Seeing that this also presents a 15MP camera, I start to wonder whether Canon has really a replacement ready for the EOS 5D Full Frame SLR camera. Several of the features attributed (by the rumour) to the EOS 5D MkII seem to be appearing on the Canon EOS 50D. It could mean that the leaks were actually coming from the EOS 50D and not the EOS 7D (or whatever name it will have).

Of course, we will have to wait a little more to know if Canon is really ready to announce two major cameras at the Photokina fair (one Canon EOS 50D in mid-range and one Canon EOS 7D at the high-end). But it looks more and more like Nikon and Sony will have an empty field to compete with the aging Canon EOS 5D.

This is the reason why the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS UM and Nikon AF 80-400mm VR f/4.5-5.6 D ED has been so successful despite their obviously high prices (around $2000). When I’m on photo safari, I’d say that about half the people around me have one of the Canons as their main lens (somtimes, it’s even their only lens).

Some time ago, Sigma added its own version of this lens (see this high-end zoom lens comparison). And it was a winner in terms of price-performance.

Now, we can expect several significant news in this range of products coming from different manufacturers.

• Sony presented about a year ago a mockup of a zoom lens corresponding well to this range. The word is out that it will be a 70-400mm f/5.6 zoom presented to the European press on August 14th (for an official launch in the beginning of September, probably at the same time Sony launches the Sony Alpha 800 and/or Sony Alpha 900 Full Frame camera(s)).
• According to some rumors (mainly originating from an unsubstantiated initial post at NikonRumours), there will soon be a Nikon AF80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR update. And this should be explaining the reduced availability of the original version.

I would even be tempted to read between the lines of a recent test article of Chasseur d’Image and say that Canon will also be hard pressed to provide an update to its aging 100-400mm. After all, it’s a real cash cow and a sure sale for owners of top- and mid-range cameras like the Canon EOS 40D (and possibly its successor EOS 50D – next year?).

Since the EOS 5D MkII is expected around this time and no later than September PMA fair, this is quite a possibility and having a handful of these cameras in the hands of pro photographers for all to see would be a very nice promotional opportunity for Canon. This is much needed after the thunderous launch of the Nikon D700 and just before the arrival of the Sony Alpha 800/900 (direct competitors in the Full Frame SLR camera market).

I’m still sceptical about an EOS 50D that would be arriving a little too early according to Canon habits in terms of launches, except if it was a low-cost version of the previous Full Frame camera. And, there, it would be a great event. Think about it! Simultaneous launch of two war machines hitting right into the center of the preoccupations of the most enthusiast photographers.

Some people expect the announcement to happen on Monday.

I balance between the admiration for a company (Canon) that do not hesitate to quickly correct the bugs of its software and the impatience o seeing the device was obviously not ready for the market when it has been made available.

Think Camera has a new review of the EOS 40D. Nothing fancy, but the reliable analysis expected from TC. They love the camera, and I can understand from what I could peek at a couple of models recently.

Interestingly, the review of the Canon 40D at The-Digital-Picture.com shows that they are currently shipping a frimware revision 1.0.4. They seems to think that there is something weird with Adobe CameraRaw when using this firmware. I could not test it by myself. But, be warned.

Additonally, you can find the latest Canon EOS 40D sales guide on the same The-Digital-Picture.com web site. It’s big 11MB PDF, but well worth reading if you don’t have the sales pitch from your Internet e-commerce web site.

Last but not least, Tom’s Guide publishes a review of the Canon EOS 40D in French, more for the consumer than the photogrpaher, but interesting nevertheless.

• Imaging resource (English)
• DC resource (English)
• Steve’s Digicam (English)
• DPreview, review, Phil Askey, October 2007 (English)
• DPreview, preview (English)
• Chasseur d’Image (présentation) (Français)
• The Digital Picture (English)
• Outback Handbook: Canon EOS 40D Review Diary
• PhotographyBlog (English)
• CNET review (English)
• QuestionsPhoto (Français)

But it’s Amazon which has shown all the details by starting a page to take pre-orders: Canon EOS 40D on Amazon. It will be a great camera to cover all needs of the most enthusiastic consumers.

Note: The delivery will only happen after 20th of Spetember 2007.

Most of the admirers of Canon will say that it was worth waiting. The others will notice that -once again- Canon did not create a revolution in this technical segment, but ensures that the pace of evolution is very steady: This is a nearly pro camera with its impressive connectivity, and its consumer-like price.

