Canon 500D

[pks1702]

Canon's newest offering for the 'Mid Market'

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product ... /index.asp

[Guest]

£ 869.99

Mid Market are you CRAZY

Jonny

[pks1702]

Their description Jonny

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canoneos500d/

Give it a few months and it will be down a few hundred sov's

[Guest]

Jonny, not long ago - last year in fact - "mid market" would have been about £1,250. You have to remember that Canon have a wide range extending to the very rugged pro bodies at (body only) about £5,699 (IDS mk III) and £2k plus (5D mk II) as well as enthusiast/semi pro cameras such as the 50D, and through to the mass market end of the SLR range, and then their compact ranges. Nikon cover pretty much the same ground. I think in some ways "mid market" refers more to the sort of photographer it is aimed at than the price point.

[Guest]

Been looking at that with great interest John. I am deeply suspicious of Sony as a company and whilst their system, despite being smaller than C & N, suits my shooting style and aspirations brilliantly, the list of caveats and small print I had to go through when sending back my bust Zeiss lens and the general indifference of the CS has plenty of scope to pee me off enough to dump the whole lot and Ebay and look for a new home. I don't care what brand I use, but I won't give my money to a company which treats me like ****. I once looked at jumping to Canon but I've used Canon equipment many times and can't quite get on with it and when looking at Nikon found the D60 a bit too basic and the D90 a bit too expensive, especially as I would be buying lenses as well. So the D5000 may have legs once people have actually started using them in the real world.

Of course, if Sony treat my like royalty in my time of need then it'll most likely be a mute point (despite a slight unease on my part as to how long they'll be prepared to keep throwing their blunt spears at the impenetrable walls of Fortress Canikon*) - but somehow I'm not holding me breath!

* Of course Pentax have been throwing pebbles at them for years without ever noticing it has no effect whilst Olympus has just given up and started building a wooden shack next door.

[Guest]

If this is the upper-entry-level model I think the range now really needs a decent new basic offering as the D60 is pretty long in the tooth.

Not sure I agree with that part - the D60 was only announced just over a year ago and will have been shipping for even less time. Just how short is the shelf life of an SLR? Even in the fastest of times it was generally a good 18 months, now things have slowed (considerably) it wouldn't surprise me at all if the product life cycles are extended. I don't really expect to see a D60 replacement until the Autumn at least. Still, at least Canon and Nikon are awake, it has been some time since there was any sign of life from Sony - no new lenses (and goodness knows some are needed), no new bodies, no firmware updates.... nothing. People are beginning to twitch.

[mbird]

I can't get my head around the pricing of this camera. The "Rebel" series of cameras as they are called in the states are intended to be the entry level models in Canon's line up. I had assumed the £869 price tag was including a lens, but according to the DP review, this is a body only price, meaning it is actually dearer than my new 50D. So what is Canon's plan making an "entry" level camera dearer than a supposedly mid range model? Are they phasing out the entry level models do you think?

[Guest]

What Canon are up to at the moment seems to be anyone's guess but I very much doubt they are phasing out the entry level cameras as the 1000D and 450D are both fairly new models. Also, entry level is the bread and butter of the system - the rest of the system revolves around what's going on at the bottom because it's the cash cow, particularly in Canon's case as they lead the field here by a much bigger margin than they do higher up.

Having a quick look at the specs they do seem to be remarkably similar cameras, though the 50D has more traits from a mid level body. Also, the "street price" on DP Review is higher for the 50D at over £900.

[mbird]

Yes, that's true Simon, but if you were spending that sort of money, both for body only cameras, why would you go for a 500D just to save £50 or so over a 50D? There must be something else to it, as I can't believe for one moment that a camera aimed at entry level is almost the same price as one aimed at mid range.

[Guest]

The 500D has movie mode - IIRC the 50D doesn't. Why you want movie mode on an SLR I don't know but hey, I haven't been the industry leader in SLR photography for X years so who am I to criticise? I was tempted to say that the movie mode is one of those that would appeal more at entry level than top level but then Canon have included it on the 5DII so I guess that argument is sunk! I haven't checked to see whether the Nikon D5000 is showing signs of the same - though, as with Canon, DPR have got the street price surprisingly close to the D90 which is a "proper" mid level body.

I'll be watching your progress with the 50D with interest Mark. If you read forums like DP Review, which sadly I have started doing (and don't seem to be able to stop), anyone would think you are not a proper photographer if you own an "entry level" body. I have long been interested in the mid level body in my system (the a700) but when it comes down to it I am perfectly happy enough with my entry level body. The a700 is presently only around £550 but the price is really only indicative of the fact that a replacement is expected very soon - it was more like £1000 when it came out and I expect its replacement will be in that ballpark when it appears. I tend to think the a700 has proved to be such an excellent camera that when its proper replacement arrives they'd do well to keep the existing a700 and re-package it, albeit freshening up a few things, and continue to sell it at its current price point. That's pretty much what Canon did with the 400D (it became the 1000D). If they did that, and provided LiveView was one of the features added in the freshening, I'd start to get really interested. If the replacement has LiveView but costs £1000 I'll probably just remain "a beginner" for the foreseeable future - after all, one of the things which counted against the mid level body (and this would be true in any system) is the greater size and weight and the replacement of the a700 will be no different in that respect.

[pks1702]

I think we are not the only ones confused... dependent on which review you read it is either mid range, entry level or a combination of the two!

Canon say it is not a 450d replacement but sits just above it and below the 50d.

It looked to me like a slightly tweaked 450d with HD capability but from a personal perspective HD in an SLR would be of no interest to me due to limitations. The 500D only shoots at 20FPS at 1080 anyhow.

Given the choice with prices similar I would go for the 50D every time as the CMOS has tweaks, better build quality, higher burst rate and better RAW buffer. At getting on for double a 450D you have to really want HD capability, prices will inevitably fall but I really don't see that sales on this will be huge given the models just above and below.

It could have more to do with Nikon's latest launch than any common sense with their range.

But as Simon said we don't run Canon