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Wish list for Canon

anewman143

anewman143

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 18, 2008
146
23
With the new release of the T3i (and the minimal feature change that it offers) I started thinking about what I'd want in a prosumer DSLR (I've got an XSi and some L glass).

First for me is built in GPS for geotagging EXIF data...seems crazy in this day and age to have to either pay for Canon's solution (BIG $$$) or a separate GPS receiver...

Whaddya think everyone? What's on your wish list?

Adam
 
As a crop-body I'm pretty happy with my 7D. It does everything I want and does it pretty well. Built-in GPS would be nice, but not really essential.

I'd like a lower-price full-frame body. If they could keep the 5DII sensor in production when they introduce the 5DIII and stick it in a lower-featured body for £1200 I'd be happy.

Oh and some cheaper, fast EF-s primes (like the cheap Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX lens). I love my 35mm f/1.4 L but it seems ridiculous that it's that or the non-USM 35mm f/2 if you want a more-or-less normal lens on a crop body.
 
anewman143 said:
With the new release of the T3i (and the minimal feature change that it offers) I started thinking about what I'd want in a prosumer DSLR (I've got an XSi and some L glass).

First for me is built in GPS for geotagging EXIF data...seems crazy in this day and age to have to either pay for Canon's solution (BIG $$$) or a separate GPS receiver...
Click to expand...

I've got a 7D, so I'm pretty set with most features. What I would like to see is an intermediate zoom, covering, say 35-85 or so. Most of the better long zooms start at 70mm, so with three lenses: 17-40, 35-85 (or so), then a 70-300, the average photo hobbyist has a pretty decent range to start out, with no gaps. I've got a 18-135, 50/1.8 & Tamron 70-300 SP, but I still feel the 18-135 range would be better served by two lenses covering a similar range. There might be an older 35-85 from the film days, but I'd like to see something more modern.

As for geotagging, you've got almost all you need. Just pick up Aperture in the App store (under $100, I understand), and take "index" shots with your iPhone 4 when you change locations, or whenever. Aperture can merge the geo data from the iPhone shots onto the shots from your Canon (or Nikkon, Pentax, Sony...). That works pretty well, if you're only changing location every so often, and you don't need each and every single photo tagged to the last meter, so should be pretty good for the usual personal photos.

:apple::apple:
 
robbieduncan said:
I'd like a lower-price full-frame body. If they could keep the 5DII sensor in production when they introduce the 5DIII and stick it in a lower-featured body for £1200 I'd be happy.
Click to expand...

This will never happen, the sheer cost of Full Frame sensors both in terms of quantity and damage control would never be cheap enough for them to sell one in that range and have it make money. R&D on a Full Frame sensor is pricey, and for every CMOS wafer they build they can get up to 20 Full Frame sensors (pending zero damages), whereas they get over 200 1.6 sensors on the same wafer. I believe this is why Full Frame bodies have a 3 year cycle; just to recover costs they need to use that chip longer. So, while the R&D on the 5DII chip is probably long since covered, it's still much more expensive to produce 200 Full Frame cameras vs 200 Rebels.
 
Oh, and what would I like to see? Enough of this crappy AF on anything but 1 Series. Nikon is ruling Canon on AF. My 5DII suits my needs, but I'd love to have gotten the 7D AF system in it. They need to stop reserving the top AF for the 1 Series, especially cause it seems the 1Ds future is questionable. Leave this 9 point system to the Rebels and maybe the xxD series.
 
Auto focus points on the rule of third lines rather than all bunched around the centre would be great.
 
steveash said:
Auto focus points on the rule of third lines rather than all bunched around the centre would be great.
Click to expand...

LOL... seems so obvious doesn't it? I could probably live with just 5 focus points if they were configured this way (one at each intersection of thirds and one in the center).

A also agree with previous posters about EFS primes and GPS.

I wish they would bring back focus point selection based on where your eye is looking in the viewfinder as well. They had this 15 years ago in their film cameras.

