecessors (most notably being the lack of RAW)?
Will OIS be implemented within a reasonable (2 years max.) amount of time in Fujifilm compacts\Ultrazooms?

3:43 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#19 Liz

Please ask Fuji when they are going to upgrade the S9100 with a larger sensor (like the one in the Sony R-1) and OIS. It would be a great camera.
Thanks.

3:44 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#20 Gene Unigovski

I have several questions for Fuji:

- are there any plans for compact prosumer camera or any new E-line camera (with discontinuation of E-900 there is a huge gap in Fuji line up between compact FXX cameras and completely not pocketable SXXXX SLR-like cameras)?

- are there any plans for next-generation SR sensors for compact cameras?

- would Fuji consider some kind of "rugged" weather or water proof camera based on popular F30 sensor? The combination of sharp fast lens, great sensor (with clean ISO400 and ISO800) and some "ruggedness" would create an instant "classic" for the whole outdoor crowd (in line with old "classic" examples like Yashika T4 from film days). Unfortunately, current inferior offerings from Olympus and Pentax still keep this place vacant...

4:44 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#21 Ed Taveras

I would like to know if any of the printer manufacturers are considering making an 11 x 14 printing size inkjet. It would be the perfcet inbetween size, bigger than the regulars but not as huge (and expensive) as the large format printers!

6:38 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#22 Don Jovani

Helllo. Is there any attemp to use wireless control (WiFi or similar), that is build inside the camera, on small Point & shoot cameras, so it will be simple and cheaper to remote controlling the cameras for nature/candid photography?

8:46 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#23 Olf Llanstrom

Hi. My question to all the cameras manufacturers is "How and with what formula do you use to calculate the depth of field with small digital cameras?"

8:58 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#24 Mark Brindle

To FujiFilm, I have a S9100/S9600. I try and shoot RAW all the time but the write speed to xD or CF is far too slow. Any chance of improving this in future versions.

9:21 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#25 Ed P

I'd like to ask Fuji the status of their SR sensor concept:When will we see more of it, and in what type of camera models? Is it improving? Thanks.

10:09 pm - Wednesday, March 7, 2007

#26 Mark Shee

Hi a question for Nikon - now production of the very popular D200 has ceased when are we going to see a replacement and what attributes will this camera body have?

1:17 am - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#27 kevin

to fuji film.


when are we going to see real incrrase in resolution (mp) in the S pro line? will you bring out a second dslr based on the hr sensor.

5:21 am - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#28 RickN

Question for ALL makers of zoom lenses:

What's with the zoom lenses with apertures of F/5.6 & F/6.3 on the long end? Image stabilization is no substitute for fast glass. I think lenses with a straight F/4 would be a good compromise of size,speed,and cost. Nikon made a good 70-210 F/4 of a reasonable size & price years ago. Why can't lens makers do that today? I for one am SICK of seeing F stops of 5.6 & 6.3 on lenses costing several hundreds of dollars. The lens makers seem to be trending to SLOWER lenses and throwing in VR to make up for the slow glass. That's all good and well for shooting slow moving objects like tree moss. Us sports shooters aren't going to use a F/6.3 EVER,VR or no VR. How about some good AF-S lenses with straight F/4 all the way through? What's the problem doing that?

6:31 am - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#29 Harvey Gordon

Everyone is used to and wants their photos printed @ 6" x 4", (3:2 ratio) the standard print size for many years. Yet the majority of compact digital cameras on the market now default to recording an image in 4:3 ratio. Some can be changed but most consumers don't know how to change them. This results in a cropped 6" x 4" print with heads missing more often than not!
Please ask all the compact manufacturers why they persist in continuing this confusing image capture ratio.

9:27 am - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#30 Keiran

To TOKINA!!!

WHERE THE HECK IS THE 16-50mm f/2.8 that was announced MORE THAN A YEAR AGO!!!

