Canon and Sony News for Jan 2013 (Page 6)

From Canon:

Canon tops among Japanese companies in U.S. patent rankings for eighth consecutive year

TOKYO, January 11, 2013 — Canon Inc. ranked first among Japanese companies and third overall for the number of U.S. patents awarded in 2012, according to the latest ranking of preliminary patent results issued by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services on January 10, 2013.

Canon actively promotes the globalization of its business and places great value on obtaining patents overseas, carefully adhering to a patent-filing strategy that pursues patents in essential countries and regions while taking into consideration the business strategies and technology and product trends unique to each location. Among these, the United States, with its many high-tech companies and large market scale, represents a particularly important region in terms of business expansion and technology alliances.

Canon U.S. patent ranking among Japanese companies 2005 - 2012

* Number in parenthesis represents Canon’s ranking among all companies

Canon prizes its corporate DNA of placing a high priority on technology. And with regard to research and development results, the company actively promotes the acquisition of patent rights in accordance with the management direction of the Canon Group and technology trends while conducting thorough pre-application searches to raise the quality of applications. Through close cooperation between Canon’s technology and intellectual property divisions, the company aims to improve its technological capabilities while further enhancing its intellectual property rights.

From Giottos:

Giotto’s launches patented brand new design for its core tripod range

Just when you think you’ve seen it all in the world of tripods – Giotto’s has launched a brand new range of tripods featuring a totally unique, patented design – enabling a 30% space saving while maintaining full strength, stability and weight capacity.

The NEW Giotto’s Silk Road YTL Series replaces the entire range of Giotto’s MTL tripods and features a new Y-shaped centre column, meaning a super slim 30% space saving when the tripod is packed down.

This uniquely shaped centre column brings a totally new dimension to tripod design – allowing legs to be stowed in a much more compact way, without the ‘bulk’ of tripods using traditional design.

Giotto’s is continually challenging the dimensions of photographic tripods – following on from the huge success of its award winning Vitruvian range – which adopted a space saving inverted design when the tripod is folded down.

The new Silk Road range is named after the historical network of interlinking trade routes covering East, South & Western Asia, parts of North & east Africa and Europe. New technologies were often traded along this route too – hence the inspiration for the Giotto’s Silk Road series.

The new Y-Tube column allows a 30% space saving vs the MTL range – while maintaining full strength, stability and weight capacity. The Silk Road Series includes a range of tripods, which support up to 5kg, 8kg and 10kg of camera equipment.

The unique Y-shaped column allows tripod legs to be stowed in a much more compact configuration.

Within the range there are 12 models with options including a 2 way column and a super versatile 3 way centre column, ideal for very low level shooting. The 3D column tripods have an included low-angle adaptor.

The range also includes models with 3-section and 4-section tripod legs – for additional height and compact stowage. The adjustable tripod legs have 3 ‘footprint’ settings – full height, mid height where the legs are slightly wider and an ultra wide setting for low level photography.

The new range also features graduated leg markings and new, patented Quick Easy Leg (QEL) Lock adjustments for fast, accurate adjustment without taking your eye off the subject.

On the models with 2 way centre column, there’s also a bubble spirit level built in and all models feature a swappable tripod thread – so you can easily change between 3/8” and 1/4” – meaning the Giotto’s Silk Road YTL range is compatible with any Giotto’s head and models from other manufacturers too.

For the ultimate grip in wet or uneven conditions, spiked feet are now available as an optional extra. The range is available in both aluminium and carbon fibre made from the finest quality components. Carbon fibre models are manufactured from the highest quality 8x multi layer carbon fibre to increase strength and reduce weight.

Key Features:

• Brand new patented ‘Y-Tube’ centre column – enabling a 30% space saving
• 12 models including finest quality aluminium and carbon fibre
• 3 or 4 section tripod legs
• Brand new Quick Easy Leg Lock (QEL) and graduated leg markings
• Fully compatible tripod thread – works with any Giotto’s head or other standard thread tripod heads
• Range of height settings – and optional extras including short centre column and spiked tripod feet

Guide retail pricing: from £100 for aluminium models and £220 for carbon fibre models. The Giotto’s Silk Road Series will launch at the SWPP Trade Show (11th – 13th January 2013) and ‘first look’ of the entire range will be on show at Focus on Imaging (3rd - 6th March 2013)

Product will be available in store & online from mid-January.

B&H carries the Giottos Tripods.

From Sigma:

01.11.2013 - SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG HSM F/NIKON scheduled to start shipping this month.

The Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM for Nikon is available for preorder from B&H, Adorama, and Amazon.

B&H has the Zeiss 135mm f/2.0 APO-Sonnar T Lens (Canon | Nikon) available for preorder.