A larger LCD screen with a touch interface would be nice (as long as it had a proximity sensor like the iPhone so your nose doesn't press buttons while you're looking through the view finder).

Actually, a view finder extension tube for those of us with big noses that are always smudging the LCD would be nice too.

An easy way to instantly preview photos from my camera on my iPad would be a dream without having to buy an expensive grip. Built-in Wifi?

Finally, I'd like to see cameras like the 7D and 5D that are within my budget using SD flash instead of CF. CF is just archaic and support for it in consumer devices is non existent, requiring an additional reader/dongle.
 
steveash said:
Auto focus points on the rule of third lines rather than all bunched around the centre would be great.
Click to expand...

I'll eat my hat when I see the day....

I think 90% of the photographic world would be pleased as punch if Canon were to introduce a new focus point scheme like that, grouped in a square or a rectangle rather than the stupid diamond shape.

I would also love if Canon were to jam some more features into the 5D line (Bit faster FPS, bit more AF tech namely, also dual card slots for redundancy maybe) and raise the price accordingly.

I would love to see a EF L variant of the famed EF-S 17-55 f/2.8IS (read: 24-70 IS :p ).

I would love to see a fast prime macro L, like a f/1.8 85L macro IS. Probably cost a fair bit, but I would be in line for it.
 
Another vote for EF-S primes from me. That'd be really cool. It would also help Canon compete against the micro 4/3 type cameras out there.

I'd like to see:

EF-S 30mm f/1.8
EF-S 20mm f/2.0
EF-S 85mm f/1.8

That'd be a nice light, cheap, compact lineup with the current EF 50mm f/1.8.
 
VirtualRain said:
Finally, I'd like to see cameras like the 7D and 5D that are within my budget using SD flash instead of CF. CF is just archaic and support for it in consumer devices is non existent, requiring an additional reader/dongle.
Click to expand...

Doing just a quick, not thorough, search in Amazon shows me the most expensive SD Card works at 22MB/s, whereas the fastest CF Card works at 90MB/s. Pro-level cameras wont' see SD as the main storage anytime soon. When I'm pushing 25-30MB RAW files in my 5DII I want to have a large buffer that empties quick, CF can handle that, SD can't.

And offloading is MUCH faster too; I use a FW800 reader and it's fantastic. Empty my 16GB CF in no time.
 
My ideal camera would be a hybrid of a 7d and a 5d MkII with a little 1d mixed in (perhaps a 5d MkIII?).

- 7d body, focus system, etc (AND 8fps please, 10 would be even better)
- 5d FF sensor (even if it comes at the cost of a slightly larger body and/or loss of integral flash unit). 21mp is fine, rumored 28mp or so would be great as well.
- Expanded AF points over the 7d (5d AF points are a joke after getting fully acquainted with my 7d). Not the 40+ AF points of the 1d series but something that will bring us closer to the edges, even at the cost of 100% cross type AF. I understand the limitations of focusing at the edges and would be willing to accept that for an expanded AF space.
- Dual memory slots like the 1d series. How expensive can an SD slot be to add? There appears to be physical space for it. I'd rather not make the migration from CF to SD for a multitude of reasons but it would be awesome to have dual CF/SD support.
- Integrated GPS receiver. These are getting dirt cheap. I shouldn't have to keep a GPS log and do GPS tagging in PP. Cell phones and crappy P&S cameras have this functionality, why can't my SLR?

- Software enhancements & additional configuration. I can think of a ton of things along this line. Everything from being able to set various ranges in auto modes (it would be nice to set auto ISO from time to time with a defined range of 100-1600) to more advanced functionality like many of the various firmware hacks offer.

- No "gimmicks," please. I don't want/need an articulating LCD and other gimmicky feathers found on the Rebel series (and new 60d, a downgrade from the 50d if you ask me). No touch LCD either, they're slow and cumbersome, especially in the cold. Wheels and buttons (like current cameras) are fast, intuitive and can be manipulated while using the viewfinder. Keep it that way.

