Canon's Spring 2013 Product Announcements
Canon announce today (March 21st 2013) a number of new products. They are:
- Canon EOS Digital Rebel T5i - Virtually identical to the T4i
- Canon EOS Digital Rebel SL1 - A smaller and lighter Digital Rebel
- Canon EF-S 18-55/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens (kit lens for above bodies) - Now with a stepper motor for focus
- Canon PowerShot SX280 HS 20x zoom with GPS and WiFi
- Canon PowerShot SX270 HS (like SX 280 but with no WiFi or GPS and may not be a US release).
What's the reaction to these new cameras among the Canon faithful?...[sound of crickets chirping]...
Not that there's anything wrong with any of them, but there's really nothing there to get the Canonistas very excited. The inevitable questions are where's the EOS 70D? Where's the upgrade of the EOS-M (or another lens for it), where's the EOS 7D MkII and - especially - why has Canon still not started shipping the EF 200-400/4L IS USM Extender? The 200-400 might be the only lens that gets updated before it's even released! It's been around for years in "testing" and in the hands of chosen Canon photographers. There were two of them at the Photo Expo show last fall in New York City. What's the holdup? Not that I will be able to afford one, but it would be nice to see finally them in the hands of the photographers who can afford one.
There's really nothing on this current list that's likely to make any existing EOS owner think "that's something I must have". Perhaps the two most interesting developments are the Digic 6 processor in the SX-280 HS and the new sensor in the SL1. I'm sure that the DIGIC 6 will find its way into future DSLRs and I'd assume it's faster and more powerful than the DIGIC 5 currently in use (the 1D X uses a DIGIC 5+). There are no real technical details of the new sensor in the SL1 other than it's new. What new features or performance improvements it has remain to be seen. I suspect they are probably related to hybrid AF (simultaneous phase and contrast detection) for video and Live View focusing.
The lack of any new EOS-M bodies or lenses and the new tiny SL1 DSLR perhaps hint that maybe Canon isn't fully committed to the mirrorless EOS-M system? They're way behind Sony's NEX series in terms of body and lens development for mirrorless cameras. Perhaps they've decided that a very small, light, DSLR makes more sense? Maybe they figure they can make more money from selling existing EF series lenses to new SL1 owners than they could by developing new bodies and lenses for the EOS-M system?
So I guess we'll just have to wait a little longer for the things that the Canonistas want to see! There's mumbling on the Internet that maybe we'll hear something about a 70D in April. We can only hope that's true.
