Slashdot Mirror
Canon Unveils EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR (canonrumors.com)
It's been a little more than 4 year since Canon unveiled the EOS 5D Mark III. Today, Canon took the wraps off its successor -- the EOS 5D Mark IV. The Mark IV features a 34-megapixel, full-frame CMOS sensor and Digic 6+ processor with support for capturing 4K video at 23.98, 24, 25 and 30 fps. In addition, it features a 61-point autofocus system, built-in digital lens optimizer, NFC, Wi-Fi and an ISO range of 100-32,000. The continuous shooting mode is set at 7 fps, compared to 6 fps on the 5D Mark III. It will also take both CompactFlash and SD cards, and there is GPS included in the body for geotagging images. Canon is selling the Mark IV in early September for $3,499 for the body only. They're also selling two new L-series EF lenses -- the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM Standard Zoom Lens. President and COO, Canon U.S.A., Inc, Yichi Ishizuka said in a statement: "Canon's EOS 5D series of DSLR cameras has a history of being at the forefront of still and video innovation. And today, we add to this family of cameras the EOS 5D Mark IV -- the first in our 5D series to offer 4K video and built-in Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity. In developing this new DSLR camera, we listened to the requests of current EOS users to create for them a modern, versatile camera designed to help them create and share beautiful still and video imagery." Here's a blast from the past: Canon's EOS 1Ds Mark II. Slashdot reader LoudMusic submitted this story back in 2004, highlighting the camera's "802.11a/g and wired networking capabilities."
Last I looked Canons big cameras *ARE* stablized, both with sensor activators and with lens activators. Its more of a fundamental problem with full-frame cameras.
Full frame cameras are only that size because that's what 35mm *film* needed to get enough light. But they suck, the sensor is huge, far bigger than needed, and heavy and slow to move around, piss poor image stabilization.. too much inertia... and slow to get data from, look at this one, it can take a whopping great 7 frames per second.... are you impressed? Why would you be?
And the lenses, the lens grow to ridiculous sizes for small zoom increments. Again totally unnecessary. 4.375x zoom from a huge lens, yet even at full zoom it has masses of light into the sensor. Try to get a super zoom lens (e.g. 50x 100x) on one of these and it would be a f***ing massive lens. tens of Kgs of glass all distorting in the heat, and from its own weight making for terrible photographs.
A far far smaller sensor makes far more sense these days. Sensors are far more sensitive than they were in the last millenium, and simply don't need to be full frame. FFS we're not using 35 mm film anymore. If you grab one of the 1 inch sensor units, or at least a Micro 4/3rds, you'll see it gets more than enough light and more than enough resolution for all the video and stills you want to take, even in the dark.
The smaller the sensor, the smaller the lens, the better stabilization, the higher the zoom is practical. (and yes there's nothing wrong with calling it zoom not focal length).
So why the big cameras? Penis extensions? To pose as a photographer?
Grab a smaller camera, it will fit in your bag, be with you everywhere, and get you shots that would be missed as you unpack a DSLR. For video, the gimbals for these are huge and pointless. They are just not good enough for modern work. I use an Osmo for 4K smooth video, but I'd wait for the Osmo zoom to come out rather than the Micro 4/3rds X5 they have.
The menus are fine. If you know what you're doing you won't be using them much anyway.
The menus are NOT fine. They are terrible. If they aren't any use then they should be removed. If they are of use then they should be efficient and functional and easy to understand. Now I understand that many people need different features, which is fine but that doesn't excuse having a shitty interface for them. If it is used incredibly rarely then offload it to a tablet or a PC or (heaven forbid) a phone. Let people load the menus they actually need and want on to the phone and put an interface on the camera that doesn't suck.
Just because you have trained yourself to utilize a bad interface doesn't magically turn it into a good interface. You're just making the best of a bad design.
If you're using the menu too much you're doing it wrong.
Wrong. If the menu isn't useful then it was designed wrong. A feature that isn't efficient is a bad feature.