Canon 400d, Rebel XTI

[furious]

Is the Canon 400d going to be updated before Christmas? Logic and common sense says it would. I am just wondering. I am travelling to Japan in January 2008 and would like a good camera like the 400d to document my adventures. Obversely would like the best value for my money and Canon with the range of glass you can use is more appealing than the Nikon D80.

I know a compact P&S would be better to travel with.

 

[robbieduncan]

Almost certainly not. Canon normally have a 16 month cycle to replace each DSLR model. The 30D and 5D will be replaced/upgraded before the 400D.

 

[Evangelion]

Is the Canon 400d going to be updated before Christmas?

Most likely not

Logic and common sense says it would.

Logic and common sense says it wouldn't. I mean, it was just released like 6 months or so ago.

 

[furious]

Even a mid term refresh like a 400d s or i?

Will be searching for the best price then. Thanks for your help.

 

[Evangelion]

Even a mid term refresh like a 400d s or i?

I don't think so. 350d Didn't have those kind of refreshes either, right?

 

[furious]

Logic and common sense says it wouldn't. I mean, it was just released like 6 months or so ago.

Um. It is a piece of electronic equipment. It would be not that must of stretch to assume it would be updated for the Christmas buying period. How many products are updated every year before Christmas?

Like some brilliant person said and I paraphrase "make your products obsolete before the competition".

 

[Evangelion]

Um. It is a piece of electronic equipment.

Just because it's a piece of electronic equipment does not mean that it will be updated often. If you look at previous EOS's, you would see that they did not receive such mid-term refreshes.

It would be not that must of stretch to assume it would be updated for the Christmas buying period. How many products are updated every year before Christmas?

Quite a few. But that doesn't mean that this particular piece of equipment is among them. Looking at the rate of updates/releases of previous Eos's, I would say that we will see EOS 450D in summer 2008.

 

[miloblithe]

Buy now. Getting experience with the camera well before the trip is worth more than any likely minor upgrades a revision might have, in the unlikely chance that there will be one.

 

[Westside guy]

Is the Canon 400d going to be updated before Christmas? Logic and common sense says it would. I am just wondering. I am travelling to Japan in January 2008 and would like a good camera like the 400d to document my adventures. Obversely would like the best value for my money and Canon with the range of glass you can use is more appealing than the Nikon D80.

I have to ask - what sort of updates would you expect that would be worth waiting for, really? The 300D -> 350D update was a big deal mainly because of significant shortcomings in the design of the 300D; but the 350D -> 400D improvements were not particularly compelling from a practical point of view, IMO (I'm not saying the 400D isn't wonderful; I'm just saying the 350D was quite good already). If, for example, they move from 10MP to 12MP next time - it's very unlikely you'll see any practical benefit from this.

 

[furious]

I have to ask - what sort of updates would you expect that would be worth waiting for, really? The 300D -> 350D update was a big deal mainly because of significant shortcomings in the design of the 300D; but the 350D -> 400D improvements were not particularly compelling from a practical point of view, IMO (I'm not saying the 400D isn't wonderful; I'm just saying the 350D was quite good already). If, for example, they move from 10MP to 12MP next time - it's very unlikely you'll see any practical benefit from this.

Mostly just small improvement. They type that mean they can maintain a high price. Improvements to the image sensor. Improved battery Life. I am sure you know were I am going with this.

 

[robbieduncan]

Mostly just small improvement. They type that mean they can maintain a high price. Improvements to the image sensor. Improved battery Life. I am sure you know were I am going with this.

I hate to point it out but this we are talking about Canon's entry level, low cost DSLR. If you want a better image sensor, longer battery life, whatever you might have to be willing to move up the food chain a bit.

 

[furious]

I hate to point it out but this we are talking about Canon's entry level, low cost DSLR. If you want a better image sensor, longer battery life, whatever you might have to be willing to move up the food chain a bit.

If it is true what people have said and the product cycle is 16 months. That is an awful long time.

Maybe working around Sony has jaded my minded. Maybe the reason pros use Canon is the long Life Cycles?

 

[savesteve]

I give you the Wiki!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EOS

Towards the bottom there's a time line listing the consumer (and other) product releases from Canon (xxxD models).

This should give you a good idea of what time frame they release their stuff on.

From what I can see it looks ~ 6 quarters for each release.

 

[furious]

All I have to say is wow.

 

[JeffDM]

Um. It is a piece of electronic equipment. It would be not that must of stretch to assume it would be updated for the Christmas buying period. How many products are updated every year before Christmas?

Like some brilliant person said and I paraphrase "make your products obsolete before the competition".

Beating the holiday season is something typically done for consumer electronics. I think that maybe dSLR cameras are probably a little outside the usual consumer user base that probably wouldn't be given as gifts anywhere nearly as much as a point and shoot.

 

[sjl]

Um. It is a piece of electronic equipment. It would be not that must of stretch to assume it would be updated for the Christmas buying period. How many products are updated every year before Christmas?

Looking at the history of Canon's DSLR lineup: none. The 400D was released late August 2006. The 300D was three years prior to that, late August 2003. The 5D, late August 2005. 20D, late August 2004. 1D, November 2001 (and let's face it, how many people are going to buy their loved ones a Canon EOS 1 series camera for Christmas?)

If you think the 400D is a good fit for your needs, by all means grab it. Even if Canon announces its successor tomorrow (which I would bet very heavily against), it will still take excellent pictures.

Seems that a lot of people forget that the release of a new product does not automatically render the old product useless. My 20D is still taking good pictures (although it needs a sensor clean ... sigh), and I feel no need to upgrade to the 30D (truth be told, I'm more likely to upgrade to the 5D's successor, but there's a lens purchase to make before I do that, meaning it's at least a year away, probably two to three to five.)

Summary: if somebody offered me even money that Canon would not release the 400D's successor this year, I'd take it. Unless they were in Canon's DSLR R&D department.