Nikon and their D200 (soon a D300?), Pentax and their K10D (much cheaper and possibly more interesting) or Sony (and their future high-end camera) should take notice and prepare to fight for the customers that the EOS 40D may quickly attract.

I would bet on Nikon using the same 14MP+ for the Nikon D300 (as the D200 used a speedier version of the Alpha 100 10MP sensor). If this happens and the Canon 40D still has a 10MP or even a 12MP CMOS sensor, it could mean that the both Nikon and sony will have a nice time beating the Canon 40D just out of launch. Even if you repeat that resolution is not the solution to all problems, Canon would have to fight for image quality (and we know they are at the highest level of the competition) without having any resolution advantage, while users are still driven by mega-pixel figures.

Complementary note: In the UK, LCE would have started taking pre-orders for the EOS 40D and some of their sales managers would have a launch meeting with Canon on Tuesday the 22nd.

Meanwhile some Canon web sites (including China) started experimenting with the removal of the 30D from very visible lists (for example, removal of the 30D from a graphical list of products). All is well in accordance with the preparation of an imminent launch for the EOS 30D.

The AF (auto-focus) system of the 40D would come from the Canon 1D Mk III but in a slightly simplified version. Since we already knew that it would only have 9 AF zones (instead of 19 crosses). “1D Mk III-lite” merely seems to mean that they will use a common algorithm and a simplified AF-sensor set. Hard to say if this will have a performance as impressive as the 1D Mk III.

Nobody is expecting weather-sealing anymore (the 40D will have about the same build as a 30D) and everybody seems to be convinced that the sensor will be a 10MP CMOS sensor with a crop factor of 1,6 (but I keep wondering whether they would bring an even more attractive 12MP in a market already full of 10MP sensors) along with 14-bit Digic-III for the best possible RAW image quality. The ISO-sensitivity should be a major pro of this camera with ISO 100-3200 + 6400h (image quality would be significantly improved from the 30D, leading to one of the best images of the market). All this is protected by active dust cleaning of the sensor (but we are still hoping that they did not copy the relatively poor 400D and went for the excellent DC technology of the 1D Mk III).

The Canon EOS 40D would be able to go as fast as 6,5 frames/second to beat the direct competition of the Nikon D200 (let’s wait for the Nikon D300) with a big buffer (60 JPEG images, 12-15 RAW images). But this enormous speed could be limited by the user from the menus (normal photographers would certainly be in a hot spot trying to avoid double photos with this feather-light-trigger machine; So, Canon decided to offer a confortable saddle to the cow boy who would be afraid to ride bareback this hot-blooded stallion).

If you add the superb 3″ LCD screen, you get a magnificent photo machine that should excite most expert amateur photographers, even more if she has a set of good Canon lenses already available.

No violent changes visible when we compare with the old Canon EOS 20D or 30D.

• I think that the viewfinder will not change since the exterior seems really unchanged.
• The LCD back display sees its size increase notably.
• The use of the button at the lower right of the LCD screen (the one with the little grey flower mini-logo) is not clear to me… Or is it the Picture style button of the 400D/Xti?
• On the rotary button of the left side, we can see the arrival of 3 new exposure modes (I can’t make their marking). Maybe they are user-programmable configurations.

Don’t you like it?

PS: The images are already gone from the original web site (SLRclub).

Update: Northlight-Images just got enough time to catch some more elements before they were removed from a German web site. They add precise information about the functions of the camera. Here are these images:

It gives a fair confirmation of the 3 programmable users modes (C1, C2, C3) and I let you count the number of AF zones or other interesting details.

• Same chassis as the 30D
• Same viewfinder as the 30D
• No specific weather protection (competitive disadvantage against Nikon and Pentax)
• 12/13 Mpixels APS-C sensor with LiveView (as on the Canon 1D MkIII) with a possible USB or Wifi control
• 14-bit encoding (as in the Canon 1D MkIII)
• 1600 and 3200 ISO
• Sensor cleaning
• Still no wireless flash
• Same read LCD as on the Canon 30D
• 5 frames/second
• Improved AF, but no real detail about it or any forecast
• 1/8000s max speed (with 1/250s flash synchro)

Personnally, I found interesting the possible convergence with some of the features of the Canon 5D (I see the advantage Canon would have to do this), but Chasseur d’Images still keeps a possible Canon 3D in a rumoured timeline for 2008.

