Canon 40D Rumors

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Below is a chronology of the rumors leading up to the official announcement of the Canon EOS 40D.


8/19/07: Today was a big one. Amazon.com leaked the specs on the Canon 40D and the 1Ds Mk III. Here’s the full specs. Here’s the highlights of the hot stuff. Amazon.com also leaked the specs on the Canon 1Ds Mark III.

8/16/07: A proven inside source says the Canon 40D will be like a 1D Mk III “lite”.

8/13/07: Several folks have written in to confirm the Best Buy leak and that the kit will include the EF 28-135 IS lens. Also, there’s a new photo for the Canon 40D ad campaign . . . check it out.
8/10/07: Another source confirming the Best Buy leak.

8/9/07: The Canon 40D UPC code gathered from the Best Buy leak confirms the legitimacy of the leak.

8/8/07: Availability and pricing for the Canon 40D leaked by Best Buy insider. 9/2/07 in-stock date @ $1600.

8/3/07: BIG NEWS! It looks like their are finally some real shots of the Canon 40D surfacing on the web. Check them out here.

8/1/07: A couple of new rumors are floating around regarding an August 20-25th announcement for the 40D.

7/31/07: In contrast to the last update, apparently, at least some reps have heard something and the Canon 40D should be here soon.

7/26/07: Here’s some more second-hand info from Canon reps found in the DPReview.com forums. In short, the Canon reps that are supposed to be in the know haven’t heard a peep.

7/22/07: New word that the Canon 40D is “not a rumor.”

7/18/07: New developments since the Canon 40D showed up on the CIPA Pictbridge certification list. Read more here.

7/1/07: New rumors of the 40D specs, sale price and a possible EF-S 18-200 IS USM lens to go along with it. Details here.

4/30/07: New rumors on a July 2007 release of the 40D.

ORIGINAL POST: We all now know that we’re not getting the Canon 40D this Spring. The news and rumor mill has been rather thin lately though on the Canon DSLR front (and we all love to speculate). Since the announcement of the Canon 1D Mk III and accessories, we’ve not really heard much from Canon. In fact, there’s been nothing new on the Canon 40D since pre-PMA.

I ran across a little nugget of info from Canon that bears on the topic. No, we’re still not getting the Canon 40D this Spring; however, we do have a hint that some new Canon gear will be coming the second half of 2007.

Over on Canon Photo News, Mark Anderson pointed out that the Digital Photography Show’s podcast interview of Rudy Winston from Canon reveals some interesting tidbits about the 40D – or its absence.

In this most recent interview he asked “So what happened to the 40D announcement?” Rudy replies that despite all the rumors that are floating out there, “there will be no more new camera announcements for the first half of this year.”

What’s said is clear. No 40D announcement the first half of the year, ok. What’s implied is a little more interesting. First, no denial of a 40D. Second, the lack of announcements are limited to the first half of 2007. That suggests that there will be new camera announcements the second half of 2007.

Now, he could be talking about point and shooters; however, his response directly followed a question that specified the 40D. Sounds to me like he’s got some DSLR in mind. Could it be the Canon 1Ds Mk III or the Canon 40D? I dunno, but my money is on a 40D Fall 2007, say September? Take a look at the product cycle for Canon DSLRs. The 30D is due an update; so is the 5D, but nobody can touch its features right now and the 5D is more of a pro-level body, which can take a while to update. Canon announced the 30D at PMA 2006 – September 2007 will be the typical 18-month product cycle. While there’s plenty power in the 30D, it’s getting pounded in the megapixel market that we live in by Nikon’s D80 and D200. Sony’s also got some high amateur love coming up soon. And this is not to even mention the entry-level DSLRs, like the Nikon D40x, Canon’s own Rebel XTi and the Sony Alpha A100.

[tags]canon, eos, 40d, is, usm, review, 18-200, ef-s, rumors, news, availability, announcement, release, price[/tags]

Canon Product Availability: WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter; 16-35mm f/2.8L II; 580EX II

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Amazon is now accepting pre-orders for several of the new products announced at PMA. All products will be released on March 31 and should ship then or shortly thereafter.

The EF 16-35 f/2.8L II is available to pre-order for $1,599.

Pre-order the WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter for $799.99.

Finally, the 580EX II can be pre-ordered for $499.99.

No word yet on the Canon 1D Mk III. I’m on email alert and I’ll be sure to let you know when it becomes available.

