May, Jun 2007: Canon EOS News and What's New at The-Digital-Picture.com

May, Jun 2007: Canon EOS News and What's New at The-Digital-Picture.com

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Adobe has released Lightroom v1.1. Details of the update and download links for the Windows and Mac versions are included in the Lightroom-News.com link provided. Perhaps the biggest news for Canon users is support for the Canon EOS 1D Mark III.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Now online ...

Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM Lens Review

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Canon has made the Digital Photo Guidebook for Professionals available for download as a PDF (8MB). "This guidebook is designed to assist professional photographers in their switch to digital photography. In particular, the guidebook helps explain many of the creative options available when using digital cameras to produce photos for commercial printing. We believe photographers in all fields from advertising to publishing to photojournalism, whether shooting in the field or in a studio, will find this guidebook a source of useful information." This book is also available for purchase in hard copy format ($19.95 USD).

The Great Sigma Heist. Sigma UK press release informing of a professional gang heist of Sigma Imaging UK warehouse and offices.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Rob Galbraith has posted An analysis of EOS-1D Mark III autofocus performance in which he describes in detail some AF problems he is having with this new body. Rob is well respected and is using 15,000 or so images and multiple cameras to make his conclusions. I have no reason to doubt him.

In response to a lot of questions I'm now getting concerning AF problems, I have updated the 1D Mark III video page to include AI Servo AF details of the images in these sequences. This should give you another data point to base your understanding on.

Of course, more will follow.

Monday, June 18, 2007

One more MP3 - the Canon EOS 1D Mark III in Soft Mode with 4 normal single shots included ...

Canon EOS 1D Mark III "Soft" Mode

Friday, June 15, 2007

Free MP3s! Listen to the Canon EOS 1D Mark III online or on your Ipod. The machine-gun-like sound from a 10fps burst will make you smile ...

Canon EOS 1D Mark III 10fps Burst
Canon EOS 1D Mark III 4fps Burst
Canon EOS 1D Mark III Single Shot

Canon DPP v3.0.1a and EOS Utility 2.0b are now available (for Windows only). Canon does not list the changes - I have not found them yet. From the link, click on the "Drivers & Downloads" tab and select "Drivers / Software".

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

I have added Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM Lens vignetting results with a normal thickness B+W 82mm MRC UV Filter attached. The results can be seen using the mouseover feature in the lens vignetting comparison. Unfortunately, a normal thickness filter causes some additional vignetting at 16mm when mounted on a full frame body. So, the B+W 82mm MRC Slim UV Filter is going to be the best full frame option in my opinion. Users of 1.3x and 1.6x crop bodies should be fine with the B+W 82mm MRC UV Filter.

Vignetting test results have been added to the ...

Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM Macro Lens Review

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Compare the Canon EOS 1D Mark III resolution with the ...

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II using a Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens *
Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II using a Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L USM Lens *
Canon EOS 30D using a Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L USM Lens *

* What you need to know about the above comparisons (aside from how to use the mouse-over feature) ... Canon specifies the Canon EOS 1D Mark III viewfinder as having an "approx." 100 percent horizontal and vertical view. In reality, it is somewhat less than 100% (maybe 98%?) - this makes precisely framing a test chart hard as I must rely completely on the zoomed LCD. But, the LCD does not show a 100% view of the final image - cutting about 8 pixels off each edge. For most real world uses, these are non-issues for this camera, but for these comparisons, the 1D III has an approximately .4% disadvantage to the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II (which also doesn't mean much in the real world). The Canon EOS 30D is at a very slight disadvantage in this comparison as its LCD display only shows about 98% of the final image. Full disclosure finished.

Canon USA's Chuck Westfall once again shares some of his vast knowledge in the June Tech Tips (at DigitalJournalist.org).

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Want to see something very cool? How about a ...

Canon EOS 1D Mark III Digital SLR 10fps video

10 fps is very therapeutic - It makes me smile every time.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Now online ...

Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash Review

Monday, June 4, 2007

I know it's only Monday, but do you need a break? Try out a Canon Rebel XTi/400D from your computer in the Superman Returns Game. "You are Jimmy Olsen, the Daily Planet's star photographer. Try to get some good pictures of Superman for tomorrow's edition."