I was told by my local shops in Taipei that it would be available at the end of April 2006. Then that was extended a week. Then two weeks. Then to the end of May 2006. Then June. Then August. Then 'wait for Photokina'.

I waited.

In the meantime, Sigma has updated their 18-50 f/2.8 and Tamron has announced, finished, released and built a serious reputation for their 17-50 f/2.8.

Nothing from Tokina. Not a peep.

It's now SIX MONTHS after Photokina.

I'm a little low on cash due to going back to University, so I'm not in a position to make lens decisions slowly or lightly, but living on the cusp of a lens release is a pain in the butt photographically.

The Pentax version is finished and ready to go. About time we saw a competitive effort come to fruition from Tokina.

9:40 am - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#31 Stefanie

To Sony:

I am tired of waiting for a professional DSLR (preferably full frame)and am actually thinking of switching to Canon/Nikon. Is there anything in the pipeline that they will come out with such a camera in the near future and please when???

11:28 am - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#32 Frederic

question to canon :

When will you realeased the long waited full frame body successor of the 5D.
1D mark III fine but just for photojournalist. Many of us wait for the 5D upgraded. Specialy better built and more strong, compare to the D 200. And with 2 memory card like on 1D serie please.

2nd question : why dont you built less easy to use eye cup please. I lost many every year on report, just because they not stictch strong enough to the body.. .painfull.

Thx.

11:30 am - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#33 Ivan H.

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/urltrurl?lp=ja_en&url=http://www.tokina.co.jp/news/4961607atx165news.html

2) I've read the above translation, but I doubt about the the translation. So here is my questions for tokina:

1) Will 16-50 2.8 feature ultrasonic focus (like USM/HSM/SWM) or image stabilization?

2) when will it be released for canon-mount?

1:48 pm - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#34 Chris

I have two questions, both related to image stabilization:

1) For Sigma: When will you FINALLY ship more OS lenses? I've heard about an 18-200OS and 18-50OS forever now, but no product. When will we see these lenses, and what other new OS designs are in the works?

2) For Canon and Nikon: Which of you will be the first to introduce in-body IS in your model line, and steal a TON of sales from the other?

2:16 pm - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#35 Norman L. Neely

To: Olympus When will you have the manual available online for download for the
SP-550 UZ?

I am 69 years old and need a magnifying glass to read the manual that came with the camera I recieved today.

I also have the C-2100 UZ and downloaded and printed that manual on 8 1/2 X 11 paper right after I purchased it.

Thanks Norm

8:23 pm - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#36 Norman L. Neely

To: Olympus When will you have the manual available online for download for the
SP-550 UZ?

I am 69 years old and need a magnifying glass to read the manual that came with the camera I recieved today.

I also have the C-2100 UZ and downloaded and printed that manual on 8 1/2 X 11 paper right after I purchased it.

Thanks Norm

8:28 pm - Thursday, March 8, 2007

#37 John Day

What is Mamiya doing with the ZD????

I would love to hear some news as to whether the rumours of a liason with Phase One have any substance, or any other news that may be available about development of the ZD.

2:01 am - Friday, March 9, 2007

#38 Anonymous

Who will be the first manufacturer to make a compact camera with a wide angle zoom, image stabilization, AND a decent size sensor with reasonably low noise? There are thousands of enthusiasts just waiting to pay as much as $900 for that camera. Let us have it!

3:09 am - Friday, March 9, 2007

#39 Keiran

My second question is to Canon. When is the iP4300 going to be released in places other than USA, Canada and Japan? I did a great deal of research and wrote detailed technical summaries on the net close to 15 pages on the technology in the 4200 and the 4300. I am very upset that (as a Canadian living in Taiwan - about 25 minutes away from two large Canon factories) I am taunted by newly released technology that is actually priced lower in my home country than technology that is now well over 2 years old here in Taiwan. I have been trying to purchase the iP4300 for over 6 months now. People who have read my discussions have purchased this printer far enough back that even their long term fade tests are now old news. I am still unable to find a way to get one, having searched through 8 Asian countries and explored many options.

