Canon A650/A660 predictions

[bascom]

The A630/A640 were announced last Aug so I expect an A650/A660 announcement from Canon by the end of the month. Here are my predictions:

New
------
Digic III with red eye fix
ISO 1600
10mp on A650, 12mp on A660
Image Stabilization

Maybe
----------
wide angle
more zoom

[David Metsky]

How will they differentiate it from the A570 IS which now has full manual controls? Is the sensor larger? Fold out LCD?

-dave-

[bascom]

Yes. Yes. The swivel LCD and bigger sensor are the main differences between the A6XX and A5XX series. Plus 4 batts for more juice. And faster lens at 4x tele.

[Screenclutter]

I wonder if the new CMOS sensors that were announced by Canon (Sony announced that they were working on CMOS sensor production too) will make it into the A650/A660.

I doubt that the A6xx series of cameras will get wide angle or more zoom-these can be saved for another G model camera. Red eye is something that most average customers decide to live with, and not worry about.

[David Metsky]

I'm not sure there will be another G camera. It seems like those people are going to entry level SLRs.

[Screenclutter]

I'm not sure there will be another G camera. It seems like those people are going to entry level SLRs.

Very possible. On my June six week tour in Scandinavia and Russia, the most common P&S cameras were from Canon (usually A95 or older, otherwise a bunch of ELPHs), two from the A6xx series, a G7, and a couple of Panasonics and Olympus cameras. No ultrazooms, and none from the A7xx series or A5xx series.

Four had digital SLRs, the Canon 400D, the and the Nikons D40x, D70s and a D80. I think the ultrazooms might be in trouble too.

I was the 3rd or 4th oldest person on the tour at the age of 33. No Fuji F-series cameras were present either, maybe that's why Fuji decided to join the megapixel race.

[Rex914]

Image stabilization would be great, but it would "kill" the G7 given that that's the only thing differentiating that from the A6XX cameras (and the little extra zoom).

- Jon

[e_dawg]

Yeah, I'm kinda skeptical about them adding IS to the 600 series. After all, that's what the A710, G7, and to some extent, the A570 is for.

A710
What happens to the A710 and G7 when the A650/660 comes out with IS? It will be perceived as comparable to the G7 for less $ and will be perceived as a better A710 for not that much more. IOW, if you're going to spend that kind of money on an A710, why not get the A650 instead. And if you didn't want to spend that kind of money but still want IS, that's what the A570 is for. The A710 is caught in the middle.

G7
With the A660 sporting at least as many MP or more than the G7 and having IS and a tilt-swivel screen, the G7 will be seen as too expensive when you can get almost the same thing for less $.

How about this for an idea? Maybe they should do away with the A600 series, because it is causing them too many problems. Use the A500 series for more value-oriented cameras. Use the A700 series for deluxe consumer P&S (6x zoom, IS, tilt/swivel LCD, 12 MP, etc.) Then take the G series back to its original intent as a prosumer camera with pro-style features like RAW mode and ext flash hotshoe.

I don't think the pro-style G will cannibalize sales of their entry-level dSLRs. It's a different market.

[David Metsky]

I don't think the pro-style G will cannibalize sales of their entry-level dSLRs. It's a different market.
My take is that it is a small and dwindling market. It won't cannibalize sales because there won't be many of them. It is eating up R&D and marketing dollars. I really don't see a big enough gap between the S-series and the entry-level DSLRs for them to continue this model, especially since they removed the best features on the last go round.

[Jayayess1190]

I hope the A650 has IS and wide angle added to a long zoom. I just came back from Alaska & Seattle last week and while in Alaska, I dropped my Panasonic TZ3 in a porta potty toilet, so more than 250 photos were lost except for some people photos I uploaded to my moms laptop . I then had to use my A620 for the rest of the trip. But I have seemed to loose it between Newark airport and Philadelphia. :( So now I have no camera. So I hope this A650 is great, otherwise I will get another TZ3.

[e_dawg]

I dropped my Panasonic TZ3 in a porta potty toilet, so more than 250 photos were lost except for some people photos I uploaded to my moms laptop .

So you mean you didn't dive right in and rescue it? The TZ3 can't be that good, then ;)

[Jayayess1190]

So you mean you didn't dive right in and rescue it? The TZ3 can't be that good, then ;)

The porta potty was filled with poop and pee. I could not see the bottem of it. Not worth it. But, the Tz3 is a great camera, zoom+wide angle+3 inch lcd+lmage stabilization= Awesome.

[speaklightly]

According to the www.dpreview.com Canon Forum, the existence of the G-9 is already confirmed with an announcement date of 08/30. Look for updates to the A-640, and A-710IS as well.

Sarah Joyce

[bascom]

Can you give a link to the new Canon discussion or info about them? All I found at dpreview was a guy from Greece who said his local shop dealer heard a G9 was coming. That's not what I call a great source.

[e_dawg]

[...]
How about this for an idea? Maybe they should do away with the A600 series, because it is causing them too many problems. Use the A500 series for more value-oriented cameras. Use the A700 series for deluxe consumer P&S (6x zoom, IS, tilt/swivel LCD, 12 MP, etc.) Then take the G series back to its original intent as a prosumer camera with pro-style features like RAW mode and ext flash hotshoe.

I don't think the pro-style G will cannibalize sales of their entry-level dSLRs. It's a different market.

Hey, not bad! The camera I called for turned out to be the A650. Specs are bang on. (of course, the consolidation of the A600 and 700 series did not happen, so I missed the boat on that one)

Also called for Canon to restore RAW mode to the G series and retain the external hotshoe.

[bascom]

The A630/A640 were announced last Aug so I expect an A650/A660 announcement from Canon by the end of the month. Here are my predictions:

New
------
Digic III with red eye fix
ISO 1600
10mp on A650, 12mp on A660
Image Stabilization

Maybe
----------
wide angle
more zoom

I got the new features right and one of the Maybes (more zoom) except looks there will only be an A650 with 12 mp and no A660. Too bad, I was hoping for one at $299 instead of $399. I hope the price drops. Looks like a very nice point and shoot.

[Jayayess1190]

I think I will be buying the A650. Like it a lot except for the 12mp and no wide angle, and probably no zoom in movies.

[bascom]

You seem to have trouble dropping or losing cameras. I hope you can hold on to this one longer. Did your A620 take better photos than your TZ3? What do you think of the SX100?

[tim11]

The only thing I'm skeptical about PowerShot A650 IS is the humongous 12.1 MP but everything else looks perfect: 6x zoom, IS, swivel LCD.... it's just like combining A720 and A630 into one unit. Hadn't it been for MP war we will see IQ improvement on this next batch of digital cameras already.

[Jayayess1190]

You seem to have trouble dropping or losing cameras. I hope you can hold on to this one longer. Did your A620 take better photos than your TZ3? What do you think of the SX100?

Held on to the A620 for almost two years. The A620 took better photos than the TZ3, but if you add some post processing to the TZ3, its photos look great. The SX1000 could have been a great competitor to the TZ3 if only it had wide angle. It is a nice camera, but it looks funny. The wide angle on the TZ3 is what I will miss most when I get the A650.