Confirmation, anybody?

There was the publication of alleged photos of the Canon EOS 40D on a Korean web site (see below). The work of the graphic artist is quite sloppy (the 4 of the logo on the front of the camera is not correctly aligned with the rest and with the 0 of 40D ; The LCD on the back was stuck on the image without cheking the integration into the rest of the design : different colors for the plastic and parts are links quite quickly with little consideration for the manufacturability).

It’s less funnny than the nice work of Samuele Silva dreaming about the 40D.

But now comes that alleged Olympus document, supposedly intended to document the future E-P1 camera for the Olympus sales people and to provide comparison with its direct competition.

Here, we have a very complete PDF document. Parts of it are still availble here and there on the DPReview forums about the Olympus E-P1. The most interesting is certainly the table seen above. First, it is quite difficult to tell if the file is really authentic (if it really comes from Olympus). Then, even if authentic, it may not contain secret revelations Olympus got about its competition (personally, I tend to believe that if a company like Olympus had stolen such information, it would try to keep them near the body to avoid dirty legal consequences : sales people and marketing guys are notoriously bad at keeping secrets in any large company). Last but not least, it would be very surprising that data for two significant competitors such as the Canon 40D and the Nikon D300 would be of the same quality/precision.

In my humble opinion (but it is also the opinion I prefer to refer myself in most cases), it could well be reference data used internally by Olympus and based upon a mix of rumours heard here and there, and realistic projections that the marketing department must maintain in order to intelligently anticipate moves of other camera brands. Not even counting in the added publicity that Olympus gets for the E-P1 from people anxious to see news from the Canon 40D and Nikon D300.

Keeping these position and point of view, you can nevertheless read very interesting information from this table:

• A very probable resolution increase (12MP for Nikon and Canon)
• Olympus does not believe that either Nikon or Canon would abandon in-lens image stabilisation (adding an in-body stabilisation would blur the message to the public and could break the historical advantage of both brands). But Olympus sticks to the in-body solution that has been so positive for brands that could not easily close the lateness in adding IS in a full lens line.
• Nikon will stay with its exceptionally good Auto-Exposure (CCD with 1000+ pixels -for a long time now) but Olympus decide to keep the pace (49 zones on the E-P1).
• As we know it, reaction speed is no longer a real issue for modern SLR cameras, but the race is not finished yet with measurable (if not perceptible) differences between the three cameras.
• 5 frames per second is fast becoming the standard in high-end digital SLR cameras (I find it intersting how many forum talks are about whether 3fps or 5fps are enough for sports photo and how few are about the advantages of blindlingly fast shutter speeds).
• Olympus chose to have the best possible AutoFocus on the E-P1: The fastest and using 11 sensors (it will be interesting to see this in reality since this issue can be critical for fast shooting and sports)
• The viewfinders fields are still a little limited in Nikon an dCanon, but Olympus decided to reac for an excellent 100%
• VEry astonishing: the precision of information about the size of the LCD screen on the back. We know that the trend is to improve confort of the photographer with larger screens, but a Nikon D300 with a 3-inch LCD would be impressive and unpleasant to Olympus and Canon. However, this would present a serious ergonomic risk since the larger the screen, the less space left for fingers and buttons, if the camera body is not bulky…
• Then comes the body protection leaving only the Canon 40D as not splash-proof. You don’t have to work in Canon to understand that this is not their first priority : Even the outrageously expensive Canon 5D has only minimal protection. But the Nikon D300 has to follow in the footesteps of the D200 where it was already welcomed and while the Pentax 10D brought splash-proof designs to a price level never seen before.
• Being positive on the fact that the Canon 40D will include dust-remoal on the sensor does not require extra-sensorial powers since the technology is already here on the 400D/Xti. Nikon still uncertain about this? You bet! Olympus has no doubt for a long time since they even have the best technology on the market (ultrasonic vibration of the sensor).
• In the end, the presence of LiveView (or continuous display on the back of the camera) that requires a sensor low on power consumption and efficient on cooling is probably reachable for Canon, where Nikon (and Sony, their sensors provider for high-end cameras) seems not to be willing to epxlore the field yet.

