Should Canon get away from the "mark" marks?

[KeithB]

Comparing the buzz about the D800 vs the mark III, I can't help but wonder if some of it is because the D800 is a "new" design, while the Mark III is a "derivative" of the Mark II.

I wonder if Canon should drop all the "mark" monikers (except for lenses) to emphasize that these *are* new designs, and not tweaks of the old one.

[Bob Atkins]

Well....sometimes the new models are tweaks of the old ones.

Canon are somewhat limited because Canon high end models are single digit. So they only have 1 (taken) through 9 - and 5 and 7 are already gone.

If the Canon 5D MkIII had been called the Canon 4D (or 3D or 2D), people would complain it was just a tweak of the 5D MkII and didn't deserve a new number.

Sometimes you just can't win. It will be interesting to see which route they take with the next camera in the EOS 7D line. Will it be the 7D MkII (that's where I'd put my money) or the EOS 6D. It can't really be the 8D or 9D because lower numbers signify a more advanced design. Of course once they get to the 6D, they're stuck because there's already a 5D.

I'd say that to some extent, Canon have painted themsleves into a corner with their model numbering and it's a bit too late to change things now. I'm not sure the current scheme is really hurting them much either.

[bmpress]

I attended the "Florida Birding Photo Fest" in St. Augustine last week and went up to the Canon booth. So there was an opportunity to discuss the 5D Mark 3 issues and I could not resist. But I found the gentleman representing Canon to be most unwilling to talk about the dynamic range of the camera. He said the camera was amazing in all areas and that nothing could touch it. When I asked him about the Miranda test, he said that he had no respect for Miranda, that he didn't know what he was talking about.

My sense was that since I was there at the very end of the event, he probably had been pounded all week long by other photographers and was reacting poorly to "yet another challenge." In any case, I wondered where Canon ever got this guy and why they hired him.

 

[Bob Atkins]

I assume that Canon reps cannot discuss other cameras and any weakness in their own. Just like no Ford rep is going to say that BMWs are better than Fords, no Canon rep is going to want to be quoted saying that the Nikon D800 has better dynamic range than the 5D3.

The reps are in a very difficult position. Their job is to promote Canon and whatever situation they are in their job is to spin things Canon's way. When they are talking to you, they don't know who you are and so they have to regard anything they say is being "on the record".  Their boss isn't going to like it much if they are quoted on some website saying anything negative about Canon products.

I've had the same experience talking with Canon representatives. They basically have to stick pretty much to the company line, and the more junior ones often really don't know all that much beyond what you can find in Canon publications on on their various websites.

The rep may not know anything about the DR of the 5D3. Unless Canon have provided that information to him, he can't really comment on it. I've never heard of that type of information being widely disseminated inside Canon. I assume they do have measurements, but those numbers are probably known only by the most senior technical people (and they aren't going to give them out without corporate approval).

I don't know how good any of the published reports on the 5D3 and D800 are. I assume that most of what is in there is probably reasonably accurate.

My plan is to get hold of both a D800 and a 5D3, hopefully at the same time, and try to do a direct side by side comparison. Looks like the D800 should be coming along in the next couple of weeks. Not sure about the 5D3.

[bmpress]

Your comments about the Canon Reps do make good sense. I can't wait for your critique, Bob. My brother told me that he, being a Nikon guy, took delivery of his new camera without the anti-aliasing filter, and had excellent things to say about it. He and a friend did side by side photo testing of the 800 vs an 80 megapixel medium format camera and the 18 x24 prints, he said, were as good.