Canon EOS 5D

Did you already see an SLR camera operating in slow motion? The video here will show you the steps -normally invisible to the naked eye- that are splitting the shutter operation in individual stages:

1. mirror going up,
2. shutter uncovering the sensor,
3. nearly immediately, shutter covering it again (the image is now “in the box”),
4. mirror falling down too.

This is assuredly an unusual service advisory notice that was just dropped by Canon USA: Some Canon EOS 5D may simply loose their mirror if its glue stops sticking enough. This can happen during operation. I wouldn’t like to hear the sound and see the consequences…

Ok! The repair will be free of charge (at least in the US, I don’t know for Europe yet). They will add a small fixation on the mirror to avoid any risk.

Dang! It’s better to know it now if nothing happened yet. But I guess that Canon already observed this on some cameras. Not the latest SLR camera on the market, but it’s better to know and correct now, than discovering it later, the hard way.

Canon USA Service Notice: EOS 5D: Main Mirror Detachment

Thank you for using Canon products.

We have discovered that, in rare instances, the main mirror of some EOS 5D Digital SLR cameras may detach due to deterioration in the strength of the adhesive. Accordingly, we would like to convey the details and our service policy concerning this phenomenon.

We offer our sincerest apologies to those customers who have been inconvenienced by this issue. Canon always strives to provide the highest quality products to our customers and we will spare no effort in our quality management to make sure our customers can use our products with confidence. We hope our efforts will earn your understanding.

Phenomenon

The main mirror of the camera detaches and images cannot be viewed through the viewfinder.

Affected products

EOS 5D Digital SLR cameras whose main mirror has detached.

User Support

We will repair and reinforce the mirror portion of the affected products free of charge. If you own one of the affected products, please contact our Customer Support Center.

We appreciate your patience, and we offer our sincerest apologies to the customers using these products who have been inconvenienced by this issue.

This information is for residents of the United States and Puerto Rico only. If you do not reside in the USA or Puerto Rico, please contact the Canon Customer Support Center in your region.

Contact Information for Inquiries
Customer Support Center
1-866-422-2965 (toll free)
8:00 a.m. – Midnight, EST (M-F)
10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., EST (Sat.)
Email: carecenter@cits.canon.com

Sony Alpha 900

Comparing two SLR cameras with very very different prices is realy a tough task. So tough that it is often useless. In the Online Photographer, Michael Johnston still tries this daunting task of comparing the Sony Alpha 900 and the Nikon D3.

These are two cameras that are mostly linked by the fact that they have a 35mm Full Frame sensor. Their prices are not even in the same ballpark and the Sony is brand new, while the Nikon is on the market for more than a year now. However, I think that the comparison is quite interesting. To the point, that I invite you to read it from top to bottom.

There is no mere conclusion, but interesting comments that could be summarized by a few items:

1. The D3 is much faster in nearly all aspects; It’s also bigger and heavier.
2. Michael Johnston prefers the digital noise quality of higher ISOs from the Sony (but I think this is very subjective).
3. From the photos shown, I would say that the Sony Alpha 900 is helped by a better dynamic lighting optimization, but the added pixels are helping a lot images that need to be enlarged (or cropped) somewhat. Photoshop and DxO and other Raw file developers may compensate this, but shooting nearly right from the beginning is important.

Nikon D700

This kind of comparison is also quite interesting because it emphasizes the important differences that we can find between high-pixel count Full Frame cameras and high-ISO (low-pixel count) Full Frame cameras. If you stay at relatively small images sizes (or printouts up to A4/Letter size) the Nikon D3 and its sibbling Nikon D700 are very powerful beasts that will run to the darkest place a camera can shoot. And this can be amazingly dark.

But if you start shooting large images (or print more than A4/Letter-size, or intend to significantly crop your images; like for large panoramic photos), a larger pixel-count may become quite critical. Then, you start looking at the Sony Alpha 900 or the Canon EOS 5D MkII. It really depends on the kind of use you have.

The comments from Michael Johnston about the “shoot-to-carry ratio” (ratio between shooting time and effort, and carrying time and stress) are also quite interesting and a very urgent reminder for all people who may be tempted to follow the Full Frame madness. If you go from a relatively light-weight camera to one of the heavier models, you should really think about the impact on your photographic behaviour. If you keep the camera to the eye and/or shoot a lot, a heavy camera is not a critical issue (that’s for pros), but if you carry the camera around and shoot only sparsely the mere weight may become a burden (that’s for many amateurs, even enthusiasts).

Digital noise, this eternal ennemy of the photographer, is going to find a real opponent at its level: The 35mm Full Frame sensors of the new FF dSLR that just arrived on the market (or were there for a relatively longer time):

• Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
• Canon EOS 5D
• Canon EOS 5D MkII
• Nikon D3
• Nikon D700
• Sony Alpha 900

As a matter of fact, this is a considerable advantage of the big/large sensors which can make use of pixels whose size is proportionnelly bigger and so apter to capture light without using the ammplification devices (usually generating or increasing noise image defects).

This is a good reason to find it interesting to go and check the images présented by DPreview in its Sony Alpha 900 test. They compare some of these cameras at sensitivity settings between 50 and 6400 ISO.

Think about what any other SLR camera would do at the same settings (ISO 3200, no less!): More or less colored blurred blotches.

The Canon teaser known as the “moon teaser” is progressing slowly toward complete disclosure of what will be the next evolution in dSLR : Destined evolution. But still no clue as to exactly what camera will be disclosed. The follower of the Canon EOS 5D? Some other camera?

Now, this is DigitalRev telling us that Canon will not only rush one follower to the Canon EOS 5D, Full Frame digital SLR camera under considerable competitive pressure, but 3 cameras (EOS 3D, 7D and 9D), a full range of 12, 16 and 16 mega-pixels.

There is no reason to believe them and to handle this differently from a rumour, but it would be terribly interesting, sure?