Canon appears to have an actual sieve in charge of holding their secrets, since not a day goes by that I don’t hear about this or that new patent or camera just around the corner. Maybe it’s just their canny marketing division seeding leak sites, and if so, bravo. But to business: if you are a millionaire, this is probably a post for you, since everything involved is high-end. I know we’re a big source of news for the fantastically rich, so I thought I’d write it up.
The rumor is that next week, Canon will be firing off a 1D mk IV in our general direction that sports a whopping 32 megapixels. I can’t be the only one that thinks that’s not only not true, but absolutely ridiculous. I can see 20 with an ISO improvement, but 32? Why not 50, guys? That’d be just as useful to the guys who use 1Ds.
The other rumor is that we may finally see a 24-70mm f/2.8 IS lens. The 24-70 f/2.8 is widely considered Canon’s most versatile lens, for good reason, and an IS variant would almost certainly be welcome. I’ve always avoided getting one because I’d really like another stop… and also because it costs $1300. That’s the other thing. A replacement L lens means all the serious gearheads will be unloading their old one, so in a week or so we might see a glut of old 24-70s on Craigslist or eBay for insane prices. I’m looking forward to it, even though I haven’t got two dimes to rub together these days.