Canon and Sony News for Dec 2010

 Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Canon Extender 1.4x & 2x ISO 12233 samples crops have been added to the Canon EF 200mm f/2.0L IS USM Lens Review. The Extender III samples are the two longest focal lengths available for this lens on the Canon EOS-1Ds III. The first link is to a mouseover comparison between the 1.4x II and 1.4x III.

Notice that the 1.4x III has less barrel distortion than the 1.4x II. This makes the center-of-the-frame details slightly smaller in a comparison. This difference will be most noticeable in the top crop shown in the ISO 12233 chart tool.

Noticeable in the bottom crop is the reduced CA (Chromatic Aberration) in the 1.4x Extender III.

The Extender 2x III is slightly sharper than the Extender 2x II, but the Extender 1.4x III is not significantly different than the Extender 1.4x II in this regard.

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News   Category: Camera Gear Review News
Post Date: 12/29/2010 8:02:18 PM ET   Posted By: Bryan
 Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Standardized test results have once again been added to the Zeiss 100mm f/2.0 Makro-Planar T* ZE Lens Review page.

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News, Sony News   Category: Camera Gear Review News
Post Date: 12/28/2010 10:54:49 AM ET   Posted By: Bryan
 Monday, December 27, 2010

Standardized test results have once again been added to the Zeiss 50mm f/2.0 Makro-Planar T* ZE Lens Review page.

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News, Sony News   Category: Camera Gear Review News
Post Date: 12/27/2010 10:33:29 AM ET   Posted By: Bryan
 Saturday, December 25, 2010

May your Christmas be a special one!

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News, Sony News   
Post Date: 12/25/2010 12:09:50 AM ET   Posted By: Bryan
 Thursday, December 23, 2010

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM Lens
Take the current Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Lens and add a 4-stop image stabilizer. Of course I'll take any optical improvements possible as well. In addition to giving us an awesome lens, Canon would give those of us trying to decide between and help others decide between the 24-70 L and 24-105 L huge time savings. I asked for this lens a long time ago - and will keep asking until I get it or something better. :)

Canon EF 16-50mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens
Landscape photography is extremely popular - how about a landscape-specific lens? Landscape photography often requires deep depth of field - which often translates to narrow apertures and wide angles of view. I'll give up the wide apertures (if I need to) for lighter weight and any other benefits I can have in place of them. IS will let me shoot handheld in many situations - even in strong winds with a circular polarizer in place. I of course need razor sharp images right into the full frame sensor corners, no distortion, no flare, no CA and no vignetting (even with a standard CP filter installed).

Canon EF 500mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens
I would like to see a great bird and wildlife photography lens that is both smaller and much more affordable than the current supertelephoto lenses but am not willing to accept less than perfection in the image quality attributes. The gap between the 400mm f/5.6L lenses and the big guns leaves a gap for such a lens. Make it 5/8 the dimensions of the 800 f/5.6 and 1/8 the cost. I know - I'm dreaming about that last part.

Canon EOS-1Ds IV Digital SLR
Based on the past EOS 1Ds release schedule, the 1Ds IV is now overdue. While the current 1Ds III remains my favorite camera, I am ready for the latest DSLR features (horizon level, better LCD, HD video ...) to be added to it. Increase the resolution and frame rate too.

Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP) Improvements
DPP makes getting great image quality easy, but this application could be so much better. With so many million Canon EOS DSLRs in circulation, improving DPP would benefit a huge customer base - which can only be a good thing for Canon.

New Canon Lens Cap Design
How hard would it be to give us a center- AND side-pinch Canon lens cap like all of the other lens manufacturers? Better yet, leap frog this design with something even better. Just make sure the lenses sit flat when placed on their installed lens cap.

Canon Lens Hoods for All
I want the proper lens hood to come with all Canon lenses I purchase - not just L lenses.

Increased Canon Lens Warranty Period
Canon USA's 1 yr lens warranty appears stingy next to those of Sigma USA and Tamron USA. Canon makes great quality gear - the warranty should reflect this. Most repairs are needed early in the life of a product anyway.

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News   
Post Date: 12/23/2010 10:29:20 AM ET   Posted By: Bryan
 Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Michael Tapes Design has announced the LensAlign MkII (press release).

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News, Sony News   
Post Date: 12/22/2010 10:40:23 AM ET   Posted By: Bryan
 Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Nikon has posted D7000 Firmware v1.0.1.

"This service provides software for upgrading D7000 A firmware to Ver. 1.01 and B firmware to Ver. 1.01. This software allows for simultaneous update of both A and B firmware to the latest version."

Modifications enabled with this firmware upgrade:

"Bright spots were sometimes noticeable with live view mode or movie recording of especially dark scenes or subjects. Occurrence of this issue has been reduced".

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to:    Category: Nikon Firmware Updates
Post Date: 12/21/2010 11:05:14 PM ET   Posted By: Bryan

Lowepro has introduced the CompuDay Photo Series (press release) consisting of a backpack and a messenger bag.

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News, Sony News   Category: Lowepro News
Post Date: 12/21/2010 3:19:40 PM ET   Posted By: Bryan

Standardized test results have been added to the Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 Distagon T* ZE Lens Review page.

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News, Sony News   Category: Camera Gear Review News
Post Date: 12/21/2010 9:17:53 AM ET   Posted By: Bryan
 Monday, December 20, 2010

B&H is taking preorders for the Canon Extender EF 1.4x III and Canon Extender EF 2x III.

