We have added a very-interesting MTF chart comparison to the Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Lens page (scroll down to the image quality section).
These charts give us some indication as to how the new 85 f/1.4L IS lens' image quality stacks up to several other lenses, including the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Lens, Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens, Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art Lens and more.
Update: Please note that I have corrected a mistake in the Sigma chart interpretation.
The demand for this Canon lens is very high - preorder early to be assured of the earliest acquisition (perhaps it could be an early Christmas present to yourself)!
The Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Lens is available for preorder at B&H | Amazon | Adorama | WEX.
From DJI:
August 31, 2017 – DJI, the world’s leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, has introduced two new drones, the Mavic Pro Platinum and Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian and announces the ‘Sphere’mode for the Spark at IFA 2017 in Berlin.
“DJI continuously look for ways to improve its products and introduce new features, many of which are the result of the positive feedback and requests we received from customers around the world,” said Paul Pan, DJI Senior Product Manager. “Starting with our Osmo Mobile Silver handheld stabilizer, DJI has been expanding its product variations to meet the different lifestyles and needs of consumers. Similarly, we’ve done the same with two of the most iconic DJI drone products, the Mavic Pro and Phantom 4 Pro. The Spark’s newly added ‘Sphere’mode will also introduce a new way for people to experience the fun of aerial photography.”
The New and Improved Mavic Pro Platinum
The DJI Mavic Pro Platinum takes all of the advanced features of the Mavic Pro which revolutionised personal flight and builds on them. It is ideal for travellers, amateur photographers and outdoor sports enthusiasts.
With an 11 percent gain in flight time taking it up 30 minutes coupled with a 60% noise power reduction, the Mavic Pro Platinum provides the best portable drone experience yet. Additionally, the drone’s compact and powerful body has also been created with an attractive platinum coloured shell.
The increased flight time and quieter operation has been achieved by integrating new electronic speed controllers (ESC’s) and freshly designed propellers which are also compatible with the current Mavic Pro.
Furthermore, pilots of the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum benefit from a portable, powerful and easy-to-use camera drone that features a 4K stabilised camera, 4.3 mile (7km) range, innovative FlightAutonomy technology to sense obstacles up to 49ft (15m) away and a range of intelligent flight modes that make it extremely fun and easy to fly.
DJI Spark: Capture Stunning ‘Sphere’ Panorama Images
Spark is an easy-to-use, fun-to-fly mini camera drone that lifts off from the palm of your hand to capture and share those special moments on the go. Spark is the first consumer drone that users can control by hand gestures alone, whether it's sending it up and away, taking a selfie or shooting a video, or calling it back.
With the newly introduced Sphere mode in the Panorama photo feature, users now have more ways to enjoy the Spark and can easily produce a panoramic photo with a fisheye lense effect. This ‘Sphere’can then be shared directly to social media sites, some of which already support interactive images. The new feature will be included soon in the forthcoming DJI GO 4 mobile app and Spark firmware updates.
This mode joins the following recently announced firmware updates which allow Spark users to get the best flying experience with easy to use photo and video functions:
DJI Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian: The professional drone photographer’s perfect tool
The iconic Phantom 4 Pro drone which made professional aerial imaging easier for everyone is back with a new professional appearance; a sleek matte-gray Obsidian colour shell featuring a magnesium, electroplated and anti-fingerprint coated gimbal which requires a higher standard manufacturing technique.
For professionals who demand excellence while capturing images and video for a commercial client or documenting a wedding, the Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian has a large 1” CMOS sensor and a 4K 60fps recording capability to ensure a professional outcome in any situation.
The Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian offers intelligent performance and a powerful imaging system for any serious drone photographer.
Price and Availability
With a retail price of 1,119 GBP (1,299 EUR), the Mavic Pro Platinum will begin shipping in September. The Mavic Pro Fly More Combo will be available at a later date with a retail price of 1,459 GBP (1,599 EUR). Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian will retail for 1,589 GBP (1,699 EUR) and will be available in September at authorized dealers worldwide.
by Sean Setters
Aside from the Rebel T6, all of Canon DSLRs currently produced feature Multi-Shot Noise Reduction (MSNR). With the feature enabled, your camera takes a burst of 4 images which are combined and output to a JPEG file with less visible noise compared to a single exposure.
