Canon Expo 2010 Wrap Up

Canon's Concept 4K Hair-Dryer

Canon Expo 2010 was not a total waste of time. I met some very cool people and got back to my roots.  Canon spent close to thirty million on this event, held every five years.  There were no real surprises to speak of. The 4K-hair dryer concept video camera was a total bust. No interchangeable lenses, no Full Frame Sensor, not much beyond a 4K image and 60fps max. This seemed to be a direct response to the RED Camera and their obsession with 4K. I finally just moved up to 2K monitoring in my place. I guess we have no choice, 4K will be just around the corner if the manufactures have their way.  New TV sets for all!

The new Canon 60D with it’s “Vari-angle” three inch LCD screen and 7D type specs, looks like a nice middle ground between the Canon Rebel T2i and Canon 7D, however the single processor and plastic body will be it’s limiting factors.

The real promise came with a bevy of new lenses from Canon. They have announced a killer new 8-15mm f4 Fisheye Zoom with a 180 degree diagonal view across all EOS cameras with some cool new advances in lens technology. It has a locking mechanism to adapt between crop sensor and full frame cameras. The new Canon 70-200mm L II IS f2.8 is just as badass. It is worth the extra coin in every way. The new Canon 70-300 mm f4-5.6 L IS lens is fine for outdoor photography, but still too slow to be considered kick ass. Variable iris lenses are a deal breaker in video. The new Canon 300mm f2.8 L II IS and Canon 400mm f2.8 L II IS are cool, but I would not get them just to buy the newest lens on the market. Both are rock solid in their current form. If you have the extra dough and need to be an early adopter by all means, but I would still save the cash for other lenses. You really are not gaining that much here.

Canon tried to make the event cool with a mock fashion show where you could pick and choose the camera and lenses you wanted to test out and nice enough to let you keep the San Disk 2GB CF card used for the shoot.  I nabbed more than one. They also allowed some aftermarket manufactures into the expo to show off the new HDSLR capabilities when tricked out with tons of accessories.  This was a first for a Canon Expo.

The event was more of a big Canon Meet Up than anything else. I managed to seek out some of the movers and shakers in the HDSLR world like Rick McCallum, Vincent Laforet, Shane Hurlbut, and Philip Bloom, it was a treat just to be at the same table with these HDSLR giants. The few minutes I spent with them made the entire trip worthwhile.

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