Nikon And Canon Each Set To Release A New Pro Camera This Month


I just wanted to give our readers a little heads and let you know that both Nikon and Canon plan to announce new cameras this month. Canon is rumored to announce a 1D series camera (their pro sports camera) on Tuesday October 18th. The camera will have around 16mp and will shoot around 12fps.

Nikon is rumored to release the extremely anticipated (and late) D800 but is rumored to completely change the direction of this camera from a cheaper D3 to a D3X killer. The D800 is rumored to be announced on October 26 and have a shocking 36mp sensor.

Have these camera companies completely switched direction? I thought Canon was all about MP and Nikon was all about ISO performance. We will just have to wait and see.

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Lee Morris is a professional photographer based in Charleston SC, and is the co-owner of Fstoppers.com

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33 Comments

And Nikon may be replacing the terrible SB-900 which would be fantastic for my box of gear but bad for my bank account. 

im skeptical about a new full frame camera, theres always rumors about it and it never comes out, but it would be great if they did just to see what they make

"Terrible" SB-900, Lee ... really? Terrible as in "wow, my shots look crappy", or terrible as in "I think that fact I don't have $479 to lay out on this flash is terrible!" ?

"Terrible" as in worse than the SB-800 which was released in 2003. So in my opinion they are due for a (better) update to the SB-800. I'd love to see some sort of radio syncing in the new flash but that may be a few years off.

yeah you know something is wrong when you don't desire the newest and latest....I'm tired of buying my flashes off ebay :(

The SB-900 would be like Nikon creating a D800 to replace the D700 and it has the exact same sensor inside and takes the exact same pictures but the body of the camera is twice as big for no reason and if you take too many pictures the camera would overheat and shut off. 

The camera would still take good pictures, but the D700 is like 3 years old and better. 

I have a SB900 and I programed it to DIE before shutting off.. and it has never died or anything.. I think the temperature thing on the Flash was a mistake by Nikon but mine hasnt ever shut off and or died.. I suggest you dig in to the manual and set it to never shut off, as simple as that. :) (the flash can take a beating)

What menu setting makes the flash return to a normal size that will fit in my gear box? ;)

Most people would just buy a bigger bag.

I own 4 SB-900s - never had a single one of them overheat. MUCH prefer them to the 800 (3) and the 700 (3).

You are really the first person I've heard say that. What do you like better about it? I would agree the button layout is better. 

The rotation limitations of the 800 drove me nuts. Recycle time is faster than 800+5th bat. Easier to work. And it doesn't feel cheap OR like it was made in 1980.

Lee made video about sb-800 rotation limitation,it can be fixed very easy. I have SB-900 and it was hard to overheat it, but if you don´t mind the recycle time of SB-800 AND CRAPY BUTTONS it is just fine :)

I just really hope the new D800 is not going to be as expensive as rumored ($4,000+), and also i really really hope its not going to be as slow as rumored (4 FPS).
I waited a year+ to get a better version of the D700... so as always i was expecting it to be around the same price range.

You expected a new release to be the same price as a 3 year old body? Wow ok.

Like when iphone 4 came out it had the same price the iphone 3 had when it came out. And like when the D300 came out it had the same price D200 had when it came out. its not that crazy to think D800 which was suppose to replace the D700 will have about the same price like the D700 had when it came out.

I agree 4 FPS would make me very sad. 

hmm, maybe I'll be able to pick up a cheap D3/D700 as a spare when all the techno-nutters jump in and buy. My D700 still has new-car smell, can't quite justify an upgrade just yet.

A 24 mp full frame from Nikon is so overdue. Give me the resolution and I'll happily take 4fps.

The D3x has been available for some time so.. no.. not really overdue at all.

What's the source for the oct 18 announcement?

Do y'all have the press release for the oct 18 announcement? Is it official or a rumor?

rumor, but a very well backed rumor though

Seriously guys you are going to question LEE MORRIS I mean look at his profile pic...it is freaking scary ;-P I for one think we are overdue for a refresh. I just want something like my 7D with better ISO performance and speed. A full frame would be great, but really that just means I will have to spend more on lenses :-|

canonrumors.com has essentially confirmed that there will be a new dslr released on the 18th, everything points to a new flagship model of some kind. I think nikonrumors.com has similarly confirmed a new pro dslr. both sites are reporting fairly detailed spec lists, but canon and nikon have been pretty good about keeping everything fairly quiet.

One thing's for sure, things are due for a stir, and when the D800 / 5d3  come out, it'll stir things up nicely.

So is it a plan, or is it a rumour? If it's a plan that's one thing, but at this stage it's all just on the rumour mill! I personally hope Canon releases something completely bizarre that no one is expecting, just to keep those 'Zomg, 5DMKIII NEXT WEEK' posts going on Flickr.

Will it be the Canon 5d Mark III or the Canon 1Ds Mark IV??? I wish for both :)

I really hope this rumor is wrong. 36mp? like wtf? I'll need bigger harddisks, bigger flashcards, more virtual memory, a faster computer, another medium to deliver my full resolution images (800 photo's in fullres are not gonna fit on a DVD with 36mp)... I'm perfectly happy with my 12mp on my D700. Ok, a tiny bit more would be nice. like 18 or something. But 36??
I really hope this is not true. De specs of the canon are perfect. But I really don't want to switch :). Meh, I'll just keep my D700 and skip an upgrade :)

No matter what comes out, there will be people upset with it.

^ hopefully no matter what comes out, people will eventually realize that Canon and Nikon know what they are doing.  It's amazing how easily people freak out about specs.

The pissing and moaning about the specs always surprises me. Nikon isn't holding a gun to anyones head and forcing them to buy something. If you need high ISO, pick up a 700 or 3s. If you need more res, pick up a 3x or a 7000. I was scared to take my D2xs over ISO 320 when I had it - and that was 4.5k on release.

Stop being so god damn spoiled.
And if you're not a pro and your gear isn't on the fritz, then you don't /need/ anything.

I don't know about you guys, but I enjoyed my D3s thoroughly, and have sold it in time for the Scarlet, or new Nikon to come out. (Plus investing in a trip to NYC for the Photo Expo. 

But to touch on a few things, I've had and will propbably keep for a while my sb-600s and su-800. Had no reason to upgrade since I own like 3 of them. Only recently have I messed with a sb-700.

As far as the 36mp. That is great news. Nikon has proven that it can make a great camera with 12 mp and full frame especially for sports. As far as magazines, 12mp was fine, no need to really go larger. 
Also, the rumored 3-4 fps is at full resolution. And that is on point with any sensor of that size. I've looked at plenty of manufacturers from Toshiba Teli to Aptina and point Grey, and most of their high mp sensors shoot from 2-4 fps at full image size. Now I would suspect that when you lower the mp size that the fps would increase but I could be wrong. Also I wouldn't be surprised if it is in fact $4000. That just leaves room for the D4s or so you have it to be a much more advanced and higher mp with extreme low light technology like 400,000 iso and maybe 250 fps at 12 mp. (Which could rival a red camera but only in say like 10 seconds) and it may in fact be $7000 but that's a deal when compared to the red cameras.

A Canon rep recently told me not to hold my breath for the 5D3 anytime soon - and that there's an internal rumor about how there's a large possibility that the next step in HD Video may not be in the DSLR format...