Some time ago I spoke about gear (which I don't often do) and more specifically about mirrorless offerings. Thursday night or Friday, depending on where you live on earth, Canon announced their 5Ds and 5DsR models. I have been anticipating new releases very eagerly as I am personally in the market for a new camera. As a landscape photographer (primarily) these cameras are specifically targeted at me. So how do they stack up against MY wishlist?

          The good news - although many people claim that they do not need 50 Megapixels, Megapixels are very valuable to me. Landscape shots are born to be printed large; very large (I have had an image of mine printed on 6 bill boards in Japan; size does matter). There is just something about a large landscape print that screams "WOW!" So personally, I will take every extra Megapixel I can get. Not only do I want to print large, landscape photography is about detail and 50 Megapixels deliver boat loads of detail. I am very excited about the possibility of having more Megapixels available. Many photographers complain about large file sizes necessitating better computers and more storage space on hard disks, but this does not bother me in the least. Firstly, memory cards are so much cheaper today than just a few years ago. Secondly, hard disks are also cheap (a 3 or 4 TB drive cost the same as what a 500 or 750 GB cost a few years back). Lastly, my website host (Zenfolio - please see my 10% discount code in my blog about websites), offers me unlimited online storage; of even my raw files.

          The bad news - there are three areas of concern to me:

• The price point - by the time you have added tax these cameras are around $4,000.00, body only. I am not a camera engineer or a manufacturing expert but I do not think there is much difference in the cost of manufacturing a 20 MP sensor versus a 50 MP sensor (if both are full frame). Now you may argue that the price jump between these new cameras and the Canon 5D III (at introduction) is only about $400.00 - $600.00. My response is simple: even the 5D III was over priced compared to the Nikon D810, AND these two new cameras are inferior to the 5D III in almost every way save the Megapixels (see the next two points).

• The dynamic range - Canon has been lagging behind Sony and Nikon (same basic sensor as the Sony) for some time now. I was hoping for some improvement in this area, but it never came. Canon themselves admitted that the dynamic range of this new sensor is about on par with the 5D III. That means that there has been no real improvement in this department from Canon for more than 5 or 7 years. The 5D III was behind the Sony and Nikon offerings to begin with, new these new sensors are going to be even further behind once Sony introduces their new sensors. You may ask, "what does that matter in real life shooting?" You may even be tempted to think that we just want the latest and greatest. Landscape shooting often results in shooting into the setting or rising sun. In most of these cases the foreground is in deep shadow. The difference between the bright sun and the deep shadow can just be too much for the Canon's to handle. On the Sony or Nikon you can shoot the scene with just one shot and then brighten the shadows with one slider in Photoshop; done. No, I do not want to mess with HDR or blend multiple exposures; that takes time.

• High ISO noise - once again Canon themselves said that these cameras' high ISO performance is on par with the 5D II, possibly the III. Yes, I realize that 50 Megapixels on the same real estate (sensor size) have smaller photosites which is supposed to result in more high ISO noise. However the same is true for Sony's 36 MP sensor versus their previous 24 MP sensor and yet, magically their high ISO performance did not suffer. Many photographers counter by saying that landscapes are shot at base ISO (100), what do you need high ISO for? I have written about this before; landscape photographers need good high ISO output because we shoot on the edges of storms. These weather conditions go hand in hand with wind. Wind blows the grass or flowers resulting in their movement. The only way to freeze them for sharp focus (a must in landscapes) is to use a high shutter speed. The only way to use a small F.Stop (for depth of field) AND a fast shutter speed at sunrise or sunset (with little available light) is to use a high ISO. On my last two trips we were shooting in terrible wind. I need good clean high ISO to enable a faster shutter speed. Using a tripod (which I always do for landscapes) does nothing to prevent moving foliage from moving; stabilizing the camera against shake does not prevent subject motion blur.

In the shot below the wind was blowing as if paid to do so. The grasses in the foreground swayed with the wind. This shot just would not have worked at any lower shutter speed. Even so, I had to wait for lulls in the wind to shoot because my camera does not give clean high ISO; yet many of the shots of this shoot were out of focus (I was lucky to get one or two usable ones):

So will I be investing in one of these Canons? I am probably leaving Canon (after many years with Canon). I am not sure what I am going to replace my gear with at this point in time. It will depend on what the other manufacturers offer in the next few months. My lenses are probably for sale now. By the way, my decision to leave Canon is also based on their service center policies and practices. Since my camera was sent in for service I have not been happy with the way in which they work.

          Either way, I am very excited with where photographic gear is going. I thank Canon for bringing out these two cameras as it will certainly force the other manufacturers to respond; competition is good. Overall, (between the different brands) things have never been so good for photographers; this is an exciting time to be in the market for new gear. Megapixels are going up, auto-focus systems are just brilliant, exposure meters are awesome, optics are very good (this is what I will miss in leaving Canon), high ISO is getting better and better at higher and higher settings, and dynamic range is stretching. I cannot wait to find out what is around the corner.

          I will keep you updated as to what I decide to buy in the next few months.