Unfortunately, there are many downsides to using MSNR. For a good overview of those downsides, let's take a look at a couple of paragraphs from Bryan's review of the 5D Mark IV:
Multi Shot Noise Reduction (MSNR) is one of the additional in-camera options available in many of the latest EOS models including the 5D IV. MSNR merges information from multiple (four) exposures taken in a full-frame-rate burst into a reduced noise image. The concept makes a lot of sense. MSNR generally provides a remarkable one stop or more of noise reduction, but ... I still have not found a compelling use for this feature.Fortunately, with several of Canon's upper-level DSLRS, there's a slightly better way to accomplish the same goal. It involves many of the same compromises as Multi Shot Noise Reduction, but instead of being limited to JPEG output, you can output a RAW file instead.The downsides to Multi Shot Noise Reduction include: MSNR is currently available only with JPG output (I would like to see this feature added to Canon's Digital Photo Pro software for RAW capture processing – perhaps as another HDR preset). Multi-Shot Noise Reduction is not so useful with moving subjects (or with a moving camera). Long exposure NR, Dust Delete Data, Multiple Exposure and HDR Mode must be set to off to enable MSNR. The 5D IV reverts back to Standard NR in Auto/Basic zone modes, during video recording, in Bulb mode and when the camera is powered off. Flash is not supported in MSNR mode. After the 4 shot burst is captured, the camera remains "busy" for a noticeable period of time while processing the merged image. So, while this feature is a nice idea, its limitations make it less useful in real-world applications. I am far more likely to use a low ISO setting with a longer exposure when shooting stationary subjects from a tripod.
Before I go any further, it's important to know exactly which of Canon's DSLRs this information applies to:
The secret is to use your camera's Multiple Exposures feature and set the Multiple Exposure Control Method to "Average." By setting the desired number of shots to 9 (the max), noise in the combined image will be greatly reduced.
The best part about using this technique is that it enables reduced noise to be captured in a RAW file rather than JPEG. However, drawbacks of using this method include:
With the drawbacks listed above in mind, you may be wondering what situations would benefit from using the Noise Reduction through Multiple Exposure technique. Here are a few ideas I came up with.
To get a better understanding of just how significant the noise in your RAW images can be reduced using this technique, download the full resolution 7D Mark II ISO 12800 single exposure and 7D Mark II ISO 12800 multiple exposure files and compare the noise for yourself. The RAW files were processed identically (except for white balance) in Adobe Camera RAW with no noise reduction applied before the JPEG conversion. Note that the sample images were not taken under circumstances where this technique would be especially beneficial, as a longer shutter speed could easily have been used (they are only used for noise reduction demonstration purposes).
Tips for Using Multiple Exposures (Average) for Noise Reduction
While the technique may not be feasible under a wide variety of situations, the noise reduction benefits will certainly be worthwhile in the specific situations where this technique can be employed.
Can you think of more situations where this technique might be useful and advantageous? Let us know in the comments.
From DJI:
Threat Identification Reward Program Will Address Software Concerns
August 28, 2017 – DJI, the world’s leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, is establishing a “bug bounty” program to reward people who discover security issues with DJI software. The DJI Threat Identification Reward Program is part of an expanded commitment to work with researchers and others to responsibly discover, disclose and remediate issues that could affect the security of DJI’s software.
“Security researchers, academic scholars and independent experts often provide a valuable service by analyzing the code in DJI’s apps and other software products and bringing concerns to public attention,” said DJI Director of Technical Standards Walter Stockwell. “DJI wants to learn from their experiences as we constantly strive to improve our products, and we are willing to pay rewards for the discoveries they make.”
The DJI Threat Identification Reward Program aims to gather insights from researchers and others who discover issues that may create threats to the integrity of our users’ private data, such as their personal information or details of the photos, videos and flight logs they create. The program is also seeking issues that may cause app crashes or affect flight safety, such as DJI’s geofencing restrictions, flight altitude limits and power warnings.
