The rumoured specs of an equally new rumoured camera, the Canon 1D X MK II, point to some very interesting assumptions we can make about the current industry.
We're entering the rather fuzzily defined period of time when Canon's EOS-1D X (and possibly their 1D C) cameras may be due for replacement. There's nothing that points to this in particular, except that they've been out for a while now and, in this white-hot frenzy of product development, anything that's been out for more than six weeks is considered to be ripe for an update. Or so it seems.
And right on (fuzzy) cue, the rumours have started. And where do you go if you want Canon Rumours? www.canonrumors.com, of course.
Now, I really like this site, because it distinguishes between rumours that are worthless (because the source has no track record or, worse still, a track record of being wrong) and those that are from a respected source with a history of being right.
They have just published a list of rumoured specifications for a 1D X MK II. They rightly caution us with "this came from an unknown source and take it with the appropriate amount of salt." (You can read the whole thing HERE.)
But the thing about this rumour is that it is simply what anyone with any knowledge of professional cameras would have come up with. We could have printed an article with these specifications, made up completely in our own heads and it would have been pretty much identical.
All of which illustrates a very important point. We have reached the stage, only about three or four years before 4K crept into people's awareness, where our default assumption is that new cameras will be 4K capable.
This, in itself, is remarkable. That we should have completely shifted paradigms in such a short time is, honestly, staggering. We are truly at the stage where any new camera that only supports HD is going to be an anomaly, rather than the rule.
But wait, there's more! And that would be 8K. Yes, it's visible on the horizon, moving rapidly into view.
Beyond that, we have computational photography.
Keep your eye on that. It's going to be big.