Do you think Canon will include image stabilization on a consumer DSLR any time soon?

Question

What about an upgrade to the Rebel XT? With the release of the A100 and D80, do you think Canon will be raising the bar on Consumer DSLR's?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, Canon most likely will not include IS on the bodies. You see, the body IS is most definitely a proprietory design owned by Konica-Minolta before Sony bought the company. It is a direct competitor to the other IS technologies owned by Canon and Nikon, which are completely different mechanisms using pivoting prisms instead of moving sensor like the Sony-KM body IS.

Sony will most likely keep this special weapon, which is about the only reason people will buy Sony DSLRs at this point, and not license it to its competitors Canon and Nikon.

Also from Canon's point of view, incorporating IS into bodies creates a conflict of interest: if their bodies have IS than people will stop buying those expensive Canon IS lenses, so Canon's strategy will be to improve other aspects of its cameras to counter Sony, which Canon has been doing very well. Its low noise level at high ISOs means you can crank up the ISO and use a faster shutter speed, so no IS is even needed!

I'm almost certain the next Canon Rebel (or other low-end Canons) will not have body IS, as some insider info has already leaked and nowhere did they mentioned IS. But possibly increased resolution to 10 MP. Watch closely at this fall's Photokina (sept 2006) Canon is expected to release the next Rebel.

All being said, Sony is not a bad camera at all. Its biggest problem, noise at high ISOs, can quite easily be reduced by using noise reduction programs like NoiseNinja.

If you're not in a hurry, wait after Photokina to make up your mind!

Good luck!

Answer 2

Sony has the patent on it's "Super steady shot" used in the alpha A100, It's the same system used in the camcorders.

Pentax has it's "Shake reduction" system which is better then Sony's due to lateral counter movement as well. Pentax has several patents on their system.

Nikon/Canon will not use a stabilization on the body anytime soon as it will alienate all the IS/VR lenses out there.

Answer 3

Canon puts the image stabilization on the lens, not the camera. This is one of the many reasons you should not buy a dSLR with the kit lens and, instead, purchase a good lens seperately.

Answer 4

Canon curently has this technology on it's lenses.
such as 24-105 IS USM
or
17-55 IS USM
or
24-135 IS USM

You can see it's new products such as EOS 5D
or EOS 30D

Good Luck