The practice of making it impossible for customers to buy products in some parts of the world (retailers will not ship printers within Asia and it costs more to ship across the Pacific than the printer itself) is highly distasteful. Especially for a customer who has spent a few thousand US dollars on Canon gear in the last year.

12:58 pm - Friday, March 9, 2007

#40 Keiran

I have noticed that there are a number of somewhat strange questions here that some would like to see asked of camera manufacturers that fall under the category of basic photographic knowledge. I'm not anyone special, but I've spent a pretty significant amount of time doing research over the last few years, so I can probably dish out some answers right away to relieve some nail-biting... and possibly some typing by the PMA 2007 attendees...

(moderators, please feel free to edit/delete this post if it is inappropriate)

To Evan Zamir: Please read up on sensor technology. Canon released a white paper some months ago that included a lot of information about the sensor manufacture process. There are two primary types of sensor: CCD and CMOS. CCD has certain issues that get exponentially worse as the size of the sensor increases. CMOS is dependent on production of wafers. Canon is the world leader on this one and has explained that production costs also increase exponentially as the sensor size increases. Additionally, the use of a single wafer restricts the size of the sensor to APS-H as the largest possible/practical size. Making sensors from multiple wafers is significantly more difficult. Further, there are even more difficulties that are only just now being overcome which have to do with incident angle of light to the sensor and higher reflectiveness of sensor surfaces compared to film that affect the quality of the image at the edges of the sensors. These things have been discussed in great detail on most photographic sites. Photo.net, Luminous Landscape, Cambridge in Color... the list goes on and on... Answers are only a google away.

To Henny Waanders: Dust and Noise are totally different things. Noise is a digital error reflecting the inability to sort errant electrons from photons inside the sensor. Dust is little bits of things that get into your camera body and settle on the sensor. Dust that is sitting on the rear or front element of the lens generally does not show up due to it not being within the plane of focus. Canon's noise reduction that occurs on the sensor has to do with electrical accuracy. It has nothing to do with dust. If you use Canon Digital Photo Professional (updated within the last 6 months or so), you will find that dust removal is part of RAW processing. You can use recipes to large numbers of photos and remove identical peices of information. The recipe information is derived from cloning that you do in the software. If you find that it is doing a bad job, you have to do it by hand. Canon DPP software streamlines this once tedious process, but it's not perfect. I usually find that I can get what information I need about dust spots from my grey card shots which I usually take a few times during any specific shoot. I always shoot the grey card defocused, and this provides an excellent starting point for both the color temperature correction recipe as well as dust removal via cloning. The information that is stored in the camera is called a sensor map. This is (theorized by many) to be occuring already with the 5D, 30D and anything since and above at the sensor cleaning stage. It is generally performed in-camera using a dark frame. Dust probably won't be a factor here... Nor should it be.

...continued

2:13 pm - Friday, March 9, 2007

#41 Keiran

...
Ming Fai from Hong Kong: Issue #1 - WB, indoors and image to image adjustments. As was mentioned above in the Canon example, White Balance is generally quite easy to correct by shooting grey card frames at key points in your shoot. You will probably find it most useful to use either the Custom White Balance (which will use the grey card frame to correct subsequent shots in-camera) or another White Balance Preset. That's why those functions are there. Tungsten lighting comes in Thousands of shades of yellow. No automatic white balance does a good job of this. Further complicating this issue is that a certain amount of yellow 'warmth' is considered desirable, such as in early morning or late afternoon light. Many photographers would be up in arms if the auto white balance stripped a warm evening glow out of all their pics... Fortunately, most RAW processing software has the ability to take White Balance settings and apply them to large numbers of images very quickly and easily. Starting things off by shooting with a preset will help things a lot because preset white balances (regardless of whether they are the right one or not) are not recalculated for every single shot. Therefore, they provide a great platform to make a few tweaks to a single image, save a 'recipe' or set of color adjustments and then in a few moments have these applied to HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS of other images in a few moments. Further, if you are not shooting in RAW, something very similar to this can be done by using a Curves adjustment layer to do the color cast correction to a JPG in Photoshop or the GIMP. This is possible even using old versions of Photoshop such as PS 7.0 (which I currently use). CS2 streamlines this further.

