I’ve been telling my friends, family and various other photogeeks I hang with that Canon will be putting out a full-frame sensor upgrade to the Canon 20d in time for Christmas. The 1d is just too expensive, but all us prosumers are drooling over the idea of a full-frame sensor. I also guessed that it might be around 12 megapixels. The 8MP of the 20d can’t keep up and the 18MP of the 1d is just ridiculous and I can’t afford to pay for it. Anyway, here’s a rumor I found online (thx to Roland) that suggests that my instincts were correct and that Canon will be putting out a new model called the 5d later this year.
There are a couple rumors floating around this morning about a new Canon dSLR, the 5D. Canon’s model numbering is reversed from most manufacturers–lower numbers signify higher-end models, so this would be a model above the current Canon 20D but below the 1D series.
The spec sheet that I’ve seen suggests that it’s a full-frame camera that takes 12.8 MP images at 3 FPS. It looks like a cross between the 20D (same AF and metering system) and the original 1DS (same sensor size and similar resolution). The rumors put the price around EUR 3500, which usually ends up meaning that B&H will be selling it for between $3000 and $3500. That’s a fantastic price for a full-frame camera, but personally, I’d probably rather buy the 1D mk II–it’s basically the same price, it has a slightly smaller sensor and slightly lower resolution, but it has 2.5x the frame rate, an amazingly fast SD interface, and it’s built like a tank.
So is this a rumor or yet another leak on Canon’s part? Generally, new Canon cameras don’t leak until a day or two before the official announcement, so we should know what they’re up to by the end of the week.
UPDATED: I found some Canon 5d specs.