May, Jun 2006: Canon EOS News and What's New at The-Digital-Picture.com

Friday, June 30, 2006

Canon has posted a Service Notice Regarding the vertical image quality of the Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens. "This phenomenon affects all EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM lenses with a "0" or "1" in the third digit of the (8 digit) serial number. Products that have a third digit of "2" or higher in their serial number are not affected."

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

As many of us look forward to attending celebrations that involve fireworks in the next week or two, it would be timely to review the Fireworks Photography Tips page.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

PCPhoto Magazine has posted an interview with Canon's Chuck Westfall discussing the future.

Adobe has purchased Pixmantec/RAW Shooter with the intent of incorporating the technology into their new Lightroom product. Interesting, as Adobe already has a RAW converter in Photoshop. Here are some answers to FAQs on Pixmantec's site.

Monday, June 26, 2006

ISO 12233 sample crops have been added to the ...

Canon EF 135mm f/2 L USM Lens Review

As the 135 is compatible with Canon's extenders, the crop examples include with-extender samples. The review text itself received a minor makeover as well.

 
For those waiting for the Sigma reviews and for those I promised a Sigma 70-200 review this week ... My third attempt to find a Sigma 70-200 DG lens that focuses properly was unsuccessful. To keep things moving, I decided to evaluate the lens using manual focus only. As it turns out, the lens also has an image quality problem in the upper right portion of the frame rendering the ISO Crops (and everything else I shoot) quite blurred. Preliminary results indicate that this is a nice lens but obviously I am running into some quality control problems. Unfortunately, this has cost me a lot of time with no results to show for it. I want the reviews to be accurate, so I will once again delay this review until Sigma fixes the lens.

 
Reminder: The Canon USA rebates end in a few weeks. If you are in the market for a Canon EOS 5D or a Canon EOS 350D, now is the time to act.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

ISO 12233 sample crops have been added to the ...

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens Review

I have updated the ISO 12233 Chart Help page to include a full ISO 12233 Chart diagram.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

I have revised the ...

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM Lens Review

Of note is the addition of the ISO 12233 Chart results to this review. These are the first chart results I have added that include extenders - both the Canon 1.4x and 2x extenders. Here are three direct links to comparisons you might find interesting ...

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L vs. Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS Lens
200mm vs. 280mm (notice enlarged top image due to 1.4x barrel distortion)
200mm vs. 400mm (with 2x)

Friday, June 16, 2006

Some sample photos are now online for the ...

Sigma 24-70mm EX DG Lens

Additional sample photos have been added for various lenses including ...

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L Lens
Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS Lens

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Canon has updated the Digital Photo Pro tutorials at The Canon Digital Learning Center to include the new-for-version-2 features (Tone Curve, Noise Reduction & EOS Utility).

Friday, June 9, 2006

ISO 12233 sample crops have been added to the ...

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens Review

This is a really sharp lens - performance from edge to edge is excellent even wide open.

Monday, June 5, 2006

Vignetting results and size comparison photos have been added to the ...

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review

Friday, June 2, 2006

Sample photos are now online for the ...

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens
Canon EOS 30D DSLR (primarily the same pictures)
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens (soccer pictures added)

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Good news for the JPEG standard - PUBPAT (Public Patent Foundation) has issued a press release indicating "... Forgent Networks Patent Being Ruled Invalid".

Saturday, May 27, 2006

I have added APS-C (Canon EOS 30D) ISO 12233 chart sample crops to the following reviews ...

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 USM Lens Review
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens Review

A note regarding the 17-55 chart results ... I am seeing better corner results from this lens at longer distances.

A note about shooting ISO 12233 charts with the 30D ... First, it is hard to perfectly frame a chart with a 95% viewfinder. It much harder to do so with the 98% LCD image review. Even zoomed all the way, the 30D's image review omits a couple of percent of the final image.

Here are some direct links to relevant ISO crop comparisons ...

EF-S 17-55 vs. EF 17-40
EF-S 17-55 vs. EF-S 17-85

Friday, May 26, 2006

Adorama has 4x6" prints on sale for $.08 (regularly $.19). Use promo code PXNEWCUST0506. Offer expires 6/30.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

News from Reuters: Canon considers halt to film camera development

 
Canon has issued a Service Notice regarding the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens ...

Service Notice: EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens May Result in Insufficient Resolution

To Customers Who Use the EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens:
Thank you very much for your patronage of our products. We have recently become aware of a phenomenon in which some images captured by the EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM lens appear in insufficient resolution. This phenomenon may be seen at the edge of the frame at the 300mm setting when the camera is held vertically. We have been studying the symptoms of this phenomenon in order to determine its precise cause and to develop an appropriate remedy. We will inform you on this Web site as soon as this remedy has been decided, which, at this point should be by the end of June 2006. We are very sorry for the inconvenience this phenomenon represents for customers who use this lens and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve it.

Contact Information for inquiries: Call Center
1-800-828-4040 (toll free)
8AM to Midnight - Monday to Friday
10AM to 8PM - Saturdays
Email: carecenter@cits.canon.com

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Now online ...

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review

This is a superb lens - After taking nearly 1,000 shots, the EF-S 17-55 has earned the always-mounted position on my 30D (displacing the 17-40 L). I have additions coming to the review including vignetting results, ISO Chart crops, size comparison pics and sample pics).

 
Canon has created a new information web site entitled EOS World.

Friday, May 19, 2006

Sample pictures have been added to the ...

Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di Lens Review

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

B&H has the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens in stock. Act fast if you want one.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Now online ...

Sigma 24-70mm F/2.8 EX DG Lens Lens Review

Adobe has posted Photoshop CS2 v9.0.1 Update (Windows) and (Mac). Details of this update can be found on John Nack's Blog. One of my biggest annoyances, slow performance when toggling layer visibility, has been fixed.

Monday, May 15, 2006

ISO 12233 sample crops have been added to the ...

Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di Lens Review

Thursday, May 10, 2006

ISO 12233 sample crops have been added to the ...

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens Review

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Adobe has posted Camera Raw v3.4. This update includes support for the Canon EOS 30D.

Tuesday, May 9, 2006

ISO 12233 sample crops have been added to the upcoming ...

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG Lens Review

Friday, May 5, 2006

Now online ...

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II USM Lens Sample Pictures

Yes, for all of you that have been asking, I am now using my third 85 L II. The lenses do not front focus or back focus consistently - but randomly seem to mix both scenarios in with right-on focus. This seems to be a feature of the lens.

Another question being asked frequently is "When will the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review be online?" The answer is a week or two after I can get my hands on the lens - I have not seen it shipping from US retailers at this point. I'm as anxious as everyone else to try out this new lens - I suspect it is going to live on my 30D.

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Now online ...

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II USM Lens Review

After getting my 1Ds Mark II focus calibrated, I was still not satisfied with my AF results with the 85 L II. I evaluated two lenses and await my third. I definitely intend to keep one of these (great lens), but would prefer better focusing accuracy than the first two delivered.