Rewards for qualifying bugs will range from $100 to $30,000, depending on the potential impact of the threat. DJI is developing a website with full program terms and a standardized form for reporting potential threats related to DJI’s servers, apps or hardware. Starting today, bug reports can be sent to bugbounty@dji.com for review by technical experts.
The DJI Threat Identification Reward Program is part of a renewed focus on addressing concerns about DJI product security, including new efforts to partner with security researchers and academics who have a common goal of trying to improve the security and stability of DJI products. DJI is also implementing a new multi-step internal approval process to review and evaluate new app software before it is released to ensure its security, reliability and stability.
DJI has not previously offered formal lines of communication about software issues to security researchers, many of whom have raised their concerns on social media or other forums when they could not determine how best to bring these issues to DJI’s attention.
“We want to engage with the research community and respond to their reasonable concerns with a common goal of cooperation and improvement,” Stockwell said. “We value input from researchers into our products who believe in our mission to enable customers to use DJI products that are stable, reliable and trustworthy.”
From the Nikkei Asian Review:
Automation makes manufacturing at home more competitiveRead the entire article on the Nikkei Asian Review.TOKYO -- Canon plans to have a new camera plant in Japan up and running by 2019 as it moves more production back home, relying on factory automation to lower the cost of domestic operations.
The Japanese electronics maker will acquire 300,000 sq. meters of land for a digital camera factory in southern Japan's Miyazaki Prefecture as early as September. The plant will be Canon's first new camera factory in this country since 2010, and will feature labor-saving assembly lines of the sort Canon is installing across its Japanese facilities to make domestic production cost-competitive. Total costs are projected to be around 20 billion yen ($181 million).
The facility will take over production of single-lens reflex cameras formerly manufactured at another Miyazaki plant. Canon will eventually consider bringing production of some compact digital cameras now made overseas back to Japan as well. The company produced 56% of its cameras and other offerings in this country in the year 2016, and plans to raise that figure to 60%.
From Pelican:
Up To 40% Lighter and 45% Deeper for the Perfect Fit
Torrance, CA— August 15, 2017 - Pelican Products, Inc. (Pelican), the global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance cases, today set another benchmark for the segment with the launch of three new deeper cases in the re-engineered, up to 40% lighter, Pelican Air Case line.
Since 1976, the classic Pelican Protector Case has been the go-to protective case solution for millions of professionals and consumers worldwide. As a part of the innovative and lighter Pelican Air case line, the three new cases, 1557, 1607 and 1637, continue Pelican’s relentless quest to offer users more versatility, portability and durability.
“Our engineering team consistently explores how to deliver innovative and meaningful new solutions,” said Stephan Corti, President, Pelican Products Commercial and Government Division. “The Pelican Air case line is a major transformation, designed to maintain Pelican’s signature concept of high-performance durability while cutting the weight out.”
The entire Pelican Air case line, constructed of lightweight HPX2 resin, is available in nine travel-ready sizes, in both long and, now, deep options. With over 13” of depth available, the new cases provide room for fragile and valuable equipment, such as drones and cinema-grade cameras. Pelican Air cases continue to be the gold-standard of premium equipment protection while remaining 40% lighter and now 45% deeper. All Pelican Air cases are available in black, yellow, orange, and gray.
Available configurations offer the choice of four unique interior options to meet almost any performance needs
“I couldn't wait to customize my Pelican Air case with the TrekPak system,” said Roy Pena, fire photographer, Bakersfield, CA. “I was able to fit all my camera gear in its own tailored compartment. When you're shooting action shots, like a fire in the heat of the moment, you have to rush in to get the shot. If you don't know exactly where the right gear is, you miss it".
