Canon and Sony News for Mar 2012 (Page 2)

Sans press release, the Nikon 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX VR Nikkor Lens has shown up on Nikon UK's website. Here are the details:

High-powered DX-format zoom lens with wide-angle to super-telephoto reach. Built to handle diverse situations, this all-round lens offers an ultra-high 16.7x zoom ratio with an incredibly wide 18-300mm focal range.

Nikon’s second-generation Vibration Reduction system delivers sharp results, even when shooting handheld at the super-telephoto end of the range, and enables a steady image in the camera’s viewfinder. The high quality optical design boasts three ED glass elements for outstanding sharpness and contrast. A practical zoom-lock switch keeps the lens secure when not in use.

Incredibly versatile, this lens is perfect for travel, or for days when you only want to take one lens out with you.

Key Features

• DX format 16.7x zoom lens with versatile 18-300mm focal range (FX/35mm equivalent:27 to 450mm)
• Vibration Reduction II (VR II) stabilization system enables more flexible hand-held shooting and lets you use shutter speeds that are up to 4 stops slower.
• Maximum aperture of f/5.6 at the telephoto end of the range.
• Zoom-lock switch keeps the lens secure when not in use.
• 9-blade rounded diaphragm opening makes out-of-focus elements blend together smoothly.
• Three ED glass and three aspherical lens elements ensure high resolution and superior contrast.
• SWM (Silent Wave Motor) for fast, whisper-quiet autofocus.
• Compact and lightweight design for a lens with this range.

Specifications

Focal length: 18-300 mm
Maximum aperture: f/3.5-5.6
Minimum aperture: f/22-32
Lens construction: 19 elements in 14 groups (including 3 aspherical lens elements and 3 ED lens elements)
Angle of view: 76°-5°20'
Focusing: Nikon Internal Focusing (IF) System with autofocus controlled by Silent Wave Motor and separate focus ring for manual focus
Minimum focus distance: 300 mm focal length: 0.45 m (1.48 ft) from focal plane
Maximum reproduction ratio: 1/3.2x
No. of diaphragm blades: 9 (rounded diaphragm opening)
Filter-attachment size: 77 mm (P=0.75 mm)
Dimensions: Approx. 83 mm diameter x 120 mm (distance from camera lens mount flange)
Weight: Approx. 830 g (29.3 oz)

I am getting a lot of email asking about the Canon EOS 5D Mark III and the image softness issue. Let me clarify what I'm seeing:

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III is Delivering Very Sharp Images

There is a softness issue, but it appears to be completely isolated to the Canon Digital Photo Pro software's "High quality" RAW conversion algorithm.

You can see the sharp 5D III images in DPP's quick viewer and in the Edit window with preferences set to High speed. The issue appears to be completely in DPP's High quality processing algorithm.

Canon has been in touch with me again this morning and appears very eager to resolve the problem. My personal expectation is that the problem resolution will be in the form of a DPP update. The 5D III appears to be fine from my perspective. I have no intentions of returning my camera - I'm having far too much fun with it.

From Nikon UK:

Nikon UK can confirm a correction to the originally published recommended retail prices (RRP) on the D800, D800E and D4 products.

Due to a local internal systems error, the incorrect RRPs on the D800, D800E and D4 products were communicated in the UK and Irish markets at the time of announcement. The correct RRPs for the products should have been D4: £5289.99, D800: £2,599.99 and D800E: £2,899.99. We would like to apologise sincerely to our customers for this unfortunate mistake, which has been corrected with immediate effect. We know that there has been strong consumer interest in these products and a high level of pre-orders placed with retailers; Nikon will be honouring the original prices to retailers on all customer pre-orders placed before March 24th 2012.

From Adobe: Beginning today, "customers who purchase Creative Suite 5.5 (CS5.5) software will receive a complimentary upgrade to CS6 when it becomes available. No coupon code necessary, offer valid in North America and the European country stores listed below."

North America Store: Buy CS5.5 now and get CS6 at no additional cost. Offer ends May 6, 2012.

European Store: Buy CS5.5 now and get CS6 at no additional cost. Offer ends 6 May, 2012.

(Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, North America, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and The UK.)

I've received lots of emails and have had more communication with Canon about the problem with Digital Photo Professional generating soft images from Canon EOS 5D Mark III RAW files.

There are currently two workarounds to this problem.

The first workaround involves changing the DPP "Viewing and saving RAW images" preference (in the "General settings" tab of the "Preferences" menu selection) from "High quality (recommended)" to "High speed". In High Speed mode, the noise reduction palette cannot be used and moiré correction is not performed, but 5D III images are rendered sharp. DPP's Quick Viewer (which displays 5D III images properly) displays images at high speed, so that this solution works is not surprising.

