Breakthroughs for Canon in 2010
DSLR Technology has come a long way since breaking the 2MP barrier just 15 years ago. I remember spending fortunes on film and developing and looking forward to the 10MP announcement.
I inititally decided to wait for the 10MP level to switch over to DLSRs.It did not take long for them to be proved wrong Digital Cameras of all shapes and sizes soon ate away market share like a virus. DSLR’s proved to be a winner at the consumer level even at 2-4MP and the pro’s were into DSLR’s even at 6MP.
Today just about every cell-phone includes a Digital Camera and Pocket size digitals cost next to nothing. High MP’s are ubiquotous
DSLR manufacturers are being challenged to excell in other areas to claim elite status. MP’s are no longer a distinguishing factor. The race among SLR (Now DSLR) makers is all about:
Very fast and powerful micro processors and extensive software to boot. Lenses – Speed, light magic, autofocus and anti vibration, or stabilisation. Lens attachment technology and compatibility issues. APS-C vs 4/3 technology. A whole sub-technology in micro optics in Digital Sensor sizes. Architecture – Lenses, sensors, processor, storage. Computerer based artificial intelligence. (A DSLR these days has more processing power than banks needed for national networks in the 70′s and 80′s!)
Camera technology, especially DSLRs, have embraced a wide spectrum of leading edge scientific innovation, from micro electronics, micro mechanics, software and optics.
In this scenario, among the DSLR players Canon and Nikon stand out with around 40% market share each, Nikon leading by a slender margin. In a vast market, Sony, Minolta, Pentax and others make their fortunes off the remaining 20%.
What then makes for a winner if everyone has access to or has developed leading edge technology?
There is no doubt that once you have the technology, marketing is the next big gun. If everybody excells or can lay their hands on the technology, Brand reputation is a massive factor. A strong brand can even forgive bad technology, at least for a while.
Canon has led Nikon in the MP race for some time, while Nikon’s APS-C sensor is a fraction larger than Canon’s and Nikon has also managed to include pentaprism viewfinders much lower in the range than Canon without it seemingly affecting weight or price. Canon and Nikon each claim ergonomic advantages.
The race is tough and there are many excellent DSLR’s on the market. 2010 saw a large number of amazing Digital Camera releases and it is hard to pick winners in such a crowd. But Canon stood out with two of the greatest consumer DSLR’s, the Canon T2i and Canon 60d. See the reviews here: canon Rebel t2i and the Canon EOS 60d review.
Canon maintained the lead in the MP department but also grabbed top honours in other DSLR trends. The rapid invasion of DSLR’s into the Video market proved to be a good wave to ride. DSLRs bcame infested with video features, at first modest, but rising rapidly in sophistication. One DSLR after another came out with new innovative features:
Video and sound, HD video, Frames per second, True HD, live view, autofocus, live focus, in camera editing, better and better LCD technology and external sound. Not least was the spate of increases in pixel options from 640 to 1080, etc.
In this frantic race cluttered with constantly improving features, with each manufacturer trying to find just the right mix at the right price to capture more consumer spend, Canon’s EOS Rebel T2i and EOS 60D found two sweet spots, at the higher end of the Rebel range and in the middle of the very narrow Prosumer range.
Both Cameras were announced with an array of leading edge features that seemed to be right on the consumer Dollar target. The main features that made people take note and spend their well earned dollars were:
- A vastly improved HD movie capability
- A huge array of improved in-camera functions
- External Sound features.
- Very user friendly interfaces
- Live autofocus.
With these two cameras, Canon hit the sweet spot in the DSLR market in 2010. Can they follow this up in 2011? Canon’s Rebel T3i release early in 2011 seemed good on paper, but we still have to see if the market responds. The T2i and D60 at either end of the T3i seems to leave it in the shade.
Watch Nikon and Sony this year. They are sure to respond in earnest. Nikon’d D5100 seems to be more on target. Nikon and Sony are not resting on their lorals. The D5100 came out punching.
Photography Tutorial 6 ( Light Meter and Histogram)
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Light Meter LX1010B,50,000 Lux Luxmeter with lcd display $8.18 The digital lux meter LX1010B can measure up to 50,000 lux, approximately 5,000 footcandles. It’s used for checking the level of luminance, luminance is a measure of the amount of light falling on a surface. It is defined as: ‘the density of the luminous flux incident on a surface’. It is the quotient of the luminous flux by the area of the surface when the latter is uniformly illuminate… |
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Extech 401027 Pocket Sized Candle Light Meter $89.99 Measures up to 2,000Fc for basic lighting applications… |
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