With the PMA’s around the corner, Canon Canada announced their spring line up yesterday including a new digital SLR to the popular Rebel series. Their announcement also included two new printers, four compact point and shoot digital cameras as well as 2 new L series lenses. To my dismay, there was no news of any sort of upgrade to the very popular Canon EOS 5D, which means we will likely have to wait until August for their fall line up announcements.

For this post I’m focusing on the Canon Digital Rebel XSi. This newest addition to Canon’s digital SLR line up touts 12.2 megapixels and a large 3 inch LCD monitor. One of the things I first noticed when I saw the images was the camera’s sleek rounded edges which are very reminescent of it’s 5D older brother. Functionality such as Live View, Self cleaning sensor and Canon’s DIGIC III Image Processor are now standard on this entry level SLR. A big change in this camera is Canon’s move to SD / SDHC media abandoning Compact Flash as their previous standard for storage. Another notable feature is the inclusion of two kit lens choices which both are IS equipped (That’s image stabilization baby!). The EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS or the new EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS are included in the kit. (UPDATED) Estimated retail prices of $879.99 for body only and $999.99 for the kit with the 18-55 kit lens. Expect this in stores by April 2008.

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Earlier this week, Canon Canada announced the released of the Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR. After a full year of rumours, the 40D is looking to be quite a welcome upgrade to the popular mid-range series.

Some of the spotlights to the upgrade include.

A newly enhanced, 10.1-megapixel CMOS imaging sensor with the proprietary and super-efficient DIGIC III image processor.

A brighter, three-inch LCD screen.

A magnesium alloy exterior that’s more rugged with upgraded dust and weather resistant construction.

Use of larger microlenses over each pixel to reduce noise and expand sensitivity up to ISO 3200.

New sRAW mode where the number of pixels is reduced to one-fourth that of a standard RAW image and the file size is cut in half.

The EOS integrated cleaning system which was first introduced in the Rebel XTi.

A Live View mode, permitting the framing and capturing of subjects using the camera’s LCD screen instead of the viewfinder.

Scheduled for an early September delivery, the Canon EOS 40D will be sold in a body-only configuration at an estimated selling price of $1,399.99 or $1,649.00 as a kit paired with Canon’s EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens. Let me say that in the past, I haven’t really been quick to jump on the upgrade bandwagon, but this new model is packed with a ton of new features at an amazingly low price that it really has me considering the upgrade.

In related news, Canon also announced the release of the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, 6 new point and shoot cameras (adding to the G, Digital ELPH, A-Series and introducing the exciting new SX series, which specializes in Zoom) and 11 new printers, all-in-ones and scanners. Included are a new “MX” line of environmentally-friendly printers for the office. Those Canon folks have been crazy busy.

My harddrive would kill me if I ever had a digital camera with a sensor this big. But apparently Canon has developed a 50-megapixel CMOS image sensor that is still the same size as traditional sensors that we see in dSLRs today.

Personally, I think most people have enough resolution in the digital cameras they have now, especially with the common consumer point and shoot cameras on the market touting a 6 to 8 megapixel range on average. Really, this is overkill for the average consumer who is either printing off 4×5 or 8×10 prints of the images, or tossing them online to send or share with their friends and family. What I’d like to see, is an improvement in lens quality paired with an affordable price tag. That would be my ideal.

Shooting with a Nikon SLR has been very interesting. I’m quickly getting over the learning curve.

My response to most people who have asked if I like the Nikon is , “I don’t hate it” but I can’t easily say I love it either. There are other things at play here and comparing my 20D to a D80 doesn’t seem like the right match. But it’s match enough I suppose to get a sense of what it is like to be shooting with a Nikon.

Yesterday, I went down to the beaches and brought along both the Canon 20D and the Nikon D80. I shot a couple of images to get a small sense of comparison, with the differences being really subtle. I’m sure I could have swayed the images to be almost exactly the same with a bit more tweaking.

Basically for this experiment, I shot both images at the same focal length, in Program mode, (RAW, same iso etc) basically letting the camera decide on the exposure.

In post processing, I treated each image as If I would treat any of my other images, So minor adjustments were made (by eye) and were saved. In no instance did I try to make the exact same changes. So this wasn’t scientific at all. By no means was I trying to get an exactly comparison.

In future tests, I’ll likely shoot everything exactly the same across the board, also applying the same edits to both shots. This was just a quick and dirty comparison.

I have to admit that shooting with the Nikon, the on-camera screen preview of the images looked better on the camera and the viewfinder is nice and bright. However, turning my lens barrel in the opposite direction as the Canon still takes some getting use to.

Yesterday, Canon Canada announced the arrival of the EOS-1D Mark III. It ranks on the highest end of the digital SLR spectrum in the Canon line.

Basically, they have added in the EOS Integrated Cleaning System which was first introduced in the Canon Rebel XTi and coupled it with the all-new Canon 10.1 megapixel APS-H size CMOS sensor with an expanded sensitivity range and 1.3 lens conversion factor. They have also included an improved Dual DIGIC III image processor and designed a lighter camera body which is more weather resistent.

The big innovation of course will be the 3.0 inch LCD screen which also provides “live view” image capturing which wasn’t possible in any of Canon’s previous dSLR models. There are definite situations where a live view will come in handy especially if you want to shoot from difficult angles or if you are trying to be a bit more stealthy, however when shooting handheld, holding the camera to you face and looking through the eye piece will probably be a more stable position for shooting. Call me old fashioned, I learned photography before the digital revolution.

To read more about the new features check out the official Press Release where they also announced a new EF 16-35 mm f/2.8 L II USM Lens, Speedlite 580EX II Flash and a couple of other cool accessories.

The camera is gonna make it’s debut at the PMA in Las Vegas in March and will be hitting the stores in April for an estimated $5,199 CND retail, which I believe is just the body.

Strangely enough, Canon Canada doesn’t do television ads, none that I recall ever seeing. So after looking up the Andre Agassi ads yesterday, I decided to see what else was available.

This is one of my favorite from the bunch that I found. The running around, seeking and shooting random things that you come across remind me of my own shooting style especially back in the day when I used to scour areas of the city in search for a shot. How very photobloggerish of Canon.