Sigma has released a beautifully produced video that shows the inner workings of their Aizu, Japan lens manufacturing facility.

Nikon has released a short video demonstrating how its optical glass is made.

From Canon:

CANON U.S.A. INTRODUCES TWO NEW CINEMA PRIME LENSES, EXPANDING THE CINEMA EOS PRIME LENS PRODUCT LINE TO FIVE MODELS

Designed for Film-Style Operation, Canon Cinema Prime Lenses Deliver Exceptional 4K Performance

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., January 10, 2013 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, announces the new CN-E14mm T3.1 L F and CN-E135mm T2.2 L F single-focal-length lenses for large-format single-sensor cameras employing Super 35mm or full frame 35mm imagers. These two new lenses join with Canon’s CN-E24mm T1.5 L F, CN-E50mm T1.3 L F, and CN-E85mm T1.3 L F primes to provide a broad line of five precision-matched, competitively priced EF-mount Cinema prime lenses that provide high optical performance levels and a choice of versatile focal lengths for a wide range of creative shooting choices. All five Canon Cinema prime lenses are part of the Canon Cinema EOS System of professional digital cinematography products, which include the EOS C500 4K/2K Digital Cinema Camera, EOS C300 Digital Cinema Camera, EOS C100 Digital Video Camera and EOS-1D C 4K DSLR Cinema Camera, and four Canon Cinema zoom lenses.

“Since our introduction to the film and television production industry back in November 2011, we have brought to market five Cinema prime lenses, two top-end Cinema zoom lenses, two compact Cinema zoom lenses, and four professional digital cinematography cameras all within 18 months,” stated Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies & Communications Group, Canon U.S.A. “This is a testament to the Company’s dedication to the needs of the growing and diverse universe of professionals creating 4K, 2K, and HD moving-image content for theatrical, television, and other high-resolution digital production markets. We look forward to continuing to serve these professionals with Canon Cinema EOS products designed to help them achieve their creative imperatives and commercial aspirations.”

All Canon Cinema EOS lenses integrate advanced materials and coatings to meet high optical performance levels, including 4K (4096 x 2160) production standards. Each Canon Cinema lens is equipped with an odd-numbered 11-blade aperture diaphragm, which is ideally suited to achieve creative depth-of-field manipulation and pleasing “bokeh” effects of cinematographic quality. The Canon line of five Cinema prime lenses is precision-matched for consistent and solid optical performance that minimizes focus-induced changes in the angle of view. All feature a full-frame image circle in a lightweight, compact design, and they incorporate proven Canon lens elements designed to fulfill contemporary 4K production standards. All five primes also deliver color tone and balance that matches Canon’s top-end Cinema zooms and compact Cinema zooms. Canon Cinema prime lenses are also water-resistant for severe shooting conditions and deliver the operation and reliability required in professional film-style shooting environments.

All five Canon Cinema primes feature mechanical attributes specifically designed for motion-picture production, as opposed to still photography. These strategically integrated film-style characteristics include 300 degree rotation on the focus ring for precision focus control as well as large, highly visible engraved focus scales for convenient operation. These markings appear on the angled surfaces on both sides of the barrel, making them easy to both read and to adjust the stepless focus and/or aperture settings of the lenses from behind – or from either side – of the camera. Focus markings can be switched from standard labeling to metric, and control rings are engineered to maintain the proper amount of resistance with consistent operating torque and familiar tactile “feedback” for satisfying manual control. All Canon Cinema prime lenses also share the same uniform gear positions, diameters, and rotation angles, as well as front-lens diameters, making them compatible with matte boxes, follow focus gear, marking disks, and other third-party film-industry-standard accessories. Film crews can quickly change lenses without the need for accessory gear-position adjustments or other changes to the rig setup.

The new Canon CN-E14mm T3.1 and CN-E135mm T2.2 Cinema prime lenses – as well as the Canon CN-E24mm T1.5, CN-E50mm T1.3, and CN-E85mm T1.3 primes – are fully compatible with the Canon EOS C500, EOS C300, EOS C100 and EOS-1D C digital cinema cameras. The EF-mount design of all five Canon Cinema prime lenses provides communication with these cameras for such handy features as display of the f number in the electronic viewfinder, recording of focus/zoom position and f number, and Peripheral Light Compensation for more pleasing effects shots.

The versatility of image-capture options using Canon EOS digital cinema cameras can be further extended with Canon’s Super35mm top-end Cinema zoom lenses (the CN-E14.5-60mm T2.6 wide-angle and the CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 telephoto) and compact Cinema zooms (the CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 wide-angle and CN-E30-105mm T2.8 telephoto). All four are available in both EF- and PL-mount versions, as are the EOS C500 and EOS C300 cameras. Almost all of Canon’s EF Series photographic lenses can also be used with these Cinema EOS cameras, including Image Stabilized zooms, tilt-shift models, and macro lenses. All of these products are designed to contribute to the continued advancement of tools for visual storytelling and all express Canon’s continuing commitment to cinematic culture.

