Not surprisingly, the booths that got the most action
were the big guns Canon and Nikon. Surprisingly, but
quite fittingly, they existed in harmony right next
to each other on the convention floor.

Canon had all their toys on display. The ones garnering
the most interest obviously were the EOS 40D, the 1D MarkIII,
the 1Ds MarkIII, and the super-telephoto lenses.

I had a great time conversing with a Canon rep whose name shall
remain anonymous. He was quite frank in his answers, and I appreciated
that. Take everything I share with you here with a grain of salt.

I told him I was thinking of a 40D, but that I did not think it would
be better (IQ wise) than my 5D as some have suggested. He said the 40D
was great and much improved, but "keep the 5D." :-)

I asked him about the 5DII that we've all been expecting. His reply was,
"No, this is it. It'll be a long time before the 5D replacement comes out."

Dealing with many reps over the years, they either know, don't know, or have
to keep mum. I'm still going with the belief that many folks have about seeing
a 5D replacement in February. If the rep turns out to be right, it's ok because
my 5D won't depreciate as fast.

He acknowledged that the fix was in for the 1DIII, and that they were compiling
a list of affected units, then those with the bad ones were to "send it in, and
get it back in two days." Cool.

Lastly, I asked him about this mythical EOS 3D people have been asking about for
the last seven years or so, to which he replied, "WHAT?? LoL...No, that's why we
have the 1D MarkIII." I then brought up the point that many folks, myself included,
want a D200/D300 caliber EOS in the same price bracket. He did acknowledge the need
for one, but said that the 20D/30D/40D bodies were "incredibly strong" and "$500 cheaper."

So be it...