Issue #2 - exposure troubles... please consult your manual as to how to use the different exposure modes in your camera. Evaluative metering usually uses the whole frame plus checks for hot spots. Center-weighted metering will compare the evaluative metering results to a medium sized spot (usually around 9-13% if memory serves) in the center of the frame. Spot metering ignores everything outside of just a small area around the chosen spot. If you learn the specifics for how your camera works, (auto metering technology has not changed much in at least 20 years - and is carried over from film cameras, but each brand has their own tech) you will have much less trouble with this. There is a button called AE lock or * on most cameras that will calculate the exposure and lock it for the next shot, allowing you to separate the exposure metering and the focusing/composition. Remember too that the meter is trying to adjust for 18% grey (middle grey), and is color blind.

More information on these two issues can be found on many websites, including fantastic video tutorials on the radiant vista (google it) and http://www.dpchallenge.com which has excellent forums friendly to just these types of questions.

To Diana Yong: Regarding the S4/S5 IS (I own an S2 IS which serves as my second camera) - The camera already includes manual and automatic focus and zoom. Were you perhaps thinking of Ring-actuated manual focus? I agree that this would be fantastic. I recently encouraged my mother to purchase a Panasonic FZ20 which includes both a filter thread and manual ring-focus. It is sad that no manufacturer has since released a camera as good as that. Please understand that in order to make a camera with a tiny peice of glass that makes up a very long range, a very, very strong crop factor needs to be employed. The S3 IS already is pushing things about as far as they can go with such a tiny sensor and cramming 6 megapixels into it. Please read a few reviews of similar cameras on http://www.dpreview.com to understand what happens to the digital noise factor when pixels get too small. Further, the glass on the S2/S3 IS is about as good as it can get for that price point. It's already beyond the limits and relies fairly heavily on in-camera sharpening to get a decent sharp image. If you want to know how that works, you will have to take some unsharpened samples (that means the lowest sharpening possible, not just a setting of 0), and possibly some now-unavailable RAW files from similar cameras and compare them by applying small amounts of sharpening to them. You will find that only a tiny amount of sharpening will generally push a 'big zoom' camera into oversharpening via haloing and artifacts. This is actually the mathematical algorithms you are seeing. If you want to know more about in-camera sharpening or sharpening in post-processing, both the Radiant Vista and http://www.dpchallenge.com have good sources of information for this.

...continued

2:15 pm - Friday, March 9, 2007

#42 Keiran

...
To Don Jovani: I believe Wifi connections are already available in several small cameras. Check the Nikon P1 and P2. Not totally sure about the off-camera control, but it's possible. I think Canon has some Wifi cams as well. Canon remote capture has the ability to take care of the Wifi controller for the new 1D Mk III, which specifically mentions remote controlling of the camera for that use, with on-screen live view too, so I think you are at least one person who will soon be satisfied.

To RickN: YEAH! Damn straight!... PS, Check out Sigma's response to this: the 'Godzigma'... http://www.dpreview.com/news/0703/07030805sigma200500mm.asp

On my 30D with the supplied 2X tele-converter, that's equivalent to a 640-1600mm f/5.6. Yowch!

I'm wondering if perhaps the reason we are seeing so many narrow-aperture lenses is that glass-grade silicon is becoming a rarity since they made a couple of those...

To Stefanie: if Sony doesn't come through, check out Pentax. They have a lot of really nice glass that is often cheaper than Nikon/Canon. The K10D is a very decent offering. The 50mm f/1.4 is particularly impressive in performance and price.

To Frederic: YEAH - more dual card CF/SD cameras! a worthy cause I'll add my voice to anyday!

