I suppose its all very clever.
They'll sell one or two to everyone who just bought a 7d for video.
Then blow it all out of the water with the new codec in a while more.

Hard to believe Nikon are left in the dust so much.
Now I dont regret jumpin ship at all.

It's funny though...Nikon really had the chance to dominate this DSLR/Video thingy. But it's as if they are ignoring this particular market. I understand that we make up only a fraction of the market...but look at its competitors....gaining new fans. For example....I've never owned a DSLR in my life...not before buying my 7D a month or so ago. I wonder how many of me are out there that Nikon missed the boat with?

Thats very true Ian. And how many young newbies will choose Canon over Nikon as their starter camera now?
So many knock on effects of this bold behaviour from Canon.

Canon seem to have a much better marketing team altogether.
They got in among the forums and listened to what people were looking for.
They invited many different sector of professionals to use their gear and indeed
promote it as a result.

Even worse I had never used any DSLR other than Nikon until the 7D came along and now I see no reason to go back.... Unless they are the ones that are really developing the Scarlet......

why others can' step up
 

Ian, I think the reason why Nikon and Sony can't step up is because of the way they designed their sensors. I think they did a great job in the read out as far as photo goes. But the video readout is not efficient or entails compromises.

Unless they change the design or do some upgrades, I don't think Sony et al will be able to keep up. One thing is certain now, Canon is really pushing hard and upping the ante. They are really making it difficult for their competitors.

In the end, this is nothing but good for us consumers regardless of brand loyalty or preference. It will just mean that we will get more for our money. These are exciting times indeed!

I'll second that: First time D/SLR owner. And to boot, I've used it as an excuse to get into still photography as well (i bet a lot of you have as well). So, basically, i'm using Canon. Even if Nikon/Sony/etc were to come out with an equal quality camera, sorry, i have a Canon glass, batteries, accessories, etc!

What's dissappointing is that competition makes great innovation.

No Lamborghini without Ferrari...both fine cams...er...cars. CARS!!

I was all set to grab a 7D as soon as possible but this is just great news! As an entry level cam to learn the ropes on the DSLR front I am very eager to see some hands on reactions from early adopters. (adapters?)
I have never owned a DSLR before, tho I have 16 yrs of Video experience.... It truly is a great day and age we are living in eh?
:o)

Maybe, either that, or they were hit over the head by the forums, LOL.

i have a silly selfish worry that the film look that these things can give and the wow factor it can bring when others (and clients!) see the video is going to become quite everyday and i'll have to work much harder to please!

on the other hand video skills will always come from the operator and a cheap camera with huge potential wont necessarily produce greatness in the wrong hands..

in any case i plan on taking advantage of the wow factor as much as possible while it still exists!

Hey!! another killer aspect if its true:

"The 550D camera can record to SDXC cards which are now FAT32 cards causing the 4gig 12min video recoding limitation. Come Spring 2010 in the US then the SDXC cards are unleashed to exFAT and the limitations are lifted."

Can anyone confirm this???! This could really open up possibilities!

I can't actually confirm that and sign it in blood, but that's the general idea, yes.

BUT IIRC, there's another limitation - one of those silly legal/marketing limitations, that if it can record more than 29 mins of video the camera is classed as a camcorder and gets more tax in certain markets. Just like the JVC HD100 had a version which didn't have firewire input, just FW out, saving about £300.

On a separate note, the 550 has a 95% screen, albeit a big one. The 7D has a 100% screen. The irritation of careful framing at shoot time vs edit time spent matting out the lamp stand or zooming up to get rid of the cable may be worth the extra £300 in the long term. Also, if one bought a 550 now, and got a 7D later, that would be two lots of batteries, two lots of cards. Why not start out as one means to go on?

Would the extra build quality, the 100% screen, the existing ecosystem, be worth the £300 extra amortised over a 24 month working life? I do feel that Canon's been quite clever with that 95% screen. It will separate the market quite nicely.

EOS Rebel T2i EF-S questions
 

Since there is no specific section for it and it's similar to the 7D... here goes. Anyone shoot any HD 24P video with this camera? Is it's video quality comparable to the 7D? I know it's a cheaper camera but how well does it compare? Any sample video? Is the 24P native? How are the manual controls?

true.. but 30 minutes certainly beats 12 and would presumably be a pretty easy fix if there ever was some kind of magic lantern hack (or just by buying a body outside europe)

I'm very curious about this myself. I just went onto Canon's website and I saw the new T2i. It must have just come out not too long ago.

Any information would be awesome. Is the DoF comparable to the 7D? That's the biggest plus for the 7D is its film like DoF which is INCREDIBLE. How does the T2i compare?

That's the optical viewfinder you're referrring to. On either HDSLR they are going to be utterly blind while shooting video - that pesky reflex mirror gets in the way. That applies to the 5DM2 and 1DM4 as well. Which is why the Zacuto and CAVision LCD Viewfinders/Magnifiers are so popular with all these cameras, something I don't expect to change.