What has happened to Canon?

[Jad]

I too find I'm more interested in "low noise at high iso" than MP size. But people have different needs for their cameras. I never blow anything up past 8"x12" so I don't have a need for more that my 13 mp. Maybe the OP does have a need for that, which is a perfectly valid reason to want a high-mp camera. Unfortunately the 5D3 isn't THAT old and is a fabulous camera, so I don't see a new FF on the near horizon any time soon

I probably started off my post in the wrong direction by mentioning high pixel count. New sensor technology is probably more important than the increased pixel count, but I would prefer both when I choose to upgrade my Canon 5D11.

You do have some nice work on your blog OP, but I am curious what would you do with more megapixels? More than 23 perhaps?

I like to make large prints with my landscapes. A larger pixel count and a improved sensor would benefit my style of photography. Thanks for you kind words about my work.

 

[Jad]

"Cameras are nothing but a tool nothing more" That is an old and worn out phrase, that really doesn't apply to the computer/digital world we live in.

It absolutely does apply.

I shoot with a 5d and a 40D. The 5D came out in 2005, and the 40D came out in 2007. Both provide the results I need and want from them.


If you can't get image you want with a 5D MKII, might I suggest you take up knitting.

How many computer/software/camera upgrades have you done in the past ten years?

Computerwise, just one, because my old laptop died on me. Software? I use Elements 10, which I upgraded from Elements 9, so there's another upgrade. Camerawise, I've gone from a Rebel to a 20D to a 40D (which I'm still using), and then I added the full frame to the mix. So, a couple upgrades there.

Looks like five upgrades in all...

When I worked with film I used the same camera and lenses for forty years. I bought the best I could afford and had never a need to upgrade them.

You've just answered your own question or, perhaps, have just brought up an important one.

Why do you need a large MP sensor?

It just a tool alright, but one that gets outdated quickly.

"Outdated". Man, talk about old, worn out, tired phrases.

My 40D does everything it was designed to do. My 5D does everything it was designed to do. Neither one is suddenly producing inferior images. The images were great five years ago, and they're great now.

You seem to be unhappy with the 5D MKII. If I might ask, why did you buy it? Were the specifications not available to you? Or (and this is probably far more accurate) is the camera still producing the same high quality images it did when you first bought it?

I drive a 14 year old truck. I live in a house that was built 25 years ago. How is it that I've survived for so long with such "outdated" things? Somehow, the roof on the 25 year old house keeps the rain off my head as well as the roof on a house built yesterday. The truck still runs as it did when I bought it, and it still gets me where I need to go in comfort.

Maybe what you need to start out with is a definition of "outdated". Just because something is old doesn't mean it's outdated. It's outdated when it won't do what you need it to do...

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I used a Linhof for nearly forty years and I bought it used. It worked perfectly when I sold it. What I could count on over the years was improvements with the film and print papers to better the quality of my images. Now we are caught in a technology trap where everything gets outdated just after you buy it. How much old software, computers, monitors, printers do you have sitting around? Plenty I bet. I bought the 5D11 because it was my first digital camera. It is a great camera but it will be outdated with superior technology. I will always keep it because unlike my Linhof it will have little or no value if I were to sell it. I actually sold the Linhof for more than I paid for it many years before.

 

[Bulb]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I used a Linhof for nearly forty years and I bought it used. It worked perfectly when I sold it. What I could count on over the years was improvements with the film and print papers to better the quality of my images. Now we are caught in a technology trap where everything gets outdated just after you buy it. How much old software, computers, monitors, printers do you have sitting around? Plenty I bet. I bought the 5D11 because it was my first digital camera. It is a great camera but it will be outdated with superior technology. I will always keep it because unlike my Linhof it will have little or no value if I were to sell it. I actually sold the Linhof for more than I paid for it many years before.

By that same logic, cars are bad because they lose a large portion of their value the first time you drive it off the lot.

Unlike cars, though, cameras and lenses can easily and inexpensively be kept working for decades.

Being 'outdated' doesn't mean anything. It will not be any worse of a camera because a new model came out. It will still perform the same. It will take the same pictures. It will even look the same if you're careful not to chip the paint. You can blame companies for influencing you to upgrade. You can blame other people for pressuring you into buying the newest thing. In the end, though, only you can convince yourself that you really need the newest and the best.

When I bought my DSLR I knew fully well that it would be what I am going to be using for many years. For that reason, I picked the camera that caught my attention. One I could grow with and still be happy with years from now. When I see people using their 5D3 or D4, it doesn't affect me. I'm happy that they found a camera that they like.

