Over the years, Canon has been very good about not leaking new camera specs. Now, thanks to Amazon.com there is a major leak on the 40d. Amazon has removed the info from thier site, but you can find it at engadget.com
10.1 megapixel
self cleaning sensor
6.5 frames per second
sRAW option 1/2 size raw file
available Sept 20th
etc

edit: darn it noahnott beat me to the news scoup. I guess I need to learn how to post faster.

I was only 12 minutes ahead...

...if only I woke up 12 minutes later, you would've beat me to the news. :)

PS: Nikon also released a new DSLR. ;-)

Finally a body that has something over the ole 20D.

Official specs at Canon Australia.

And the Canon USA Press Release.

Good grief the specs on the 1DS MkIII are nearly as eye watering as it’s price – I guess that means we will see the mythical D3X from Nikon appear very shortly then. I hope they keep the 18MP Sony sensor as is and don’t try and squeeze more out of it than they should – ruining it in the process.

The 40D looks good but I wish they had dropped in a 12MP sensor instead and included water resistance to accompany the dust removal. Strange that the 5D replacement hasn’t surfaced yet though.

Hey Phil I think you drop a few 5 cent o-rings in the 40D and the price may be beyond the pro-sumer price;-)

True – the 40D is far more likely to find its way out into the field than it’s more expensive siblings so it would have been a smart move to include it as a feature. May have eaten into Canon’s golden goose that is the camera body servicing facility I guess. I must find the time to nip over to Ken Rockwells site to see if his confident ‘insider news’ of next weeks 7D launch is still in place or whether its been swamped by even more snapshots of his baby :-)

Besides, you have the sensor cleaner that will shed all that dust and water like a wet dog shaking on your leg.

Quote
“Canon design engineers made the EOS 40D SLR's magnesium alloy exterior even more ruggedly dependable than its predecessors with upgraded dust and weather resistant construction, particularly around the camera's connection ports, battery compartment and single-slot compact flash memory card door.”

It looks like you got your wish Phil.

maybe but the specs say not - i'm not sure id trust PR spin over the spec list - compared to the Canon bodies that are weather shielded the wording is conspicuous by it's absence on the 40D model. that said, I have used a 20D before on wedding shoots in light rain with no real adverse effects so maybe its one of those use at your own peril type scenarios :-)

Actually I’d reserve my judgment until I get one in my hands. My 300D made no pretence of weather sealing but it survived a couple of light showers with nothing worse than a rising anxiety level from myself.

I’m avoiding the 1DS MkIII pages, I don’t need the temptation.

do it. you know you want to.

Yeah but… divorces are expensive. Do you think she would forgive me if I bought one for her as well?

Robert, Robert, Robert! Haha:-)

:-)

Where can I preorder a 40D?

Well I could take the deposit for you.

Do you take debit?

actually, I thought I saw a link for a site for pre-ordering the 40D, and the Mark IIIN...Amazon, maybe..

Hey thanks uncle Phil! That oly ships within the states though. What are your thoughts on this sRaw format? Kinda sounds like a revert back to jpeg?

I’d agree with most people – it’s a solution looking for a problem. The increases in buffer speeds and cheap/fast memory cards make it kind of superfluous.

The two launches from Canon kind of overshadowed Sony’s launch of their new 12MP sensor that will find its way into the next Alpha and Nikon models. It’s a CMOS this time too and I hope Canon don’t end up regretting sticking with the 10MP in the 40D.

It's kinda an odd time of the year for Canon to introduce new dslrs. If my memory serves me right, it seems that they wait till pma or photokina. Are they trying to overshadow Sony? It will be interesting to see how available they are when they are released.

Darryl, just have it shipped to me and I will deliver it to you personally.... *fingers crossed behind back* lol

There is a large trade show due in a few weeks so no doubt the launch will be tied into that. I doubt Canon would give any serious thought to upsetting Sony at all – they haven’t had an exactly auspicious entry into the DSLR market with very poor sales so far for the unloved Alpha cameras. I think this is just the usual brinkmanship with Nikon. Both manufacturers have had cameras waiting in the wings for sometime and the launches are usually designed as spoilers for each other. Historically, it normally plays out that Canon blinks first and plays its hand then Nikon joins the fight almost immediately afterwards often with defective or inferior products using dodgy PR spin to try and cover their tracks. Things are different now though. Nikon have the opportunity to make serious headway providing they don’t get greedy and screw up the new Sony sensors as they did with the rewiring from the D80 to the D200. A D80 replacement with the new 12MP sensor and a D3 with the 18MP FF sensor will really take the fight to Canon.