I read Michael's comments on the new Canon 1D MIII with interest. He stated that it was a niche camera, and the main product would be the 1Ds MIII. Perhaps so, but from what I read the 1D MII out sold the 1Ds MII by a large margin. For many uses 10 MB is more than sufficient, and I would think that the camera is a mainstream product.
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I agree, with the twist that both are clearly niche products, so the real question is the relative sizes of those niches.
I believe that the 1D series niche has always been and will continue to be significantly bigger in terms of unit sales, though perhaps about equal in retail sales revenues. With 10MP rather than 8MP or 4MP, the 1D niche probably just got bigger. Many photographers already report finding the 1D MkII to be an excellent professional tool even in situations that do not rely on its high frame rate and such.
I have read that in the past, Canon stated production levels of 2,000/mo for the 1Ds, the same 2,000/mo for the 1DsMkII, and 4,000/mo for the 1DMkII. I look forward to seeing what Canon states for the 1D MkIII and for the expected 1Ds MkIII.
