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Canon planning to launch a new entry DSLR below the 450D/XSi is still just a rumour. Given however how the whole thing usually develops after those rumours, and far fetched thoughts become real products, it could be a very realistic possibility.

DSLRs still have admirable growth and Canon obviously has to find a way to stop Nikon becoming #1 force in the hottest camera segment. The lower end of the market has the largest DSLR sales volume, but I personally believe that going lower than the 450D/XSi would be a bad move. Here is why:

1. Entry DSLR models are surely securing new customers that might later progress to better models and several lenses. Nevertheless, the higher end models are the ones that make a name for the manufacturer. Nikon’s D300 and D3 bodies are unapproachable and unneeded by most, but thanks to those Nikon takes its blood -and sales- back!
2. Going lower than the 450D means going to price levels that would cannibalise Canon’s compact and prosumer camera sales. It is a well known fact that Canon likes to add to its compacts premium features that keep prices -and margins- above most competitors. Cheaper DSLRs would mean all compact model prices would be under considerable pressure.
3. Fierce competition implies that 450D/XSi price levels cannot be retained for ever. When prices start to slide, how low could a lower end body go? Would that be profitable?
4. The 450D/XSi is a good solid camera, but how much cheaper could it go? Cheap plastics, cheap kit lens, cost cuts here and there… it could be a very tacky product, well out of line of DSLR high quality product philosophy.
5. The fact that a cheap camera would contain 450D/XSi electronics and software de-activated features is a real possibility. Who would like that?
6. DSLR owners are in general those more seriously into photography. A very low end body would do nothing to reinforce Canon’s image as the brand most used by professional photographers worldwide.

Canon is making amazingly good DSLRs, but the lead over competitors has shrunk to small, and in many cases undetectable performance differences. What I would like to see from them and other DSLR manufacturers in the future? This is the issue of another post that is to be published shortly.