Canon 450D; look who's coming to dinner...

[akmc_in_au]

Great; I just typed out an entire post and it vanished. Let's try that again. Memo to self; always edit in Word, then post.

I just answered a post in the Q&A Forum about putting a link in the profile page. I used an example link to Canon Australia's DSLR page. I haven't looked there for a while but got a couple of surprises when I did:

(a) The RRP on the 5D appears to have dropped chunkily. I'm pretty certain it was $4,999 before; $3,999 now. Do I smell pre-replacement run-out here? Do my antennae read "6D" somewhere in the wind? Time will tell.
(b) Although there's no price on it yet, there's a new model in the lower range; 450D, replacing the 400D. (Which feels like it only got here yesterday, but hey, one of my two bodies is still a 300, so...)

http://www.canon.com.au/products/visual ... l_slr.html

and

http://www.canon.com.au/products/visual ... s450d.aspx

Interesting specs:
- 12.2 megapixels (up from 10.1 on the 400D);
- 9 point AF. (Same as the 400, but up from the 7 on my 300D);
- 0.1 second startup time. I'd also be interested in the review time. When I review a shot on the 300D I usually have to find a café, order a coffee, drink it, read the morning newspaper, and just about then... I should have the image on screen.
- EOS Integrated Cleaning System. That reminds me, I need to get the blower into the 300D. There's a limit to how many times I want to use the clone / stamp tool on the sky.
- SD memory card rather than CF. I'm not sure why the change, but the decreasing size of the cameras in this series may play a part. For example...
- 35g lighter than the 400D.
- Live view.
- 3" LCD
- Spot metering! ABOUT BLEEPING TIME!
- Continuous shooting with the self timer. Yay; the omission of that from the 300D was a stupid, stupid piece of design.
- 3.5 fps up to 53 shots in a burst, though I suspect that will be small jpg rather than RAW. (Up from 3 fps / 27 maximum on the 400.)

Not what I'd call "enough to make me regret buying my 40D" {snicker, as if...}, but if I were in that market I'd be all over it.

Unfortunately all my money seems to be going into lenses these days so I don't have any left over for new bodies.

[jniemann]

I hope you are right about a new model coming out to push the price of the 5D down. I'd be really happy with a 5D - I don't need the latest & greatest. I have always admired the image quality of pictures taken with the 5D by other pbasers. The quality of the sensor is terrific. Unfortunately, I can't afford one right now.
I have seen some 5D's selling for as low as $3100. It might be worth waiting a little longer for a really sweet price.

And if anyone wants to upgrade their 5D to a 6D, I'd be happy to take their old camera off their hands

[akmc_in_au]

I hope you are right about a new model coming out to push the price of the 5D down. I'd be really happy with a 5D - I don't need the latest & greatest. I have always admired the image quality of pictures taken with the 5D by other pbasers. The quality of the sensor is terrific. Unfortunately, I can't afford one right now.
I have seen some 5D's selling for as low as $3100. It might be worth waiting a little longer for a really sweet price.

And if anyone wants to upgrade their 5D to a 6D, I'd be happy to take their old camera off their hands

Yes, it'd be a fine camera to have regardless of what niceties might crop up in the theoretical (for now at least) 6D. I was tossing up between the 5D and the 40D late last year. I could have had a 5D for $AUD 3250 from the G&V (Sydney) closing down sale, but in the end I decided that (a) I couldn't justify that kind of price premium over the 40D and (b) more importantly, I had built my lens collection around a 1.6 crop. Granted it would be nice to have some extra width down at the bottom end of the scale (and I'm still kicking myself that I didn't shell out the extra and go for the 16-35 f/2.8 over the 17-40 f/4L, even though the latter has served me well), but if I had to do it again... I'd probably still go for the 40D. It'd be different if I were a pro (stop laughing, everyone) or had won Powerball.

I'd exercise caution about the $3100 prices though; my antennae are sniffing out the words "grey market" there. Through relentless pounding of my bank account and Visa card, I've found that one of the best barometers of "Street Price" in Australia is Digital Camera Warehouse. They're currently showing it at $AUD3299 body only:

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.a ... y521_1.htm

They're not always the cheapest (in fact I usually get gear a bit cheaper through a work connection), but if they're not then they're not many percentage points off. If I can't get what I want through my usual sources I sniff around the prices at various suppliers and almost always end up back at DCW.

Today I was seeeeriously tempted to check out their prices for the 450D when it's released as well. My 300D (my "lunchtime stroll" camera that I keep at work) was supposed to be taking some burst shots. Instead it spent most of its time flashing the little red "busy" light while writing to the card. AWGH!!!

It's still a nice little camera in most respects ye olde 300D, but the write to card speed (and read from card speed) is paaaaaaainful.

[jniemann]

Yeah it sounds like I'm in a similar situation to you (besides being in AU !). I spent too much on lenses and now I can't afford a better camera, so I'm stuck with the 400D. LOL. But really, the only thing I'd like to see improved in the 400D is the sensor.

I think there is definitely a noticeable difference in image quality between a 400D and a 5D (putting photographic skill aside for the moment, which obviously plays an important role )

With a Full-frame camera, the EFS-10-22 obviously won't work and I won't be able to afford a 16-35mm for a while. I'd probably keep the 400D and 10-22 combination for Wide Angle.