I let you judge byb yourself, but everything shows that Fall will be very agitated (some even say that July could be the month of shockingly new announcements, but this is not the first time we heard this, is’nt it?).

Main source: Northlight Images.

Nonetheless, speculations are raging in the forums on a probable cooperation between Sony and Nikon where the former would bring a full-frame sensor (not merely an APS-C sensor with a correction factor of 1.5) and the later would build a magnificent successor to the beautiful D200 under the name of Nikon D300. It is known that both companies are quite discreet, so hopes are hightened by Sony’s announcement that there will be a new SLR before the end of the year (a simultaneous presentation of a Sony Alpha 200 or Alpha 500 and of a Nikon D300 in September would be ideal).

Interestingly, parallel reasoning is heating up Canon-lovers’ minds. Since the successors to the 30D (very nice medium range semi-pro D-SLR) and to the 5D (excellent full-frame sensor but a body that is less than what is normally expected by pro photographers), hopes and dreams are orienting themselves toward a shock-solution for next Fall: A full-frame Canon 40D that would draw the best from both products, a proven body with a slightly improved full-frame sensor and able to bring the best in image quality.

From Fred Miranda forum.

To be confirmed, of course.

• Live viewfinder (selectable)
• In Body IS (adding stabilisation to IS lenses when mounted)
• Good integrated sensor cleaning
• More Mega Pixels
• Better Noise management at higher Iso
• Weather sealed

Can this really be the feature set of the successor to the 20D and 30D? Will the Canon EOS 40D shooting at these heights? I admit that, even if given some time to finish the product, Canon would have a real hard time to do so (However they already surprised the competition before, so who knows?).

Live view finder (I suppose it means loosing the reflex viewfinder in favor of a video display) would be a major surprise and would not be accepted as a positive progress by most SLR users. However, if this is the addition of a Live View to support photo studio shooting connected to a computer, quite a few users would be delighted.

In-body image stabilization would be like an earthquake: Canon (one of the most active supporters of in-lens IS with Nikon) would follow the general move to in-body IS? Shocking! but if this allows to effectively have twice the stabilization, let’s congratulate Canon. Anyway, most automaton systems engineers would remember that two close-loop systems in synch like that would not automatically double the performance. It would depend a lot on how the body and the lens cooperate, and the specification of the lens IS system may be the limiting factor (even on high-end lenses). In short, this would be a surprising marketing move (albeit understandable for the entry-level positionning of Canon) and a significant technical achievement.

Sensor cleaning would be in line with the recent evolution and the Canon EOS 400D.

“More mega-pixels” looks a lot like an empty marketing line. Who would be surprised by this? What news is there in this?

“Better noise management at higher ISO” is a similar empty statement if we just look at what has been happening any time a new D-SLR product arrived on the market for many years.

Weather-sealed is more significant. I have been very impressed by the Pentax achievement with the K10D (now exploited by Samsung with the GX10, too). Canon must take notice of an SLR camera under $1000 and weather-sealed. This looks like the most pro-looking D-SLR camera on the market. What should Canon do with that? Offer more than this at a similar price or just a little higher. However, it is difficult to determine if Canon is ready now for this counter-move. However, the 40D would be the natural price point to introduce such a significant product.

Now, it’s up to you to decide whether or not this message in DPR was adding to the rumours about the future/upcoming Canon EOS 40D. To me, it feels like wishful thinking. I am looking a lot at what is found on the Internet about this future Canon product, but I am quite hesitant to accept this as information.

We’ll have to wait a little more to know the truth since Canon confirmed that there will be no additional announcement in the PMA this month. If there is a 40D, it will have to come later, maybe in the Summer of 2007.

• Full specs at Geheugenkaart (Belgium)
• Empty space at EFlens (their home page has already a reserved space for the new digital camera (empty space at the right of the 30D))

The biggest news seems to be the price: 1698€. All the rest is as expected.

Around there, it is said that the AF will be using the 9+6 sensor of the 5D camera.

Stock-Photo-blogspot is also very precise in the list of rumoured characteristics it describes. This is a kind of rumour consensus list:

• 10.1 M-pixel
• Dust removal like the EOS 400D/Rebel XTi
• 1.6 crop factor
• Weather-sealed (this seems unsure even if it would make it very competitive against the Pentax K10D -sold at less than 1000$)
• Less than 1200€ (following the market epxectations)

Wait for the end of an embargo on the 24th of February.