Need help justifying your wedding photography rates? About.com's Nina Callaway, in "Your Guide to Weddings" lists "Wedding Photography" as #1 on her what's really worth the cost list. Of course, this applies to Photography in general as photos are an excellent way to retain life's important memories.

Friday, June 1, 2007

More about Adobe Camera Raw 4.1 from Jeff Schewe. Jeff, personally involved in the development of Camera Raw 4.1, talks about the new features and functionality.

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Adobe Camera Raw 4.1 is now available. Included is support for the Canon EOS 1D Mark III. A Mac version is also available.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The Canon EOS 1D Mark III owners manual is now available for download. This is a 212 page, 5.6MB PDF file.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Shipments of the new Canon EOS 1D Mark III DSLR are en route to US dealers. According to Chuck Westfall, Director of Media and Customer Relationship at Canon USA, as reported by RobGalbraith.com, shipments of the new body began today - some dealers will be receiving their first distribution tomorrow. Expect the first batch to go very quickly.

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

Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM Macro Lens Review

... and the results look very good.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Now online ...

Gitzo GT3530S 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod Review

Adorama's "Refurbished By Canon" inventory is back up to 62 items. Lots of cameras, lenses, flashes ...

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Now, a guaranteed Canon Lens Rebate! Canon has today introduced a new "Instant Savings Rebate" program good for up to $100 off Canon lenses purchased between May 17th, 2007 and July 16th, 2007. I have updated the site database to show which Canon EF Zoom Lenses, Canon EF Fixed Focal Length Lenses and Canon EF-S Lenses are included in the program, and it appears the retailers have updated their sites to issue the instant rebates, so happy shopping!

The actual Canon Instant Savings Rebate Form can be downloaded, but it is a large 2.3 MB .PDF file that does not need to be filled out or sent in.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Tamron has introduced their Summer 2007 Rebate Program. Many of the rebate amounts are insignificant, but a couple are quite attractive. I've participated in only one Tamron rebate to date - it was fulfilled in just two or three weeks. Others have indicated similar results with Tamron rebates. And no, I have not heard anything about a Canon Summer 2007 Rebate program. Are we hearing the winds of change?

Friday, May 11, 2007

The 580EX II is now in-stock at B&H as well.

The new Canon Speedlite 580EX II is showing as in-stock at 17th Street. (Thanks Thurston)

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

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

Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Lens Review

I've owned three copies of this lens. Unlike my general experience with multiple copies of other properly-focusing Canon lens models, these three differed somewhat in sharpness. More specifically, my first copy was sharper. The ISO chart sample crops are from the second copy.

Monday, May 7, 2007

Chuck Westfall's May Tech Tips are online at DigitalJournalist.org.

Friday, May 4, 2007

Hot Deal! There is no longer an excuse to not have enough memory. Adorama has the SanDisk Extreme III 16GB CompactFlash Card on sale for $104.95 after rebate (I paid $250 for this card 3 weeks ago - and that was a good deal then). Don't need that much space? The others are on sale also. Here is the list of capacities and prices:

SanDisk 1GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card - $17.95 after rebate
SanDisk 2GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card - $24.95 after rebate
SanDisk 4GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card - $34.95 after rebate
SanDisk 8GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card - $59.95 after rebate
SanDisk 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card - $104.95 after rebate

SanDisk 2GB Extreme IV CompactFlash Card - $34.95 after rebate
SanDisk 4GB Extreme IV CompactFlash Card - $59.95 after rebate
SanDisk 8GB Extreme IV CompactFlash Card - $99.95 after rebate

At the risk of sounding like a broken record (remember those?), I'm letting you know once again that Adorama has a huge list of "Refurbished By Canon" Lenses and Cameras in stock. 64 of them at my last count. You get a like-new item for a very good price. The interest in these items has been very high (as has been the new owner satisfaction), so I'll keep letting you know when they are available. Link is to the available items at Adorama.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Now online ...

Sigma 50-500mm F/4-6.3 EX DG HSM Lens Review

Canon has made Digital Photo Pro Updater 3.0.1 available for download from their site. Navigate to the "Drivers / Software" link and select the update version (Mac/Windows) you need. The short list of changes is listed on the download page.