To 'Anonymous': Check the Sigma DP1 which might come close. Don't know why they couldn't have put a wider lens on there... it's a rangefinder type design for pete's sake... I agree that there is a fair bit of interest out there... I would imagine that going any wider would result in increasing the size by roughly double... Maybe something like an effecive 16-55 or so... Without the mirror inside, it couldn't be THAT big...


OK. that's it for now. Hopefully I answered some questions for some... waiting is never fun.

2:17 pm - Friday, March 9, 2007

#43 Mark Goldstein

A quick update for everyone. I'll be posting some answers whan I get back the UK tomorrow.

I'll also be following up with some of the manufacturers that I didn't see at the show to make sure that as many of your questions as possible are answered.

7:11 pm - Sunday, March 11, 2007

#44 Jeff

To Fujifilm: I love almost everything about the 6500fd except the lack of OIS and an SD or compact flash card. Perfection would have an external flash option. I am waiting!! The Olympus 550 UZ looks good but I really want to buy a Fuji!!!

5:50 am - Friday, March 16, 2007

#45 Mark Goldstein

Right, I have answers to some of the questions, which I'll list in batches of 10, preceded by the number of the comment.

1. Sure, but not at PMA 2007, and Canon don't comment on future releases. Ever.

4. All of the DSLR manufacturers that I spoke to are committed to the APS-C size sensor size for almost all of their products.

5. There is no technical limitation on VR, and VR in more non-telephoto lenses is a possibility in the future.

As for primes, discontinuation of older lenses has apparently freed up some development resource, which may include working on prime lenses, but only if there is a commercial reason to do so.

6. No comment on the Pro2 (see answer to Q1).

8. No word on the P880 replacement. The Z885 looks fairly promising though.

9. "OM-sized" primes - Olympus believe that the quality of their 4/3rds zoom lenses is comparable to primes, so they have no plans in this area.

No details on the P-1 viewfinder magnification I'm afraid, other than "probably". There was very little info at all about the P-1.

6:15 pm - Friday, March 16, 2007

#46 Mark Goldstein

This is the second set of answers.

11. No and yes. OIS is mode 1 only. I've just got the TZ3 in for review, so watch this space...

12. Ermm, nope! You may have to wait at least another 6 months though.

15. As with Canon questions about future models, no comment. What can I say, they keep their cards close to their chest.

6:24 pm - Friday, March 16, 2007

#47 Mark Goldstein

This is the third set of answers.

21. No plans for this.

26. The D200 is NOT, I repeat NOT, discontinued. Not sure where you heard that, but according to Nikon, it's simply not true.

29. I actually asked a couple of printer companies why they didn't offer 4:3 format printers. None of them had an insightful answer.

6:30 pm - Friday, March 16, 2007

#48 Mark Goldstein

This is the fourth set of answers.

30. Rejoice! The 16-50mm was actually at the show and will be launched soon!

http://www.photographyblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/pma_2007_tokina_16_50mm_f_28_lens/

31. See answer to Q12.

32. The usual no comment. Back to the rumour mill I'm afraid!

33. No image stabilizer, out in the summer.

34. Sigma did announced their second OS lens

http://www.photographyblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/sigma_18_200mm_f35_63_dc_os_lens/

Nikon commented that VR in a lens is the best system and that they can offer VR without too much of a price premium now. So they have no plans for a body-based system, likewise Canon.

35. You can download the Olympus SP-550 UZ manual here:

http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/208_manuals.cfm?prodID=P_N2517692

37. Mamiya weren't at the show.

38. The Sigma DP1 looks like the closest fit.

http://www.photographyblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/sigma_dp1_details_unveiled/
http://www.photographyblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/pma_2007_sigma_dp1/

6:40 pm - Friday, March 16, 2007

#49 Mark Goldstein

Final note.

I discovered that trying to ask often technical questions at a busy trade show isn't that great an idea

And that having your Fujifilm meeting cancelled is not good news when about 1/3rd of these questions are Fuji-film related.