The new 1607 and 1637 cases have wheels, roll tested over 914 meters. The line’s newest products boast classic Pelican case features including a watertight O-ring gasket, a crushproof and dustproof exterior, stainless steel hasp protectors, rubberized, over-molded handles and proven tough double-throw latches. Each Pelican Air Case meets the same performance tests (impact, drop, submersion and high and low temperatures). Pelican Air cases are also backed by the company’s legendary lifetime guarantee of excellence.
B&H carries the following:
Canon has released firmware updates for the EOS C300 Mark II and C100 Mark II Cinema cameras. See below for details.
Canon EOS C300 Mark II / EOS C300 Mark II PL Firmware Version 1.0.9.1.00
Firmware Version 1.0.9.1.00 incorporates the following fixes and enhancements:
Download: Canon EOS C300 Mark II Firmware v.1.0.9.1.00
Firmware Version 1.0.5.1.00 incorporates the following enhancements:
Download: Canon EOS C100 Mark II Firmware v.1.0.5.1.00
B&H carries the Canon EOS C300 Mark II and C100 Mark II Cinema cameras.
I know, you are trying to decide if it was the 28 hour round trip drive or the celestial body alignment that warped my mind. But, with the solar disk (or a portion of it) imaged against a completely black background, the composite opportunities become endless and are limited only by your own creativity.
The site's circular-crescent logo seemed to be a good design fit for the solar eclipse. So, I made a transparency template to overlay a sun image captured during the eclipse.
You likely spent a lot of time and effort to photograph the eclipse. While I will treasure some of the solar eclipse images I captured forever, there are a lot of other identically-captured images out there. But, there are not likely any that look like this one (you can be the judge of whether or not this uniqueness is fortunate). Have fun with the rewards of your efforts – spend some time being creative with the results.
From Canon USA:
Thank you for using Canon products.
We have determined that some EF50mm f/1.4 USM lenses exhibit a focus operation-related malfunction. The details of the phenomenon and Canon’s service policy are described below.
We would like to offer our sincere apologies to users who have been inconvenienced by this issue. Going forward, we will spare no effort in our quality management to make sure our customers can use our products with confidence.
Phenomenon
While in AF or MF mode, when the focus position is moved from the infinity end to the close-up end, the focus operation stops near the area shown in the dotted circle below.
When preparing your lens for inspection please be sure to attach the lens cap and the dust cap to the lens.
If you have not already done so, please register your Canon Product. By registering, we will be able to notify you via email about future announcements.
This information is for residents of the United States and its five territories only. If you do not reside in the USA or its five territories, please contact the Canon Customer Support Center in your region.
Thank you,
Customer Support Operations
Canon U.S.A., Inc
Contact Information for Inquiries
Canon Customer Support Center
Phone: 1-800-OK-CANON
The Canon Digital Learning Center has posted several articles covering the new gear announced early this morning.
CDLC Articles
Update: Canon Japan also has an interesting interview with the team that created the EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM.
For preordering options, click here.
Canon Japan has posted official sample pictures from the EOS M100 mirrorless camera.
Canon has posted several new videos covering its newly announced products. See above/below for more information.
Canon announced several new products this morning and all are now available for preorder.
Preorders:
Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Lens - B&H | Amazon | Adorama | Wex Photographic
Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens - B&H | Amazon | Adorama | Wex Photographic
Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens - B&H | Amazon| Adorama | Wex Photographic
Canon TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens - B&H | Amazon | Adorama | Wex Photographic
Canon Macro Twin-Lite MT-26EX-RT Flash - B&H | Amazon | Adorama
Canon EOS M100 - B&H | Amazon | Adorama | Wex Photographic
This new 85mm lens stands to be an extremely popular one and I greatly look forward to its arrival. The Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Lens page holds my expectations for this highly-anticipated model.
The Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Lens is available for preorder at B&H | Amazon | Adorama
From Canon USA:
MELVILLE, N.Y., August 29, 2017 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today announced the new Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM lens as an addition to the Company’s existing 85mm focal-range lens line-up and three new Tilt-Shift macro lenses: the TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro lens, TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Macro lens and TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro lens. Canon also announced a new Macro Twin-Lite MT-26EX-RT flash. These new products will help provide both advanced amateur and professional photographers the unique photography tools for a variety of applications and solutions including architecture, landscape, food, product and portrait photography.
