Canon EOS 50D

Canon 60D mockup (source: www.fetdigitaal.nl)

Even for Canon, next September will see the Photokina show in Koln (Germany). It is often the occasion when brands of photo manufacturers launch the photo cameras they expect will be doing the big sales of the end of the year (a period that is really good for the amateur photography market). This year should not be any kind of exception and Canon has several cards to draw. So, I will not fail to try my hand at a few previsions from the information I got (sometimes they are incoherent, but they are often consistent when they reach my mailbox). The real difficulty for Canon predictions comes from the lack of precision of the current rumours.

To start with something really obvious, it is no longer possible to sort out rumour and fact about the Canon EOS 60D. At the beating heart of the EOS range of D-SLR cameras, the Canon EOS 50D has long been waiting its replacement (The 50D was launched at the end of 2008!). However, the launch of the Canon EOS 7D let think that this xxD series was at its end. But with time, rumours about an upcoming EOS 60D did not stop. Since the EOS 7D is also reaching a 5 quarters availability, it is possible to imagine that time has come to see either one or both replaced. And, consequently, most of the rumours are only that: Rumours… only based upon the wishes of their authors.

To give you a hint at what this new camera could be, here are possible features:

• 18 MP digital sensor
• Sensitivity: ISO 100-6400
• Continuous shooting at 7 fps
• 9-point AF system
• Fixed LCD (maybe tiltable)
• New user interface
• (Minor) improvements to the EOS 7D video capture mode, already in 1080p (FullHD)

But this is still to be confirmed and stays quite imprecise.

Curiously, since the Canon EOS 60D is still a very active hypothesis despite the lack of serious confirmation from the manufacturer, the replacement of the Canon EOS 1000D is not attracting a lot of credible leaks (despite some isolated DIY rumours, here and there). However, there is a very good chance that Canon will offer a new solution in the lower price range (Canon EOS 2000D) to counter-act the ever-more-present competition in the “less than 500€” market which is starting to be very active (Just look at the launch of the Sony Alpha 290 or the price reductions of the Pentax K-x, not even counting the strong offers from Olympus or Samsung). The photo sensor will have to leave the dusty floor of 10 MP, probably to re-use some of the already existing technology of its bigger brothers, but without reaching the expensive 18 MP level (15 MP would be perfect). The only really important issue will be to ensure very low manufacturing costs while staying in the race and it is difficult to precisely forecast the corners that the engineers will have to cut short; However, the higher the resolution, the more expensive the components (and not only the sensor itself).

Additionally, CR speaks more about new lenses for the end of August (in preparation of the Photokina show): EF 60 f/2.8 IS Macro, and EF 24-70 f/2.8L IS.

So, not many fixed certainties, but it is very probable that Canon will make the landscape clear at the end of August to prepare the Photokina 2010 Fair, either with a Canon EOS 60D, or a Canon EOS 2000D, or both.

EOSInfo is a small utility program which allows you to read the internal counter of shutter operations from your Canon EOS dSLR camera (except for the Canon EOS 500D). It installs on Windows, it is free, it works well.

According to Canon Rumors and a Danish web site, the next round of Canon annoucements (Point’n Shoots and EOS) will be done on August 19.

For me, it would probably be the launch of the long-expected Canon EOS 60D due to replace the existing Canon EOS 50D. Normally, in this part of the Canon line, this should be a fairly incremental step. Neither the 40D nor the 50D was a revolution, but Canon keeps pumping good reliable SLR cameras around this price point.

The only big question is: “Will Canon bring Full Frame down from the EOS 5D Mk II to the xxD line?”

Stay tuned.

According to Canon Rumours, the future Canon EOS 60D will probably be a new autofocus system: Based upon the 1D autofocus, it would be more AF points/zones.

Not much more, but it could be significant if Canon is actually creating a new stepping stone for incremental improvements in the mid-range SLR Autofocus system, getting the best AF from the 1D system and making it slightly better while bringing it to the 50D/60D level of SLR cameras.

For a few years now, Canon repeatedly forgot to include some of the critical user manuals in the CD-ROM coming with its cameras. If you want to have them you have to get them from the Internet (when and where they are available).

For the Canon EOS 50D, I found the manual and documentation available on the Canon Singapore web site.

• EOS 50D Instruction Manual
• Pocket Guide (EOS 50D)
• CD-ROM Guide
• etc.

On the Canon USA web site, there are a few interesting articles about the recent Canon EOS 50D reserved for those who cannot really buy a camera as expensive as the Full Frame ones announced by Nikon, Sony and Canon. A good way to evaluate the performance we all can expect from this nice camera for enthusiasts, the Canon EOS 50D.

• EOS 50D: Quick Control Screen
• EOS 50D: Peripheral Illumination Correction