Therefore I'll be following up with the manufacturers and asking them to answer as many of the outstanding questions as possible. I might even turn it into a regular feature, if anyone's interested?

6:42 pm - Friday, March 16, 2007

#50 jay zzz

Thanks, Mark, for your efforts. A regular feature might be nice, but manufacturers do not seem particularly forthcoming when it comes to answering these types of questions (maybe understandably so).

It's a bit disconcerting to hear, "but only if there is a commercial reason to do so", in the response to my question about Nikon primes (question #5).

Doesn't inspire much confidence. It suggests that that might be their sole criteria for deciding what to produce, and that those thousands of pros and advanced amateurs out there who use primes and have a need for them, even if sparingly, are not worth addressing. That's not a good message to be sending.

It's a given that these manufacturers are out to make money, but Nikon can't ignore that market, even if there might not be as large an initial "commercial" return on that investment compared with mass-market consumer lenses (and cameras) -- not if they want to maintain the impression that they are an elite camera/lens maker.

I guess, in the end, there is always Canon or Pentax, who seem to be more directly addressing these needs (in one way or another)...

8:17 pm - Friday, March 16, 2007

#51 Nicholas

Thanks Mark for one of the best photo articles I have read in years.

I vote for making this a regular feature.

I think Fuji is unaware of their real potential. I sense they have not fully come out of their 'film canisters' yet. It seems they don't want / are afraid to grab the market with a knockout high end prosumer camera.

9:20 pm - Friday, March 16, 2007

#52 Louis des Tombe

To many camera makers:

There is a class of serious amateur photographers who already have at least one dslr and good lenses but who would also like to have a good compact for adhoc use. Such a camera would be compact and have raw, a large sensor, an optical viewfinder, and a relatively wide-angle lens. Of good quelity. Possibly also >8MP.

It seems that a lot of your new compact camera products are quite contrary to the desires of this class of photographers. New compacts offer features that are useless to these like face recognition, enormous LCDs, wireless connectivity, etc.

I know I am not unique in making these comments, I did not see them in this context though. The class of photogbraphers I am referring to is not a bad one for you. They are your future.

Sincerely,
Louis

10:25 pm - Friday, March 16, 2007

#53 Tony Harris

I was a little disappointed to see that there was no answer to my question about DSLR viewfinders, (question 4) but plenty of answers about technology, more lenses we don't really need and image stabilisation etc. The biggest piece of technology we have is the human eye and we are being short changed by DSLR viewfinders. How can you take a good photo if you can't see it properly? Maybe most users just want a point and hope camera.

10:49 pm - Tuesday, March 20, 2007

#54 Mark Goldstein

Hi everyone.

I have some answers from Canon for you, courtesy of Canon USA's Chuck Westfall.

1. Chuck Westfall: As a matter of company policy, I do not comment on Canon’s future plans or products.

3. Chuck Westfall: Your suggestion will be forwarded to our Product Development Center in the next monthly market feedback report. Of course you understand that the price of low end cameras will go up if more expensive components are used. Have you considered the EOS 30D? It’s priced only slightly higher than an EOS 400D, but it has a glass pentaprism.

4. Chuck Westfall: Sounds like a question for Nikon.

6. Chuck Westfall: As a matter of company policy, I do not comment on Canon’s future plans or products.

7:20 am - Wednesday, April 18, 2007

#55 Mark Goldstein

10. Chuck Westfall: It’s true that dust particles on the low-pass filter become more distinct in images shot at smaller apertures. That’s why the Dust Delete Data function records its data at the smallest aperture of the lens in use. With this design, the dust removal function of the software is effective at all apertures.

15. Chuck Westfall: As a matter of company policy, I do not comment on Canon’s future plans or products.

7:21 am - Wednesday, April 18, 2007

#56 Mark Goldstein

21. Chuck Westfall: As a matter of company policy, I do not comment on Canon’s future plans or products. However, the PIXMA Pro 9000 and 9500 series printers can handle paper sizes up to 13 x 19 inches, and they are much smaller than our wide format printers.

