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As rumors predict the launch of the new version of a product "soon", do you think it is interesting to wait for a few months before buying a new instance of the by-then "old" version of the product for its future hypothetical low price?

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6  
Discussion of unreleased products is discouraged by the community. Depending on which rumours you believe, there will be a replacement announced this week, this year, or it won't be released with full frame cameras being phased out. Questions that have a limited time span run the risk as being closed as off topic by the wider community. – Rowland Shaw♦ Jan 10 '11 at 12:16
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I think it should be possible to ask this question in general (without referring to any specific rumours or camera models) without breaking the terms of the site. – Matt Grum Jan 10 '11 at 12:49
Don't we have a general question on "should I wait" somewhere? – Reid Jan 10 '11 at 13:59
I agree that there might be some general advice here. With Pentax, for example, in recent years, prices have tended to drop a few months after a new product is released and hit bottom just before the replacement comes out. Once the replacement is on the shelves, prices for the old model tend to hold or even go up as the last stock is sold. Canon may follow similar (or different but still relatively self-consistent) patterns. – mattdm Jan 10 '11 at 14:12
As this question really is not asking any specific details about an unreleased product, and is asking for advice about whether to wait or not, I think it is an acceptable question. The OP is basically asking for a word of wisdom, not necessarily an equipment recommendation about an unreleased product. – jrista♦ Jan 10 '11 at 22:03
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7 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

I would say no based on past experience. I was in the same position with the mkI mkII and what I observed was the price of used 5D mkIs didn't drop when the mkII was announced, nor did they drop when the camera was released and actually started shipping! It wasn't until a while after.

There are many reasons for this, one being demand. There were many people who wanted better AF, speed and weather sealing from the 5D successor. What they got was mote megapixels and video. So many didn't upgrade because of this (or took longer to be convinced).

Another reason is that people don't buy new cameras and sell their old ones right away, they wait for the price of the new cameras to drop a bit first.

edit:

Just realised you're talking about the new price not used. The same principles apply, price drops lag the release by some time. The price of mkIIs has been dropping since the release and are now way below the price point of new models. So even when the new one is released there will still be demand for the old one (because it is cheaper) hence the price of the old model is slow to fall.

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Thank you, I think I will invest in a mark II very soon then. – Bao Jan 10 '11 at 13:03
Adding to that - I bought the EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS last year, just at the same time Canon announced the MkII version of this lens. At the time, I got it in a really great price, so possible price fall was a little concern. When the new one actually started shipping, it happened that instead of pushing the old one's price down, Canon raised the NkII price by $500. I can probably sell my copy today w/o any loss. – ysap Jan 10 '11 at 13:45
up vote 4 down vote

That is a constant question in photography (and every other gear-infested hobby out there), and of course, it's not easily answered.

I'd buy a 5D mk II today, it seems to be a great camera which does everything and a lot more one could need. If you were a sports photographer I'd go with the 7D (higher FPS & the crop factor + sealing), but otherwise the 5D mk II is a solid choice. The ISO is crazy, you get out too many megapixels already etc. It will continue to be a great camera for a lot of years.

(and if the next 5D has even better ISO, think back to the film days and how ISO was then, compare it to your 5D and be ^_^ about it)

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Yes it what I was thinking about. I'm shooting with old Nikkormat cameras and a 5D (mark I). I found in the Mark II everything I need but I still want to wait a little bit for the price. – Bao Jan 10 '11 at 13:04
up vote 2 down vote

There is one simple reason why you should buy whatever camera is around vs one that is unreleased: you can use the one that's available right now, and you can sell it and upgrade later.

That said, there's no reason for Canon to release a 5D mkIII right now. It has the edge over Nikon in both megapixels and the ability to do 1080p video on a full frame sensor. It took 4 years for them to release the 5D mkII - soon after Nikon released a 5D competitor. There's no reason for them to go charging nilly willy into markets they already own.

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Fully agree regarding prospects for a 5D refresh. There's nothing on the market today like the 5D mkII. Nikon D3s has video but lower resolution, and is much more expensive. A Nikon D700 refresh with video and more megapixels will only match the 5D mkIIs specs, not exceed it. – gerikson Jan 11 '11 at 17:00
The 5DII's AF system isn't very confident in single-shot mode and is terrible in servo mode. I think the D700 is a better camera in this market. I shoot the 5DII and it's a great camera, but it certainly does need some improvement! – Bobby Ketchum Jan 31 '11 at 19:27
up vote 1 down vote

Go Ahead and Buy

I haven't heard anyone who bought a MkII who doesn't love it.
(Myself included) The question is: what is a MkII worth to you now? Is it worth the price? If so, buy. If not, wait.

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I've upgraded to 5D MkII from 30D, and I quite like it. I would like it even more if I got an improved AF system when upgrading to camera that is two years newer and twice as expensive. – che Jan 15 '11 at 0:15
@che. I quite agree. Just sayin' – AJ Finch Jan 17 '11 at 9:59
up vote 1 down vote

I'm in the same position and have decided to wait. It's a pretty stable rumor that the mk III will be out end of year. I'm an oddball in that I really want more megapixels because I print to digital negatives for platinum paper prints. More megapixels actually are not wasted on me as I print at 360 lpm. So say the mk III ends up at the rumored 28 megapixels. That means I can make a 12"x20" print at 360 lpi. That alone is worth it to me to wait.

If I could afford it, I'd also look at the next-gen 1d/1ds that too which will likely have 35 megapixels (roughly a 14x24 inch print with that!) but that would also require me stepping up to a larger printer. Sometimes one wishes to be made of money.

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In that case why not wait for the 5d mkIV which will surely have even more megapixels! – Matt Grum Jan 15 '11 at 1:33
@Matt: There is a timing issue involved here... ;P Its not a big deal to wait 8-10 months. It would be a huge deal to wait 4 years. – jrista♦ Jan 25 '11 at 0:32
yea. I use a t2i now. I want to milk its 18mp for all it's worth then get all I can out of the say 28mp 5d3 for the 2-3 years it is badass. – Kevin Won Jan 26 '11 at 0:51
up vote 0 down vote

If you're asking me, totally i will choose to wait for the Mark III version while we trust it is near to us that why you're here to ask this question. as you can see, how long period 5D Mark II is standing on the market and i trust there is something changing and improve. we're not getting at at very cheap price and able to throw it away while new version released as what happen to iphone.

anyway, for photograph. it is not something rely on equipment too.., it is just your tools but what important is you skill. not meaning that 1D should beat 5D down, theory is around there =D

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up vote 0 down vote

For now, the Canon 5D Mark II provides almost all functions you need in major part of cases. It is not so useful to wait for the next generation of 5D.

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