Find all our PMA 2005 news and show reports here and register for emailed PMA story updates too!
Canon's new EOS-350D (Digital Rebel XT) looks like being the star of PMA 2005. We speak to key members of its design team.
Yesterday, at a private press briefing here in Orlando, I was able to spend a tantalisingly short, but very illuminating, time talking to Canon's director and deputy chief executive, Image Communication Group's Mr. Iwashita, and several members of his research and development team from Japan, who are attending PMA 2005.
Canon's Mr. Iwashita presenting to UK journalists in Orlando yesterday at a pre-PMA briefing
The interview was conducted in English from my side and replies in Japanese were interpreted. Here follows a transcript of the interview, with some paraphrasing on my part.
dpnow.com: The EOS-350D has been reduced in size by 25% and in weight by 14%. It's interesting that you have chosen to make the EOS-350D smaller and lighter, because I don't think the original EOS-300D was considered too big or heavy. Why did you feel the need to reduce the size?
Mr.Iwashita: When Canon planned the successor for the 300D, we wanted to expand the number of users and the size of the camera and one of the key issues was to make it smaller or lighter. This means the camera is easier to take with you anywhere and any time, by more people. So the size is a key point.
Also, so far only ten percent of 300D purchasers have been female. Because of the smaller size of the 350D, the number of female users will increase.
dpnow.com: While the EOS-350D is undoubtedly very good value for money, it's still a lot of money for many consumers to spend compared to an entry-level film SLR. Do you think the DSLR will ever become as affordable as a film SLR cameras for the mass market consumer who might only use the camera for his or her holiday photos?
Mr.Iwashita: We are trying our best to reduce the cost of manufacture. We think we have achieved a very affordable price with the 350D and of course users do not have the expense of having to buy film any more.
dpnow.com: I am often asked whether or not full-frame DSLRs are going to become affordable for the mass-market consumer at some time in the future? Canon has both full frame and reduced size frame DSLRs but most of your competitors are now standardising on a smaller size frame and you have also introduced the EF-S lens range to accommodate your own smaller sensor DSLRs. It's common knowledge that very large ICs, like full frame sensors, are very expensive to manufacture. So, realistically, is there any chance of full-frame DSLRs becoming affordable for amateurs in the future?
Mr.Iwashita: One of the major merits of digital compared to film is that it's possible to change the frame size. Canon's EOS-1Ds Mark II has a full frame sensor and its image quality is accepted well by the professional market. For Canon, image quality is the priority. We can offer the best size of sensor for the specific needs of the customer.
dpnow.com: I'm getting a lot of enthusiastic feedback about how low the noise levels are on the EOS-20D, especially when shooting in black and white mode. Logically, one would expect the 20D to exhibit slightly more image noise than compared with, for example, the EOS-10D because of the 20D's higher pixel count on a sensor of the same size.
Mr.Iwashita: Yes, that is correct. The noise filtering on the newer 8MP sensor chip has been improved.
dpnow.com: Obviously Canon's investment in CMOS sensor technology has reaped some impressive results. But currently, you only use CMOS for DSLRs and you buy sensors for your other digital cameras from other manufacturers. Will Canon eventually introduce its own CMOS sensors to its compact digital camera range?
Mr.Iwashita: CMOS has both advantages and disadvantages. The first advantage is superior power consumption. Secondly, although CMOS is known to be prone to image noise problems, we have fixed that. But the third point is that with CMOS, each pixel site on the sensor is surrounded by a circuit. The width of this circuit can not be smaller than a certain size. This means that even if the pixel size is reduced, the area required cannot currently be reduced. So it is not yet possible to make very small, high quality, CMOS sensors for compact digital sensors.
Interview ends.
