Let’s follow the rumor mill, shall we?

Thomas Heute does the math to show that Canon is due to replace the current 400D/XTi model very very soon. Their 18 month upgrade model is coming due in February. There’s a major photography convention in Las Vegas at the end of this month, PMA.

Photography Bay points to a leak in the Swedish press that says Canon is expected to make an announcement of January 24th. That’s the end of next week, a week ahead of the show start.

Photobay goes on to run down a list of rumored upgrades to the Canon 400D that the new camera — a 450D? Or is this enough to call it 500D? — would possess. It includes an upgraded processor chip from the DIGIC II to the DIGIC III. That’s currently used on the bigger brother camera, the 40D. He lists Live View (the ability to look through the screen and not the view finder) as a given. This will be a huge help to those knuckleheads who buy a dSLR without having a clue what they’re getting into. Video is a possibility — again, this is practically a must for entry-level dSLR cameras from those who expect SLRs to have everything their point-and-shoot has, and then some. An ISO boost is a possibility.

The most important possible change for me is the kit lens. It might be the newer image stabilization lens. That would make a huge difference.

Other rumors suggest facial recognition might be included.

Another site thinks the camera will be called the XTs in America. I like this site as it suggests a $599 price point. I don’t think it’ll be anywhere near that close to the current $600 price point the XTi is getting. I think $800 - $1000 is more likely, probably on the lower end.
The purists, though, don’t want to hear about new cameras. I don’t blame them, to a certain degree. But as someone just entering the field, I want to make sure I get the most bang for my buck. I don’t want to have to buy this camera twice — I can’t. I get one shot at this, and I’m waiting an extra week to hear my options.

In any case, if the new model brings the price back up to a grand, I think I’ll be going with the 400D.

We’ll see next week.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 18th, 2008 at 7:32 am and is filed under Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.