On laurels, megapixels and missed opportunities With the launch of the Pentax 645Z, Nikon's and Canon's seemingly endless period of neglect of their professional high resolution bodies has entered a new phase. Apparently 645Z preorders are phenomenal. But who is buying these expensive cameras? It's not the Hasselblad and Mamiya users, they
are already heavily invested in very capable high resolution systems. Some of them may consider the 645Z for its low-light capabilities and suitability for outdoor shooting, but
that's
a very limited group of potential buyers. The vast majority of 645Z preorders are undoubtedly placed by
Nikon D3x and Canon 1Ds Mk III users who have been waiting to upgrade for years. The Canon 1Ds Mk III will be seven years old in August, and the Nikon
D3x will celebrate its sixth birthday in December. Both are great cameras, but in a time when tourists, teenagers
and uncle Bob are shooting higher performance, higher resolution sensors, bringing them to
a professional shoot becomes more and more of a problem. There are an estimated quarter of a million
D3x and 1Ds Mk III cameras currently in use by professional photographers. That's 250,000 people interested in a modern 50+ MP
professional DSLR in the $7k to $9k price range. The money is there, ready to be spent,
as it has been for at least two years. Both Nikon and Canon have modern
professional bodies with enough processing power for 5 fps high resolution
shooting, the D4s and the 1D X. Why does it take them so long to put a high
resolution sensor in them? The required pixel density has been around for quite
a while in APS-C sensors. Nikon and Canon have really been dragging their feet
when it comes to their professional lineups. Nikon Canon |