I don't see any reason why Canan couldn't do this. Basically all that I'm asking for is a slightly upgraded 5d MkII. I'm even alright with a slight price increase over the current 5d to make this happen. Of course, building this camera would likely take even more market away from the 1d series than the 5d/5d MkII already has so it's even more unlikely. Sigh... In that case, how about 7d w/a FF sensor? Call it a 5d MkIII and keep the current price point... ;)
 
rebby said:
No touch LCD either, they're slow and cumbersome, especially in the cold. Wheels and buttons (like current cameras) are fast, intuitive and can be manipulated while using the viewfinder. Keep it that way.
Click to expand...

Interesting... I wouldn't want to part with the dials for exposure settings either (aperture, shutter and exposure compensation), however I find the LCD on top to be ancient tech (eg. 1980) and to have to hit a button and then use a dial to change drive modes, metering modes, focus modes, or ISO seems archaic and not all that intuitive to me. If the top LCD were touch and you could just tap the metering icon with your finger and tap the new metering mode, it would be a helluva lot more convenient and intuitive.

As for the back LCD, the main benefit of adding touch there would be in chimping and previewing... imagine swiping through photos and using pinch to zoom or double tapping the screen to zoom in on something 100%. That would be huge compared to the cumbersome controls we have today for that kind of thing.

I guess I'm just spoiled from my iPhone :)
 
VirtualRain said:
Interesting... I wouldn't want to part with the dials for exposure settings either (aperture, shutter and exposure compensation), however I find the LCD on top to be ancient tech (eg. 1980) and to have to hit a button and then use a dial to change drive modes, metering modes, focus modes, or ISO seems archaic and not all that intuitive to me. If the top LCD were touch and you could just tap the metering icon with your finger and tap the new metering mode, it would be a helluva lot more convenient and intuitive.

As for the back LCD, the main benefit of adding touch there would be in chimping and previewing... imagine swiping through photos and using pinch to zoom or double tapping the screen to zoom in on something 100%. That would be huge compared to the cumbersome controls we have today for that kind of thing.

I guess I'm just spoiled from my iPhone :)
Click to expand...

Bah, touch screen tech would be useless on the top LCD. Its small as it is, and making it touchscreen would make it near impossible to use efficiently. It would also mean gloves off time in the winter.
 
I know this is photography but adjustable audio levels via a firmware update would be nice for my 7D.

Dual card slots on the next high end crop would be nice as well.
 
VirtualRain said:
Interesting... I wouldn't want to part with the dials for exposure settings either (aperture, shutter and exposure compensation), however I find the LCD on top to be ancient tech (eg. 1980) and to have to hit a button and then use a dial to change drive modes, metering modes, focus modes, or ISO seems archaic and not all that intuitive to me. If the top LCD were touch and you could just tap the metering icon with your finger and tap the new metering mode, it would be a helluva lot more convenient and intuitive.

As for the back LCD, the main benefit of adding touch there would be in chimping and previewing... imagine swiping through photos and using pinch to zoom or double tapping the screen to zoom in on something 100%. That would be huge compared to the cumbersome controls we have today for that kind of thing.

I guess I'm just spoiled from my iPhone :)
Click to expand...

Awesome that you mention the iPhone when discussing touch interaction with a camera, it will allow me to make my point easily.

Before touch screen phones, I could easily pull out my phone and dial any number without ever even looking at the phone. I could feel the buttons under my finger and dial away all while giving visual attention to anything but my phone. With the iPhone, there is no way that I can do that. I can barely even unlock my phone w/out looking at it much less dial a number.

I think of the camera in the same way, especially that top LCD. I want to be able to manipulate as many settings as possible while looking through the viewfinder. With the current way of doing things, I can easily manipulate setting without ever leaving the viewfinder. I really don't want to lose that functionality and, with most every implementation of touchscreens that I've ever seen, the first thing to go are the physical buttons. For that simple fact alone, I would see it as a major downgrade to move to a touchscreen format in the professional line of cameras.