 

[tecboy]

Get 70D! It is newer and updated model. You won't regret this!

 

[Steve5D]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I used a Linhof for nearly forty years and I bought it used. It worked perfectly when I sold it. What I could count on over the years was improvements with the film and print papers to better the quality of my images. Now we are caught in a technology trap where everything gets outdated just after you buy it. How much old software, computers, monitors, printers do you have sitting around? Plenty I bet. I bought the 5D11 because it was my first digital camera. It is a great camera but it will be outdated with superior technology. I will always keep it because unlike my Linhof it will have little or no value if I were to sell it. I actually sold the Linhof for more than I paid for it many years before.

I shot Plus-X and Tri-X for years. What "improvements" were made to those films?

Your idea that "Now we are caught in a "technology trap"..." is inaccurate. I'm certainly not. I don't have the scores of old monitors, software and printers you expect me to have. If you're worried about something being "outdated" as soon as you buy it, why would you bother purchasing a large MP camera from Canon? If it's going to be outdated as spoon as you buy it, what's the point?

You say you like to make "large prints". How big are we talking about? I've had a photo of mine printed out to 4'x4', and it looked pretty damn good for something that came out of my old 20D. I can only imagine how good it would've looked had it been taken with my 5D.

How much bigger do you need to get, and how is the 5D MKII unable to handle that?

 

[Steve5D]

Thanks for you kind words about my work.

I just took a look.

Damn.

You're quite good...

 

[grafxman]

Thanks for you kind words about my work.

I just took a look.

Damn.

You're quite good...

Concur 100%!

 

[Jad]

Thanks for you kind words about my work.

I just took a look.

Damn.

You're quite good...

Thanks for the comment on my work. I am very happy with the 5D11. The only real improvement I would like to see in the future is to the sensor ( digital noise/grain). It is like the film in the camera. I used Tri-x for years and then Kodak came out with Tmax 100. It just about eliminated all grain in the film and was a big improvement. It also can in film packs so I no longer needed to load and carry heavy film holders. I guess my point is with a film camera I didn't need to upgrade the equipment to better the picture quality because the upgrades came with the film and paper. Today the upgrades come built in the camera. I will never part with the 5D but at some point I would like a backup body to have with me, and it may be a few years before I do that.

 

[Dao]

Jad, I just want to say that .....


"I like your work too"

 

[imagemaker46]

You have some very nice images, the skill is definitely there. Honestly and this isn't a knock against you, but personally I don't believe that you will ever be really happy shooting with digital. You have been creating beautiful images on film, and can't get the same feel with digital. I had been shooting film from 1969-2001, when I switched to digital I thought it was amazing, and it did bring me back into the spirit of wanting to work again, I came close to quitting(several times) I have gone from 3 1D bodies to a 5D mklll and have to say the Mklll is beautiful, but then I have also produced beautiful images with my happy snap T2i, using good glass though.

In the past 3 years OI have been scanning all my old pro football negs and really like how most of them look, the grain is bad on some, and amazing on others, but they still have a different feel than digital. If people have never shot film they may not understand the difference, but there is one.

Try renting a 5D mklll and see what you think, you may find the camera you are missing.

 

[Jad]

You have some very nice images, the skill is definitely there. Honestly and this isn't a knock against you, but personally I don't believe that you will ever be really happy shooting with digital. You have been creating beautiful images on film, and can't get the same feel with digital. I had been shooting film from 1969-2001, when I switched to digital I thought it was amazing, and it did bring me back into the spirit of wanting to work again, I came close to quitting(several times) I have gone from 3 1D bodies to a 5D mklll and have to say the Mklll is beautiful, but then I have also produced beautiful images with my happy snap T2i, using good glass though.

In the past 3 years OI have been scanning all my old pro football negs and really like how most of them look, the grain is bad on some, and amazing on others, but they still have a different feel than digital. If people have never shot film they may not understand the difference, but there is one.

Try renting a 5D mklll and see what you think, you may find the camera you are missing.

I think you are correct in saying I probably won't be as happy with my results with digital. The silver print glows when compared to a inkjet print, at least for me. Digital is fascinating with respects to how simply I can do things in PS that took me hours if not days to do in the darkroom. My hope is the technology will progress and improvements will come. It was sad when film went in a decline because it was just reaching some of the best technology and products in its history. The advancements came because of the competition, and brought us some really nice films and papers to work with. Sadly there is little left on the market today that can compare. I remember the day when I heard my first music cd and thought it sounded brassy when compared to the traditional vinyl records, and wonder if people would accept the new sound. The 5D111 is a nice camera but the 5D11 will do for now.