Sigma’s 18-200 Stabilized Lens Finally Available

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Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OS

Ok, not just yet, but you can now pre-order it now through Amazon in Canon, Nikon and, of course Sigma mounts. This thing was announce at Photokina last fall. Finally, it looks like it will actually release (ship?) on May 10, 2007. Canon is the company that really needed this lens though. Nikon has the wonderful 18-200 VR already. I’ve even been contemplating picking up a D40 or D50 (I’m a Canon user) just so I could have the 18-200 VR to carry around on family vacations and outings. I’m looking forward to reading some reviews on this lens and I’ll be sure to pass along my thoughts if I end up picking one up. If it lives up to the hype, it looks like a real bargain in the $550 neighborhood.

Canon EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 II Lens Reviews

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The Canon EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 II lens is standard zoom lens with the same optical system, construction, and exterior as the EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 V USM. The difference is that it uses a DC motor instead of a USM to drive the AF. It was included as a kit lens with older entry level Canon SLRs back in their heyday and is generally regarded as having rather poor optical quality.


Reviews

The Digital Picture

The Canon EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 II Lens is very soft wide open – especially at 80mm. Stopping down at least 1 f-stop is required to get reasonable sharpness. Corners are soft at 28mm.

Fred Miranda Forums User Reviews

The Canon 28-80 may be a kit lens but it comfortably outperformed the Sigma zoom in my tripod-mounted test shots at all apertures within its limits at 28mm, 50mm and 70mm.

Where to Buy

First off, consider going to your local camera store (and I don’t necessarily mean Wolf Camera at the mall). By going to your local camera store, you’re supporting your community and you just might build a lasting relationship with people you can rely on when you need some help or answers. If you’re buying online, I recommend sticking with Amazon, B&H Photo or Adorama. These three vendors are reliable, trustworthy and generally have the best (legitimate) prices.

[tags]Canon, EF, 28-80mm, f/3.5-5.6, II, lens, review[/tags]

No Canon 40D This Spring!

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Have you been looking for the Canon 40D only to come across the real 40D at Amazon?
Every Canon fan and shopper is now well aware of the announcement of the Canon EOS 1D Mk III, which we all now want (affordability issues aside). However, in light of this announcement it also appears that we will be without a successor to the Canon 30D anytime soon (like the much rumored 40D). Mark Goldstein has posted his commentary on PhotographyBLOG.com noting that Canon has confirmed there are no further major release announcements for PMA.

He says:

Canon confirmed that these will be all the new products announced in the run-up to and during PMA, which starts on March 8th.

So all those rumours of the 40D and 1Ds Mark III cameras that you might have seen will continue to circulate for a while yet!

So, what happened with the infamous placeholder for the Canon 40D on the official Canon Hong Kong website? I think, perhaps, Canon has brought out one of the oldest tricks in the book for all of us bloggers and gear geeks. Canon pulled the old switcheroo on us. If that’s the case, it was a rather savvy move on Canon’s part by misdirecting our attention to something that really wasn’t going to happen and then surprising us with a remarkable new camera from a different line. Kudos to you Canon, you got us. Thanks for the great gear this year too!

Canon EOS-1D Mark III Announced

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Looks like there is a new Canon EOS-1D Mark III and Rob Galbraith is hosting the official Canon whitepaper. Additionally, there’s a new 16-35 f/2.8 L lens and a 580EX II flash. Initially, the most salivating features of the new camera seem to be 10.1MP DIGIC III at 10fps! Oh, and how about a 3″ LCD display with LIVE view?
The key features pointed out by DPReview.com:

  • 10.1 Megapixel APS-H CMOS sensor
  • 10 fps continuous shooting for up to 110 frames
  • Dual “DIGIC III” processors
  • New auto focus system with 19 cross type sensors
  • EOS Integrated Cleaning System
  • ISO 3200 (expandable to H:6400)
  • 3.0” LCD with Live View mode
  • Wider, brighter viewfinder
  • Picture Style1 [Read more...]

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM Lens Reviews

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The Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM is an ultra-wide-angle zoom that offers a broader view, fast aperture, and closer focusing down to 11 in. (.28m). The first EF wide-angle zoom to combine three Aspherical elements and Canon’s UD glass, the lens remains compact while providing superior image quality across its range. Constructed to pro standards, it’s also highly resistant to dust and moisture. (Canon)

Reviews

The Digital Picture

At 16mm, the 16-35 L is very sharp in the center even wide open (f/2.8) and improves little when stopped down. The 16mm full-frame corners are soft wide open (with a flat target – because of field curvature) and improve noticeably at f/5.6. At 16mm with a close subject distance, strong barrel distortion is noticeable even on a FOVCF body.

