EYES ON THE SCENE 1: CANON XTi/L LENS PRICING AND THE NEW SIGMA SD-14

Well, as expected, Canon did indeed announce that they will be releasing a new digital slr, the 10.1 megapixel Rebel XTi (400D outside the US). They claim to have been able to produce a 10 megapixel camera with noise levels similar to their 8 megapixel counterparts. I don't think I've been disappointed, image-quality wise, with any of Canon's recent offerings, and I see no reason to expect anything different. Having used the 8 megapixel Rebel XT, I was very impressed with the resolution, noise, and image quality, but not happy with its ergonomics. The XTi looks to be in the same body as the XT, so I expect more or less the same thing...great image quality, lousy (to me) ergonomics. Here in the US, the XTi is expected to sell for $799 body only, or $899 with kit lens. Very competitive pricing, clearly targeted at undercutting the competition. I wouldn't be surprised if Nikon, and Sony make adjustments to the final prices on the D80, and the A100.

Even more exciting than the XTi itself are the new lenses Canon is releasing. The 50mm f/1.2L, and the 70-200mm f/4L IS. Canon's L lenses are top-notch, and I am sure they will be optical stunners. What I don't like are the expected street prices of $1500 for the 50mm, and $1200 for the 70-200mm. I think the 50mm price is too high, but it's a specialized optic so Canon can charge whatever they want. I'm happy I picked up my Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AIS for $100! But that's an exception, the Nikkor usually goes for around $350-400 on the used market. In the case of the 70-200mm f/4L IS, $1200 is not far off from the price of the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS at $1500 or so. Why would anyone choose the f/4 over the f/2.8 with such a small price difference, when the f/2.8 is so much more versatile? It is my hope that actual street prices will be lower once these lenses hit the streets.

Today, Sigma Corporation announced that they will be revealing a Sigma SD14 on September 26 at Photokina with a teaser on the official Sigma site. Now this is exciting news to me! First of all, many have doubted that Sigma would even be releasing any more cameras, period! The Sigma SD9, and SD10 were both highly-acclaimed, but are both now a bit long in the tooth. Having used an SD10 myself, I must say that the Foveon chip is no joke. The camera produced some of the best files I've worked with, and the pixel-level sharpness is among the best I've ever seen. I have large prints here from the SD10 that I still find hard to believe came out of a 3.34 mp sensor. The Foveon chip is special, and it is for real. The camera was far from perfect, however. Battery life was bad, AF was average, image noise at iso200 and above was pretty bad, and being locked to Sigma only lenses was limiting. The camera itself was pretty quirky, at times refusing to write to my cf cards. I'll have more to say on the Sigma SD10 at a later date. No specs have been given on the SD14, although folks are already speculating a near 5 megapixel (probably 14mp based on Sigma's foveon conversion) camera. The 3.34 (Foveon) megapixels on previous Sigma DSLRs were definitely a match for 6-8 megapixel Bayer sensors in my opinion. A substantial increase in resolution on the SD-14 would be a killer for high resolution work. I hope they will come through. These are exciting days indeed, and just when I thought I was done with the gear lust. Ah well...