Pricing and Availability
The CN-E14mm T3.1 L F single-focal-length lens is expected to be available in April 2013 for an estimated retail price of $5,500. The CN-E135mm T2.2 L F single-focal-length lens is expected to be available in May 2013 for an estimated retail price of $5,200.

B&H carries Canon Cinema lenses.

Have you ever needed an additional photographer for an event but couldn't find one on short notice? Have you ever needed to film yourself but there was no one around to help you out?

Then the SOLOSHOT may be for you!

B&H carries the SOLOSHOT Camera Tripod & Wireless Transmitter (currently back-ordered).

ISO 12233 chart, flare, distortion and vignetting test results along with measurements have been added to the Nikon 70-200mm f/4G IF-ED AF-S VR Nikkor Lens Review page.

This lens is a really nice addition to the Nikon lineup.

From InternetRetailer.com:

Art.com buys photography platform provider Zenfolio

Zenfolio enables photographers to sell their work online.

Wall décor e-retailer Art.com Inc. has acquired Zenfolio Inc., which provides photographers the technology to upload, share and sell their work, Art.com announced today.

“Bringing Zenfolio into the Art.com family was very natural because of the synergy between the two companies in the wall decor space,” said Geoffroy Martin, CEO of Art.com. “Zenfolio provides a solution for photographers looking to sell their work online, and will allow us to capture an even larger portion of our customers’ ‘wall share.’“

Art.com did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but says Art.com and Zenfolio.com will continue to operate as separate entities. The management team at Zenfolio will remain in place, and the company will continue to operate from its current location in Menlo Park, CA, for the foreseeable future, says an Art.com spokesperson.

Founded in 2006, Zenfolio is a subscription-based, customizable e-commerce platform service that allows amateur and professional photographers to launch and maintain their own e-commerce sites. “We are looking forward to the opportunity to leverage Art.com’s resources to accelerate our growth and expand our product offering,” says Alex Peyzner, founder and CEO of Zenfolio.

Art.com is No. 117 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.

Read the original artical here.

This technology might bode well for a future crop of DSLR LCD screens.

From Computerworld:

The toughened glass used in many smartphones and tablets is about to get tougher

IDG News Service - Corning has developed a new version of its Gorilla Glass for smartphones and tablets that it says will result in 40% fewer scratches and appear in devices later this year.

Corning makes the glass used in devices from Apple, Samsung and other top-tier vendors. It introduced Gorilla Glass 2 at the International CES in Las Vegas last year, and it's back again in 2013 with another update.

It's virtually impossibly to make glass completely scratch-proof, but Gorilla Glass 3 can stand three times as much force before it develops the kind of deep scratches, or trenches, that are visible to the eye, said David Velasquez, Corning's director of marketing for Gorilla Glass.

That extra strength should result in 40% fewer scratches, he said. And if the glass cracks, it retains more of its strength than it did previously, meaning it's less likely to shatter if it gets another knock. Corning delivered samples of the new glass last year and it will be in volume production in the next few months.

Read the entire news article at Computerworld.

From the BBC:

Troubled High Street camera retailer Jessops has gone into administration, with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) appointed as the administrator.

In recent years, it has been hit by increasing competition from supermarkets and internet retailers.

Jessops, which was founded in Leicester in 1935, has 192 stores in the UK and employs about 2,000 staff.

The administrators said that it was "inevitable" that some stores would have to close.

PwC said that while Jessops was a well-known brand with a strong reputation for service, its core marketplace had seen a significant decline in 2012, which was forecast to continue in 2013.

Despite additional funding being made available, Jessops had not generated the profits it had planned, PwC added.

In 2009, Jessops managed to avoid administration by agreeing a debt for equity swap with its lender HSBC.

'Yet another blow'

Rob Hunt, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said: "Our most pressing task is to review the company's financial position and hold discussions with its principal stakeholders to see if the business can be preserved.

"Trading in the stores is hoped to continue today but is critically dependent on these ongoing discussions. However, in the current economic climate it is inevitable that there will be store closures."

PwC added that at present Jessops would not honour customer vouchers or accept returned goods.

Julie Palmer, a partner at business recovery group Begbies Traynor, said Jessops' administration was "yet another blow" for the UK High Street and showed that January was a high risk month for retailers.

"With substantial cash outflows on the 25 December quarterly rent day combining with fierce pricing competition during the January sales, it puts significant pressure on finances.