Photozone

All-in-all it is a very good lens but if you don’t need the f/2.8 setting and that extra mm at the wide end you may as well save quite some bucks by preferring the EF 17-40mm f/4 USM L which performs basically just as good.

Luminous Landscape

If you are in the market for a new wide-angle lens, I definitely recommend spending the extra $250 and getting the new 16-35L. In terms of sharpness, contrast, and extra features, you will get your monies worth.

Ken Rockwell

This is your lens if you need the absolute widest zoom available from a top-drawer manufacturer for a full-frame camera.

WL Castleman

The greater widefield capabilities of the EF 16-35 L (108° diagonal field of view compared to 74° diagonal field of view for the 17-40L) make the relatively minor differences in corner sharpness and chromatic aberration a small price to pay for those seek the widest possible ultrawide zoom performance.

Fred Miranda Forum User Reviews

Overall I would rate this lens 9 out of 10. I got it back in November 2006 and after a year I can say that 16-35L Mark I is an excellent wide angle lens. I shoot with FF bodies and I guess this is pretty much the reason why I went for it. 16mm is quite wide on my 5D and 1Ds.

Photography Review User Reviews

this lens is an excellent choice for your line-up of quality lenses. i am slowly converting to an all L-series line-up, all f/2.8 lenses. i cannot stress enough how amazingly beautiful this lens is, as well as all of the other L series.

PBase Sample Images

Where to Buy

First off, consider going to your local camera store (and I don’t necessarily mean Wolf Camera at the mall). By going to your local camera store, you’re supporting your community and you just might build a lasting relationship with people you can rely on when you need some help or answers. If you’re buying online, I recommend sticking with Amazon, B&H Photo or Adorama. These three vendors are reliable, trustworthy and generally have the best (legitimate) prices. Additionally, purchasing your gear through these links helps support this site.

[tags]Canon, EF, 16-35mm, f/2.8L, USM, lens, review[/tags]

Canon EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 II USM

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The Canon EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 II USM lens is one of the former kit lenses of the Rebel series film SLRs.  The image quality is generally not regarded as all that great.  Additionally, the zoom range is ill-suited for the newer 1.6x crop-sensor DSLRs.  As an update from the prior non-USM version, it is a lightweight lens (only 6.7 oz./190g) and also has a revised exterior appearance, highlighted by a rubber zoom ring.

Reviews

The Digital Picture

The Canon EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 II USM Lens is sharper at the wide end rapidly progressing to soft at 90mm. Wide open sharpness is not bad at 28mm, but the corners are soft until the lens is stopped down to f/8. The 28-90 II is very soft wide open over most of the balance of the focal length range.

Fred Miranda Forum User Reviews

I got this lense as a gift with my Elan 7 – my first SLR in 20 years. I shot a couple of dozen rolls with this lense and loved many of the pictures I got with it. It was only after getting my 10D and reading up on lenses that I realized this was a very cheap entry level zoom. After comparing it to a 50mm 1.4 and a few other L lenses I realized that pictures could be much better than lense was capable of capturing.

Photography Review User Reviews

Nice lens despite of the very cheap look. Sharpness and distortion are ok for the price tag, after all it’s an under $100 3x zoom range lens. Focusing is not lightning fast but ok for amateur use.

PhotoSig User Reviews

As a general purpose lense it is fine. I am a travel photographer and tend to take this lense on the road because of its light weight, near silent and extremely fast auto focus system.

SLR Gear User Reviews

This lens usually comes as part of a kit (along with an entry level film SLR). It’s lightweight, which pretty much sums up the good stuff I can say about it. Oh, plus at least this version come with USM.

Where to Buy

First off, consider going to your local camera store. By going to your local camera store, you’re supporting your community and you just might build a lasting relationship with people you can rely on when you need some help or answers. If you’re buying online, I recommend sticking with Amazon, B&H Photo or Adorama. These three vendors are reliable, trustworthy and generally have the best (legitimate) prices.

[tags]Canon, EF, 28-90mm, f/4-5.6, II, USM, lens, review[/tags]