The second solution is to use a third party RAW converter - namely Adobe Camera Raw 6.7 RC. You can use ACR 6.7 RC to output DNG files for use in Lightroom 4 - which will not support the 5D III natively until a point release.

I do not plan to update the color block noise comparison on the Canon EOS 5D Mark III Review page until Canon corrects the problem because I can see a difference between High Speed and High Quality in my 5D II images. You can too - look for the false color in the "5D II Quick View" example that is not present in the "5D II Edit Window" example currently on the 5D III review page.

My case with Canon remains open and has been escalated. I'll let you know when I learn anything new about the 5D III DPP softness problem. Thanks to everyone that contributed to this post.

I've been pouring many hours into adding a set of noise comparisons to the Canon EOS 5D Mark III Review page, but the road has been a rough one.

My first take is that the Canon EOS 5D Mark III is an awesome camera, but Canon's Digital Photo Pro software has made the road to showing you this a difficult one. Let me explain this further on the Canon EOS 5D Mark III Review page itself.

The Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT Flash and Canon ST-E3-RT Speedlite Transmitter are now shipping in Japan. (thanks John)

Apple Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.11 is now available for download.

Support for the Nikon D800 is the added functionality. The complete list of supported RAW formats can be found here.

Nikon Wireless Transmitter Utility 1.3.1 (Full Version) is now available for download.

Support for the Nikon D800 is the added functionality.

The new Apple iPad 3rd Generation, with a greatly enhanced display, is now available on eBay. Otherwise, the "New iPad" remains unavailable online.

Canon ImageBrowser EX 1.0.1 is now available for download.

I introduced Canon's new ImageBrowser EX software back on Mar 11, but the download function was not working. The new software is now able to be downloaded.

CameraWindow DC 8.8 and ZoomBrowser EX 6.9.0 Updater are also available for both Mac and Windows users. Mac users will also find PhotoStitch 3.2.6 Updater available.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Beta is now available for download.

From Adobe:

First Major Release since April 2010 Packed with New Features and Huge Performance Enhancements

SAN JOSE, Calif. — March 22, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 beta, a preview of what’s to come in the next release of the industry standard in digital imaging, is available as a free download from Adobe Labs. Customers can download the beta, try out the experience and provide feedback to the product team. Packed with groundbreaking new innovations,featuresand incredible performance enhancements, Photoshop CS6 beta is available for the Mac OS and Microsoft® Windows® platforms. The final release is expected in the first half of 2012.

“Photoshop CS6 will be a milestone release that pushes the boundaries of imaging innovation with incredible speed and performance,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “We couldn’t wait to share this beta of Photoshop CS6 with our customers and are looking forward to hearing from them and seeing the ways they are incorporating the beta into their daily creative workflows.”

New Features in Photoshop CS6 Beta

Photoshop CS6 beta demonstrates Adobe’s focus on huge performance enhancements, imaging magic and creativity tools that offer customers a new experience in digital imaging. Key features include new additions to the Content-Aware tools: Content-Aware Patch allows greater control by letting users select and duplicate an area of an image to fill in or “patch” another, and Content-Aware Move lets users select and magically move an object to a new place in the image.

In addition, the Photoshop CS6 beta offers all the features of Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, such as new 3D editing features and quantitative imaging analysis capabilities. These features will be included in the shipping version of Photoshop CS6 Extended when it becomes available.

Pricing and Availability

The Photoshop CS6 beta is available immediately as a free download in English and Japanese. At installation, users will be required to provide an Adobe ID to complete a one-time login and online product activation. For information on how to install Photoshop CS6 beta, visit www.adobe.com/go/photoshopcs6. Customers can submit feedback via the Photoshop CS6 beta forum. Users can also connect with the Photoshop team via the community-powered site; on Facebook; YouTube; Photoshop.com blog; or via Twitter.

More information and resources are available on Adobe's site.

B&H carries Adobe products.

The US Army has issued a warning about the hazards of posting geotagged images online.

While the warning is primarily targeted at military personnel and their families and friends, the lesson is good for all of us to understand.

I just received notice from Adorama that they are shipping Canon EOS 5D Mark III preorders today!

I suspect that many calendars will be cleared this weekend.

The following review-placeholder pages are now loaded with product images, preorder opportunities and links to other information:

Canon EOS 5D Mark III Review
Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT Flash Review
Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT Review
Canon BG-E11 Battery Grip Review

Note that the Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT is only $319.00 at B&H but is priced at $470.00 at Amazon.com. It is unusual for two major retailers to be asking such disparate prices for a new Canon item, so I suspect an Amazon.com price mistake.

In the USA, BuyDig.com has started charging credit cards for 5D III preorders. (thanks Laszlo)

Check out the CPN site for WFT-E7 Wireless File Transmitter information.

Also check out the CPN site for GP-E2 GPS information.