New Canon camera packs a punch

Canon has claimed that its newly released 16.7megapixel digital camera is first to be able to deliver picture quality that matches top-range professional medium format film cameras.

With an eye-watering estimated street price of $7,999 - just for the camera body without lenses - it is no surprise that the EOS-1Ds Mark II SLR is targeted at professionals.

Canon said the camera would appeal to catalogue and commercial photographers, stock photographers and studio portrait specialists.

The company also boasted that the 16.7 effective megapixels (out of a total of 17.2 megapixels) packed on to a 36 x 24mm CMOS sensor meant that this model offers the world's highest pixel count in a 35mm, full-size digital AF SLR camera.

The successor to Canon's 11.1megapixel EOS-1Ds SLR introduced in 2002, the Mark II uses a full-size 24 x 36mm CMOS sensor that eliminates focal length conversion factors.

It also features improved image quality made possible by the combination of enhanced image sensor technology together with Canon's Digic II image processor.

Yukiaki Hashimoto, senior vice president and general manager of the consumer imaging group at Canon USA, noted that up until now many professional and commercial photographers have been wedded to their medium format film cameras.

But, he added in a statement: "With this remarkable new pro digital SLR we are sending a message to those medium format fans: your digital dream has been fulfilled."

The camera is scheduled to begin shipping in November.