(thanks Ted)

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News   Category: Canon Preorders
Post Date: 12/20/2010 12:26:35 PM ET   Posted By: Bryan

By popular request, ISO 12233 resolution chart samples for the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC Lens have been added to the site.

While I hope to get a full review of this lens (along with many others) on the site at some point, the ISO chart results tell us a lot about the image quality of a lens. And in this case, the Tamron 70-300 performs very impressively well for it's price point. Corners degrade as the focal length increases and 300mm performance is not so great, but again, this image-stabilized lens is currently selling for less than $400.00 delivered after rebate at B&H.

However, I need to add a possible warning that these results do not tell the complete story in this case. I had to spend a more-than-usual amount of time focus testing this lens - just to confirm what I was seeing. And my initial (still early) determination is that my Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC Lens is very inconsistent in the focus accuracy department. Life is good when it gets focus right, but a sharp lens does not deliver sharp subjects if not focused accurately.

 
I am also getting a lot of requests for a Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Lens Review. To bring you at least the standardized results from the Sigma 85, I have to date, purchased and returned two of these lenses. The first was consistently front focusing. The second was focusing so inconsistently that I wished for the first one back. Roger at LensRentals.com is having the same problems - he has even posted a warning on his Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Lens rental page.

Third party lens focus accuracy problems have consumed far more of my time than I care to remember. I'll probably get over it enough to order the third copy of this lens after Christmas. Stay tuned.

 
B&H has just announced free overnight shipping on Canon and Nikon cameras. You can have one in time to use Christmas morning. B&H also notes that today is the last day for standard shipping for delivery in time for Christmas.

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Post Date: 12/20/2010 9:58:31 AM ET   Posted By: Bryan
 Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Adobe Photoshop 12.0.3 update fixes a number of high priority bugs including tool tips on Windows XP, painting performance and type-related issues. This update is recommended for all Windows users.

The most significant fixes in the Photoshop 12.0.3 update include the following:

Windows XP tool tip font issue introduced by 12.0.2
A number of potential security vulnerabilities have been addressed
Top type and font crashers found in the field have been addressed
A number of performance issues have been addressed
Crash opening 3D layers has been addressed
Color Engine crash has been resolved
Intermittent file format issues addressed
Shift scrolling bug fixed
Sharpen crasher fixed
Marching ants not seen at certain zoom levels fixed
Metadata focus distance issue addressed
File info bug addressed for Orphea Studio jpg's
TWAIN crashers fixed
Brush cursor bug fixed
Histogram progress bar issue fixed
Droplet issues addressed

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News, Sony News   Category: Adobe News
Post Date: 12/18/2010 9:35:26 AM ET   Posted By: Bryan
 Friday, December 17, 2010

Apple Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.5 adds RAW image compatibility for the following cameras to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '11:

Canon PowerShot G12
Leica D-Lux 5
Leica V-Lux 2
Nikon D7000
Nikon COOLPIX P7000
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News, Sony News   Category: Apple News
Post Date: 12/17/2010 1:17:59 PM ET   Posted By: Bryan

Canon USA has posted Digital Photo Professional 3.9.3 Updater for Windows

Changes for Digital Photo Professional 3.9.3 Updater for Windows:

1. Fixes a problem in which Digital Photo Professional shuts down abnormally when viewing the shooting information of specific images (*).

It also fixes a problem in Digital Photo Professional that errors occur and prevent the process of converting and saving specific RAW images from being completed.

*: Images taken with the EOS-1D Mark IV for which either C.Fn I-16 AE Microadjustment or C.Fn I-17 FE Microadjustment is set to "Enable" and if AE Microadjustment or FE Microadjustment has a negative value.

2. Fixes a problem in Digital Photo Professional 3.9.1/3.9.2 in which "0" cannot be input if the numerical keypad in the tool palette of Edit Window and Edit Image Window is not used.

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Post Date: 12/17/2010 9:27:51 AM ET   Posted By: Bryan
 Thursday, December 16, 2010

There are services that will deliver an RSS news feed to you via email.

FeedMyInbox and BlogTrottr are two such services with free variants of their offerings. By default, FeedMyInbox delivers one email per day and BlogTrottr delivers an email for each post. Both worked fine in my testing. Signing up and unsubscribing is very easy with both services.

Here are the news feed URLs you need if subscribing to these services:

All News: www.the-digital-picture.com/News-RSS.aspx
Canon News Only: www.the-digital-picture.com/Canon-News-RSS.aspx
Nikon News Only: www.the-digital-picture.com/Nikon-News-RSS.aspx

Share on Facebook! Share on X! Share on Pinterest! Email this page to a friend!
Posted to: Canon News, Sony News   
Post Date: 12/16/2010 12:48:33 PM ET   Posted By: Bryan
<< Next Month        1 | 2 | 3    Next >    Prev Month >>
Archives
2024   Jan   Feb   Mar
2023   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2022   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2021   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2020   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2019   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2018   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2017   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2016   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2015   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2014   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2013   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2012   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2011   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2010   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2009   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2008   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2007   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2006   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
2005   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec
Terms of Use, Privacy  |  © 2024 Rectangular Media, LLC  |  Bryan CarnathanPowered by Christ!