“Creating a powerful, timeless image requires more than just a camera. It requires high-quality, well-crafted optics and flashes to capture compelling photography,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, president and COO, Canon U.S.A., “These new lenses along and the Macro Twin-Lite flash will continue to push the boundaries and expand the possibilities of what advanced amateur and professional photographers capture and share with the world.”
Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Lens
Canon EF 85mm focal-length lenses are traditionally very sought-after options for portrait photographers. With that in mind, Canon is expanding its EF 85mm line up with the introduction of the new Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM; the first Canon EF 85mm lens to feature image stabilization, providing up to four stops of shake correction for smooth and crisp imagery.
The EF 85mm utilizes one large diameter, high-precision molded glass aspherical lens and features an ASC coating. The large f/1.4 aperture produces shallow depth-of-field, fast shutter speeds and a bright image inside the viewfinder, allowing photographers to focus and compose their image reliably. In addition, a circular aperture with 9-blade iris allows for beautiful bokeh.
The New Canon EF 85mm f/1.4 L IS USM is scheduled to be available November 2017 for an estimated retail price of $1599.00.
New Tilt-Shift Lenses
Tilt-Shift lenses have several applications for suitable photographers because of their ability to provide enhanced creative control over perspective through the tilt function and depth-of-field through the shift function in their images. This ability can be optimal when photographing landscapes, portraits, and architecture.
The image quality derived from Canon Tilt-Shift lenses has evolved considerably since their first inception several years ago. Enhanced optical elements like molded aspherical glass and UD lenses are at the core of the new Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro lens, TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Macro lens and TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro lens. These features provide users with edge-to-edge resolution, improved image quality over previous Canon TS-E lenses and minimum distortion. Canon also included two anti-reflective coatings, SubWaveLength Structure Coating (SWC) in the TS-E 50mm f/2.8L and TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro lenses and Air-Sphere Coating (ASC), into the TS-E 50mm f/2.8L and TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Macro lenses. SWC helps to reduce flare and ghosting, while ASC is a new technology that provides amazingly high, anti-reflective performance, particularly when alleviating incidental light that can enter a lens.
The new Canon Tilt-Shift lenses also offer improved operability over previous models, including larger tilt, shift-and-lock knobs, lock-release button and a new tilt-locking mechanism that firmly locks the lens in the zero-tilt position to help prevent unintended tilting to increase more precise shooting capabilities. The rotation of the tilt-shift lenses also allows users to freely change the axis of tilt movement and shift from right angles to parallel to better adapt to various shooting conditions and situations.
The new Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro lens, TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Macro lens and TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro lenses are scheduled to be available November 2017 for an estimated retail price of $2199.00††.
Canon Macro Twin-Lite MT-26EX-RT Flash
To further enhance a photographer’s ability to shoot macro photography, the new Canon Macro Twin-Lite MT-26EX-RT Flash can be the ideal tool. The use of a macro twin-lite allows for a more ideal lighting situation for photographers, and can be adjusted and shifted depending on the direction the photographer would like to control. Detachable macro twin lites can be rotated up to 60 degrees, and features a maximum guide number of 85.3 ft (26 m).
The new Canon Macro Twin-Lite MT-26EX-RT Flash inherits the ease of use and operability of Canon’s latest Speedlite EX series flashes and increased brightness of the focusing lamp compared to previous Canon Macro-Twin Lites. There is also less noise produced from the charging of the lights.
The new Canon Macro Twin-Lite MT-26EX-RT Flash is scheduled to be available November 2017, for an estimated retail price of $989.99.
Preorders:
Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Lens - B&H | Amazon | Adorama | Wex Photographic
Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens - B&H | Amazon | Adorama | Wex Photographic
Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens - B&H | Amazon| Adorama | Wex Photographic
Canon TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens - B&H | Amazon | Adorama | Wex Photographic
Canon Macro Twin-Lite MT-26EX-RT Flash - B&H | Amazon | Adorama