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How far can Firmware go....

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mailman88

mailman88

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I feel Canon is holding back. I believe Canon can give the 40D-50D a firmware update that goes way beyond what the camera's can do now. A new firmware tweak in the auto-focus or the way it handles noise. When Canon issues a firmware update, its trying to fix a problem. The problem is.. Canon is trying to be too cute with their marketing and won't let the camera's work at their full potential.

I maybe guessing but, are the xxD's and full-frame camera's related in some area's, that Canon has to hold back the xxD line so the full-frame can be superior. If Canon made a xxD with no strings attached, how good would it be.

I remember back with my 300D, it wasn't even close to the xxD line. Times have changed now with the Rebel 500D, the gap is getting closer to xxD's.

It just hit me..if Canon made the Rebels, xxD, and the full-frames near perfect, then we wouldn't buy the next "NEW" camera. I guess nickel and dimeing us is the only way Canon can stay in business. The competition is using the same business model too...
 
No way,,,, just asking about the way Canon makes their DLSR's and the way they use firmware updates. Its harder to build a camera with today's technology, then castrate its features thru firmware and not have problems. The early years of sensors and camera technology, Canon could get away with this then not now. Everybody does the samething as Canon. They bait you to buy...the latest and greatest and the next year you buy the NEXT GREATEST with very little changes to the camera. All you had to do instead of making a new camera is to take the chains off the old camera thru firmware updates then make the new camera every 3 years instead of every year.
 
true...next DIGIC V comes out and all Canon DLSR's have it and firmware will control its features.
 
It's a matter of where Canon wants to invest their R&D resources. Firmware development isn't free. The xxD series is on a 12-18 month refresh rate, and that most often involves a different processor (DIGIC series). Canon has to decide whether it wants to pour precious R&D dollars into bolstering the features of an "old" product line and older firmware or optimizing the capabilities of the new one. Sure, they'd make some points with their older gen camera owners, but it would also impact their upgrade sales. Like it or not, Canon has elected to put its firmware investments in future products. There's nothing all that unusual about that, and from a business standpoint, it makes sense.
mailman88 said:
true...next DIGIC V comes out and all Canon DLSR's have it and
firmware will control its features.
Click to expand...
 
they do disable capability so as not to cannibalize their more expensive offerings. the only way is if competition pushes them. but firmware will not be the avenue, it will be a new model to compete with the competition
mailman88 said:
I feel Canon is holding back. I believe Canon can give the 40D-50D a
firmware update that goes way beyond what the camera's can do now. A
new firmware tweak in the auto-focus or the way it handles noise.
When Canon issues a firmware update, its trying to fix a problem. The
problem is.. Canon is trying to be too cute with their marketing and
won't let the camera's work at their full potential.
I maybe guessing but, are the xxD's and full-frame camera's related
in some area's, that Canon has to hold back the xxD line so the
full-frame can be superior. If Canon made a xxD with no strings
attached, how good would it be.
I remember back with my 300D, it wasn't even close to the xxD line.
Times have changed now with the Rebel 500D, the gap is getting closer
to xxD's.
It just hit me..if Canon made the Rebels, xxD, and the full-frames
near perfect, then we wouldn't buy the next "NEW" camera. I guess
nickel and dimeing us is the only way Canon can stay in business. The
competition is using the same business model too...
Click to expand...
 
What is the point of your discussion? Is xxD line not powerful enough for you? If not, then spend extra $ and get more advanced xD model. You want to have every possible technological advance while you are not ready to pay for it.

It is like everything else. If you want to have the most powerful computer you have to spend thousands of dollars for it. If you want to buy the car with all the bells and whistles on it then you have to pay extra price. Otherwise, go with basic model with standard options instead of whining about car maker holding you back buy not installing all the extra features on the basic model.

The technology is here but are you willing to pay the price for it?
 
The $729 technology has some promise

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=32124816
idigi said:
What is the point of your discussion? Is xxD line not powerful
enough for you? If not, then spend extra $ and get more advanced xD
model. You want to have every possible technological advance while
you are not ready to pay for it.

It is like everything else. If you want to have the most powerful
computer you have to spend thousands of dollars for it. If you want
to buy the car with all the bells and whistles on it then you have to
pay extra price. Otherwise, go with basic model with standard
options instead of whining about car maker holding you back buy not
installing all the extra features on the basic model.

The technology is here but are you willing to pay the price for it?
--
Click to expand...
 
MAC said:
The $729 technology has some promise

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=32124816
Click to expand...
OK, we got your point - you like D5000. You don't have to post the same thing over and over and over again in different threads. Again, if noise is the ONLY thing that you look at in the camera then go ahead and get D5000. I've already pointed out the differences in another thread and no need to repeat myself here. D5000 is no way the best one feature wise.

And I also told you (if you paid attention) that the price on D5000 is currently $679.95 at bhphoto and adorama, not $729.