22. Chuck Westfall: Canon already tried this with the PowerShot SD430 Digital ELPH Wireless, which was announced in 2005. This model can still be purchased through several Canon dealers in the USA.

23. Chuck Westfall: Canon does not quote depth of field figures for compact digital cameras. If you want to do this on your own, there are several web sites with free calculators:

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/DOF-calculator.htm

28. Chuck Westfall: It sounds like you are a good candidate for one of the EF 17-40mm f/4L, EF 24-105mm f/4L, or EF 70-200mm f/4L zoom lenses that Canon offers. If these focal length ranges are not long enough, please specify the range you’re looking for and the price you’re willing to pay.

29. Chuck Westfall: Thanks for your comment, but for what it’s worth I don’t perceive this to be a big issue.. Frankly, we get very few complaints on the 4:3 aspect ratio of compact cameras. In-camera cropping solutions are available for anyone who cares about matching the 4 x 6 ratio.

7:22 am - Wednesday, April 18, 2007

#57 Mark Goldstein

32. Chuck Westfall: 1st question: As a matter of company policy, I do not comment on Canon’s future plans or products. 2nd question: The EOS-1D Mark III has solved the issue of loose eyecups.

34. Chuck Westfall: As a matter of company policy, I do not comment on Canon’s future plans or products. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

38. Chuck Westfall: As a matter of company policy, I do not comment on Canon’s future plans or products. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

39. Chuck Westfall: As an employee of Canon U.S.A., Inc., I cannot comment on the policies of Canon sales companies in other markets. I would suggest that you register your complaint with Canon Marketing Taiwan:

http://cmtw.canon.com.tw/

7:23 am - Wednesday, April 18, 2007

#58 Mark Goldstein

52. Chuck Westfall: Thanks for your comments. Your suggestion will be forwarded to our Product Development Center in the next monthly market feedback report.

That's everything from Canon - many thanks to Chuck.

7:24 am - Wednesday, April 18, 2007

#59 Nicholas

Too bad.

For all the many new comers to photography visiting PhotographyBlog and reading the above much used phrase 'As a matter of company policy, I do not comment on Canon’s future plans or products.' it would be quite easy for the newcomers to perceive Canon's responses as a bit of arrogance.

My concern is that they may perceive PhotographyBlog in the same light.

I just want to point out that to new comers that PhotographyBlog is a very Objective Site and reports News Independently.

In the 'Traditional ' Media you would never see an interview peppered with so many canned responses, ('As a matter of company policy, I do not comment on Canon’s future plans or products.').

Here at PhotographerBlog we can see all the spots.

10:24 am - Wednesday, April 18, 2007

#60 Keiran

---> by Chuck
39. Chuck Westfall: As an employee of Canon U.S.A., Inc., I cannot comment on the policies of Canon sales companies in other markets. I would suggest that you register your complaint with Canon Marketing Taiwan:

http://cmtw.canon.com.tw/

Yeah, thanks for the answer. So you actually get paid for this sort of thing?

Kinda makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that Canon USA has absolutely no contact with any other branch of Canon.

Maybe I didn't mention this before, but the Canon.com.tw website is in Chinese and it's a LITTLE hard to read for foreigners.

Thanks for wasting your own time with an answer that says nothing. Maybe next time I shouldn't waste so much of my own time in researching and reporting to the general public the fine points of why Canon products are better and just let them carry on and buy their HP crap or better yet, let them go ahead and buy an Epson as at least they seem to be paying attention to the needs of their customers. Their recently released printers are available everywhere Epson is sold.

12:24 am - Thursday, April 19, 2007

#61 Nicholas

Of Course, in #59 I meant to write:

Here at PhotographeyBlog we can see all the spots.

3:25 am - Thursday, April 19, 2007