Don't get me wrong, I don't see nearly as much of an issue moving to a touchscreen on the Rebel series. After all, the current implementation on the Rebel pretty much requires leaving the viewfinder to make settings adjustments anyway. On the other hand, I spend a lot of time shooting in the winter and touchscreens are impossible when wearing large winter gloves. At least with the buttons I've got a fighting chance.

Touchscreens are great but I see no place for them on a professional camera body. That said, I fear that camera manufactures may not agree with me, at least not in the long run.
 
I totally agree about the touch screen thing. Considering you can't use them without gloves, and usually need to see what you're looking at to operate one, I don't think they are a good thing to implement in cameras at all. The only benefit of the touch screen over buttons is perhaps that you could more effectively seal the camera against moisture/dust if the whole back was just one giant piece of glass. But I would not trade that for what you lose in operatbility.

Fortunately, I think the camera manufacturers are smart enough to realize this as they have begun to implement touch screens on P&S but not the DLSR lines.

Ruahrc
 
Don't get me wrong... I wouldn't want to lose all the buttons in favor of touch screens either. However, I believe you can add touch screens to the buttons without losing anything. Even if you took an extreme approach and didn't remove a single button, that doesn't need to stop them from implementing touch screens as well.

I'm with others in that I absolutely could not part without the two dials on my body for adjusting exposure while looking through the view finder. In fact, I'm sure one of the key draws to a pro body is that back dial.

However, I'd be surprised if people are changing drive modes or metering modes while looking through the view finder. Are you? If you are, you're a lot more familiar with the layout of the controls than I am.

I don't know how many times I've got to a dark shooting location and need to get a flashlight out to determine which of those four buttons on the top of my 7D I need to press to activate drive mode so I can change it to remote shutter release and then find the one for ISO to change that from auto to my preferred setting. If the top LCD was a touch screen, it would make it a lot easier to change these things in the dark. Even if they leave the buttons there for use in cold climes.

I suppose there are other ways to solve these problems that would be nearly as good (perhaps better for glove users)... How about illuminating the buttons on the camera in the dark like those on the dash of a car? Just a few LED's for back lighting rows of controls would go a long way. Or even aligning the top LCD icons with the buttons above the display so you can better guess which of those buttons goes with which feature? (assuming you can find the button to turn on the LCD backlight to begin with) :)

A funny story... I handed my GF my camera one evening to show her a picture we had just taken... her natural reaction was to try and pinch to zoom... She looked at me in disgust when I told her she had to press this button and then use this joystick to move the zoom point around. ;)

Now a days when people see a screen they expect to be able to interact directly with it by touch.
 
I suppose you could add touch screen to the camera and not remove the buttons, but what would be the point? Then you'd get a strange situation where you'd probably exclusively use either the touch or the button controls- meaning extra cost and complexity for having 2 UI schemes when only one is really needed.

I actually do change settings with my eye to the viewfinder- aside from SS and aperture, the one other change I use very often is the focusing mode. However, I have also done things like the metering mode, ISO, etc. with my eye to the viewfinder.

I will admit that I do know by feel the location and function of every button on my DSLR. Maybe it's that my D80 is not as advanced as others' bodies, maybe it's that it fits my operating style, but I don't find it a challenge to know which buttons do what and operate them by feel. I guess to me it's just a part of truly knowing/being familiar with your gear.

With your example of the top-LCD being changed into a touchscreen, due to its small size you'd have to have a drill-down menu system in order to completely replicate the functionality of the 4-5 buttons that surround it. Therefore, it could be argued that the touch screen would be even slower than buttons as you'd have to navigate several menus just to change a few functions. A loss in speed is a total non-starter, especially for time-critical or intense situations where you need to change modes/settings fast.

