The Daily Minutiae

Wednesday was a tough day for Nikon fans.

In its second move to combat the Nikon "feature offensive," Canon has introduced the next in its line of full-frame digital cameras, the 5D Mark II.

Expanding on the size to megapixel ratio of the original 5D, Canon has thrown in some extras that are sure to please audiences when the Mark II comes out this November.  The Tokyo-based company has applied the groundbreaking 5D sensor to the proclaimed "megapixel arms race."

The result: a 21.1 megapixel powerhouse with an ISO range of 50-25,600 and 1080p HD video recording.

In a September 17 post on Yahoo! News UK, writer Duncan Geere says that some Canon engineers are disgruntled by the over-the-roof number of megapixels citing that Canon "has the technology to blow away the competition" and wished that two versions of the 5D came out.

The 20 megapixel line was once reserved for medium-format digital backs, but Canon's 1Ds Mark III broke that earlier this year.  Every since then companies have been flocking to full-framed sensors to fill ad space with impressive megapixel numbers, but Canon has stayed ahead of the pack.  One engineer in Geere's article stated, "They have the technology to blow the competition away by adapting the new 50D sensor tech in a full frame and just easing off a little on the megapixels."  He also writes that the marketing departments of these companies large drive the tech departments to boost megapixel count.

Though the camera sports a mindboggling amount of megapixels, the largest ISO range in DSLR's to date, and up to thirty minutes of HD video recording, the rest of the features are so-so.  Four frames-per-second, regular old live view we're getting used to, sensor self-cleaning.  Competitive, but not top-of-the-line or innovating.

All this came as a blow to Nikon, who's almost always had the upper hand in the ISO war, since Nikon's full-framed flagships price at least $3000 and the 5D Mark II starts around $2700.  

Let's not let the 5D Mark II announcement eclipse other great things Canon's doing, namely the three new Powershots hitting stores this fall and the lower 50D with the new EF-S 18-200mm image stabilizer.