Canon's got the photo world going nuts

Over the past few weeks, and especially the past couple days, speculation over what new cameras Canon will be releasing, if any, in the next couple months.

And then there's this PDF in Spanish about the "5D."

This camera gets 3 frames per second to my 20D's 5, but has 12 MP to my 20D's 8. Also, it has a full-frame sensor.

That is, in most Digital SLR's the sensor that takes the place of film is actually smaller than a 35MM film plane. This creates what is known as "Crop Factor," where lens focal lengths are effectively increased because a smaller part of the refracted image is used for the picture. My 20D has a 1.6 Crop Factor, turning my 70-200MM into a 112-320MM, which is nice.

But this totally screws things up at the normal and wide-angle end. 50MM's (the otf-called Normal lens because it's closest to the way our eyes frame the world) become 80MM's. 35MM's (a mild wide-angle) become 56MM's. This means a ultra-wide lens, which are always expensive, is needed to get a moderate wide-angle. Say you want an ultra-wide with your digital? Too bad, it's not going to happen.

Unless this 5D turns out to be real, that is.

I'm not interested in it though. I shot film for a year and a half, making great work, without ever even using a wide-angle. And I also like the fact that my 200MM has that much more "reach."

Also, every new camera has a wear-in period after it first gets put to use in the field. Bugs get worked out, firmware (the camera's operating software) updates are common, and it's all one big headache for those who spring for the new gear.

But not me. I'm happy with my 20D.