"The administration of such a household name can only serve to damage consumer confidence further in the months ahead." (thanks Dean)

From DxO:

130 new lens / camera combinations have been added to the DxO Optics Modules library, providing supports for Canon, Nikkor, Olympus, Sigma and Tokina lenses, for Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Panasonic and Sony cameras.

The complete list of New DxO Optics Modules is available on DxO's website.

From Manfrotto:

MANFROTTO DEBUTS NEW 290 SERIES FOLDABLE THREE-WAY HEAD AT CES

Demos of Full 290 Series Carbon Fiber Lineup Round out Lineup

Las Vegas, N.V. (January 7, 2013) – At the Consumer Electronics Show, Manfrotto Distribution, world leader in the equipment and accessories industry for photography and imaging, has announced the new 290 Foldable Three-Way Head. It is also featuring its full lineup of Carbon Fiber tripod models and panoramic heads.

“We are thrilled to debut innovative photography solutions that deliver on our brand’s reputation for excellent quality and versatility,” said Jodi Palm, category manager, photo supports. “Our new 290 foldable three-way head is durable and light-weight, while delivering easy and precise framing capability. Additionally, we’re excited to showcase the full 290 series carbon fiber lineup.”

New 290 Series Foldable Three-Way Head and Full 290 Carbon Fiber Lineup
Manfrotto is announcing a new addition to the 290 Series lineup: a foldable three-way head. The head has three new kits built around it. It is designed to be precise and accurate, yet compact and lightweight.

Key features include:

• Easily packs and leaves space for more equipment, due to addition of foldable handles
• Lightweight and durable, made from high quality polymer, ADAPTO
• Allows for precise framing, meaning less time spent in post-production

The three-way head comes in four models:
MH293D3-Q2 3-way photo head with compact foldable handles
MK293A3-D3Q2 Kit: 290 aluminum tripod (3S) + 3-way head with foldable handles
MK293A4-D3Q2 Kit: 293 aluminum tripod (4S) + 3-way head with foldable handles
MK293C4-D3Q2 Kit: 293 carbon tripod (4S) + 3-way head with foldable handles

Designed to help amateur photographers move to the next level, the carbon tripods are lighter, and more durable than previous models. They also have interchangeable heads and can be adapted for shooting a variety of genres.

Key 290 series features include:

• Carbon tubing, adjustable leg levers, interchangeable heads
• Transportable, without any sacrifice in stability
• Durable and built for heavy-duty use, without any reduction in strength or performance over time

B&H carries Manfrotto products.

From RØDE:

RØDE is proud to announce the iXY, a stereo microphone for iPhone and iPad with 30-pin connector that allows high quality recording at sampling rates up to 24-bit/96kHz, the only microphone on the market to do so

Appearing at the International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas for the first time, the company has unveiled the innovative device to an expected audience of over 150,000 visitors.

At the heart of the iXY is a matched pair of ½” cardioid condenser capsules, fixed in a perfect 90 degree ‘near-coincident’ alignment resulting in immersive and true-to-life stereo recordings, captured in incredibly high detail. The iXY uses its own high-fidelity analogue to digital conversion ensuring all recordings are rich, smooth and accurate.

The iXY’s small form factor and incredibly detailed performance makes it the perfect microphone for recording live music, meetings, lectures, reporting, dictation and sound design, and also is ideal for use on-camera as a dual-system recorder for DSLR.

A foam windshield is provided for outdoor recordings, as well as a rugged zip pocket to ensure the mic is always around when you need it.

“I’m more excited about iXY than any other product in RØDE’s twenty year history,” commented Peter Freedman, RØDE’s Founder and President. “The audio quality of the iXY is breathtaking and reallyaffirms RØDE’s commitment to providing the very best audio products available at a price that’s accessible to the general public.”

Released in conjunction with the iXY is RØDE Rec, an app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch designed to be the ultimate companion to RØDE’s new microphone. When used together the iXY and RØDE Rec transform an iOS device into a fully featured field recorder.

RØDE Rec allows for complete control of the iXY’s continuously adjustable input levels for recording in loud and quiet environments, as well as the high pass filter to cut out low frequency rumbling such as air conditioning or outdoor traffic noises.

The RØDE Rec App is available for purchase from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. The app provides a full suite of features including multiple sampling rates up to 96kHz, equalization effects (compressor/expander, high-pass filter, low pass filter, parametric EQ), non-linear editing, geo and photo tagging, and one-touch publishing to SoundCloud, Dropbox, email, FTP and iTunes.

RØDE has also announced a feature-limited free version of the app, simply titled RØDE Rec LE.

The RØDE iXY is shipping this month. Visit ixymic.com for more information.

B&H has the RØDE iXY Stereo Microphone available for preorder