On the other hand, did you read the article from dxo about more pixels and noise? I asked you to read it several times before you continue talking about noise.
 
idigi said:
OK, we got your point - you like D5000. You don't have to post the
same thing over and over and over again in different threads. Again,
if noise is the ONLY thing that you look at in the camera then go
ahead and get D5000. I've already pointed out the differences in
another thread and no need to repeat myself here. D5000 is no way
the best one feature wise.
Click to expand...
I'd only get the camera as a backup and for some specific features
idigi said:
And I also told you (if you paid attention) that the price on D5000
is currently $679.95 at bhphoto and adorama, not $729.
Click to expand...
Good catch...great price
idigi said:
On the other hand, did you read the article from dxo about more
pixels and noise? I asked you to read it several times before you
continue talking about noise.
Click to expand...
yes, some sweeping general points in that info ...I'm looking at the details of the specific new devices that are emerging
 
MAC said:
MAC said:
On the other hand, did you read the article from dxo about more
pixels and noise? I asked you to read it several times before you
continue talking about noise.
Click to expand...
yes, some sweeping general points in that info ...I'm looking at the
details of the specific new devices that are emerging
Click to expand...
Another words: "yes, I read it but did not understand a thing it talked about and I will continue to look at charts and 100% cropped images and talk how much noisier Canon is with more pixels."
 
idigi said:
MAC said:
idigi said:
On the other hand, did you read the article from dxo about more
pixels and noise? I asked you to read it several times before you
continue talking about noise.
Click to expand...
yes, some sweeping general points in that info ...I'm looking at the
details of the specific new devices that are emerging
Click to expand...
Another words: "yes, I read it but did not understand a thing it
talked about and I will continue to look at charts and 100% cropped
images and talk how much noisier Canon is with more pixels."
--
Click to expand...
Hmmm, where does it say one thing about noise levels of a 50d, a 40d a d5000 or a 500d. It says nothing specific about the performance of these specific cams...are you inventing what it says about the specific performance of these cameras?
 
MAC said:
Hmmm, where does it say one thing about noise levels of a 50d, a 40d
a d5000 or a 500d. It says nothing specific about the performance of
these specific cams...are you inventing what it says about the
specific performance of these cameras?
Click to expand...
Where did I say that it compared these cameras? If you read the article and understood what it was talking about you would stop talking about "more pixels more noise" concept. If you can't comprehend what the article says, at least read this:

"This Insight uses currently-available DSLRs to demonstrate the technique for objectively comparing noise for cameras with different levels of resolution. Such comparisons conclusively show better results overall for high-resolution sensors, despite the increase in noise.

Noise measurements in RAW format are indicative of pixel performance, but the viewing conditions of the image must also be taken into account. To compare prints on a given format of cameras with different resolutions, it is more suitable to compute the equivalent SNR [signal-to-noise ratio] of a camera with a given reference resolution. For equal, normalized SNR, a high-resolution camera is still better than a low-resolution camera."

If you can't understand this concept and further apply it to any camera review, then I can't help you here.
 
idigi said:
MAC said:
Hmmm, where does it say one thing about noise levels of a 50d, a 40d
a d5000 or a 500d. It says nothing specific about the performance of
these specific cams...are you inventing what it says about the
specific performance of these cameras?
Click to expand...
Where did I say that it compared these cameras? If you read the
article and understood what it was talking about you would stop
talking about "more pixels more noise" concept. If you can't
comprehend what the article says, at least read this:
"This Insight uses currently-available DSLRs to demonstrate the
technique for objectively comparing noise for cameras with different
levels of resolution. Such comparisons conclusively show better
results overall for high-resolution sensors, despite the increase in
noise.
Noise measurements in RAW format are indicative of pixel performance,
but the viewing conditions of the image must also be taken into
account. To compare prints on a given format of cameras with
different resolutions, it is more suitable to compute the equivalent
SNR [signal-to-noise ratio] of a camera with a given reference
resolution. For equal, normalized SNR, a high-resolution camera is
still better than a low-resolution camera."
If you can't understand this concept and further apply it to any
camera review, then I can't help you here.
--
Click to expand...
I still don't get where you are going with this. It is a general discussion with sweeping generalizations. No individual camera ratings discussed

for example, it doesn't say anything about other parameters impacting noise such as sensor heat as an example. Each sensor must be evaluated on its own design. Look at the ratings of hi iso performance for the large database of cameras that dxo has, and you'll realize that more mpxls and even resolution doesn't always win. There are other factors. You keep referring to this as if you believe more mpxls win. When you operate on noise at hi iso with noise redux, you often get smudge, no matter what tad better resolution was proclaimed. Smudge often results in unuseable pictures. Smudged line pairs often look a greesy mess. More resolution isn't the answer if the increased noise redux makes the extra resolution in the image look a greesy mess
 
Well considering 50d and 500d share same sensor and same processor, 50d should be able to do video with a firmware update... they wont tough...
 
Please explain how a firmware update will enable video on a camera with no builtin microphone, or a jack for an external one...
 
Well you can use an external mic with one of those small portable recording device...
And sync audio with your video in premiere after...
 
NT
--

Feel free to use any of these additional letters to correct the spelling of words found in the above post: a-e-t-n-d-i-o-s-m-l-u-y-h-c If you find any extra letters, please place them here for future use...
 
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