Canon announced the rumored EOS 5D today, along with the EOS 1D mk II N, a new flash, and a couple new lenses.

DPReview has details:

The 5D looks exactly like the rumors suggested–full frame, 12.8 MP, 3 FPS, 9 AF points. It’s essentially a cross between the original 1Ds and the 20D. Its buffer holds 60 JPEG frames or 17 raw frames. Canon has 4 sample images available, but their site is slammed and I haven’t been able to view them yet. It’s priced at $3,299.

The 1D mk II N (nice name, Canon) is a slight update to their top-of-the line sports body. It still has the same 1.3x 8 MP sensor, but they added:

  • A bigger LCD (2.5" vs 2.0")
  • Slightly bigger and faster buffers – 48 JPEG images vs 40
  • The ability to write RAW and JPEG to simultaneously to different flash cards, so RAW ends up on CF while JPEG ends up on the SD card, or vice-versa.
  • A new “picture style” setting that presumably only matters if you’re shooting JPEGs in the camera and aren’t planning on editing them much.
  • Slightly lower price: $3,999

I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of these features end up in a firmware upgrade for the current 1D and 1Ds mk II sometime in the near future.

There are also two new lenses, the 24-105/4L IS and the 70-300/4.0-5.6 IS. The 24-105/4L has been on a lot of people’s wishlists for years–Canon had f4 versions of their professional wide zoom (the 17-40/4L) and their long zoom (the 70-200/4L), but not their middle zoom (the 24-70/2.8L). They finally filled in that gap in their lineup, even adding image stabilization to the mix. I have the 24-70/2.8L, and it’s far and away my favorite lens, but the 24-105/4L is tempting, if only for the longer reach and IS. It’s slower, but that may not be a big issue for me.

The 70-300/4.0-5.6 IS is a replacement for Canon’s older 75-300 IS lens. The 75-300 was Canon’s first IS lens, but it had a reputation for lousy optics. So presumably the new model is a “sucks less” replacement using a more modern image stabilization system and better glass.

Neither of the lens announcement include pricing information. I suspect that the 24-105/4L will be around $1000 initially, dropping to $800 after 6 months or so, while the 70-300 will be around $550, dropping to closer to $400 next year. Those are total guesses, based on prior experience with Canon’s pricing. The 24-105L can’t be much over $1000 for now, because the 24-70/2.8L sells for around $1150, and the 24-105L is designed to be cheaper then the 24-70L.

Updates: Rob Galbraith makes some good points about the 5D, and points that it’s a bit slower then the 20D.