In fact, even the 3.0" LCD on the back of the body would likely need to have some sort of multi-tier system to cover all the functionality that the dedicated buttons provide. Again, a loss in speed could be dealbreaking for many pros who need to be able to change a multitude of settings quickly.

I'd be totally on board with the illuminated buttons though. Although I do know the feel of my buttons by touch, I would not mind some fiber optic pathing in the body that gave the buttons a little bit of light at night.

Ruahrc
 
What, nobody else is waiting for mp3 playback capability? :confused:


Touchscreen is the opposite of what I want. When I take a photo, I want to feel connected to the camera as if it was an extension of my arms, working together with what my eyes see. Physical controls are primitive, but fast.

I'm going to buy the Fuji X100 because it's the size and focal length that I always want to use, and it'll be faster to handle than a Panny GF1 with 20 mm f1.7. Everything else coming out soon is the opposite. Look at the upcoming GF2. It's such a disappointing release!
 
Abstract said:
I'm going to buy the Fuji X100 because it's the size and focal length that I always want to use, and it'll be faster to handle than a Panny GF1 with 20 mm f1.7. Everything else coming out soon is the opposite. Look at the upcoming GF2. It's such a disappointing release!
Click to expand...

If you buy that Fuji, you may find me following you everywhere just so I can see it in action. All that's left is the image quality to be astounding and I'll be ordering one of those as soon as possible. I've longed for a incredible Point n Shoot size camera for far too long, and the X100 looks to be amazing. And it's so damn sexy. I think the $1200 price tag is a little high (I expect to pay more, but not that much more) but I know I'll still shell it out when I can.
 
First and foremost, I'd like to see Canon go mirrorless.

I'm happy with the 5D / 7D camera size for 'semi-pro' type use, but I'd definitely like to see the 550/600D range of cameras shrink, and I'd like to see the mirror disappear in the process. The mirror-less range would need it's own range of lenses of course - with primes amongst them.

Talking about primes, Canon't mid range primes have been ignored for too long. I use the 24 f2.8 and I think it's OK, but both the 28f1.8 and 50f1.4 measure really poorly. I agree with Robbie that these need a refresh (20, 28, 35 and 50... may as well include the 24 and give it USM too). They're 15+ years old, and they don't measure up these days. (And the new ones should be FF designs, not just cropped). Canon has given their fast primes a lot of attention over the last 10 years, now it's time to refresh the regular primes.

Canon is doing great with DSLR video, but there's a few features they need to add in order to rule the market:
User defined zebra striping (set your own clipping points and have them shaded on the LCD) is essential for movie filming, and would also be really handy on an EVIL camera.
Peaking is also a popular video camera feature. Here, sharp edges in the image are highlighted on the LCD - and this makes manual focus so much easier. This would be great for both stills and movie.

I'd like to see an interval timer built in across the range.

ALL cameras and flashes should behave as ETTL master. It's crazy that only the 580 supports this... the 430 is still an expensive flash but only acts as a slave - very poor.

I'd like to see all XD range cameras switch from CF to 2xSDXC slots (allowing RAW files to be saved on one, JPEG on the other).
 
firestarter said:
Canon is doing great with DSLR video, but there's a few features they need to add in order to rule the market:
User defined zebra striping (set your own clipping points and have them shaded on the LCD) is essential for movie filming, and would also be really handy on an EVIL camera.
Click to expand...

And since we're on the video note... Can we PLEASE get passthrough HDMI so we can use the viewfinder with a loupe AND a monitor at the same time???!?!?!!? You know if I'm looking through the loupe and someone is pulling focus, it helps with reference without just trusting the marks on the follow focus. There have been many redo shots just cause the pull was slightly off due to marks and no reference video.
 
Last edited:
^^^ Agreed on the pass through HDMI.

I've been following a lot of Philip Bloom's articles on DSLR video - and it seems that recording the HDMI output as 4:2:2 at high bitrate on an external device is also a 'strong want' for a lot of people (I'm not a pro myself, and I'm getting by OK with H264).
 
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