Canon, Nikon, and Sony News for Jan 2018

In case you missed the notice at the end of Bryan’s post, B&H now has the new Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Lens (review) in stock.

From Skylum:
 
Luminar 2018 1.1.1 version for Windows:
 

• Added support for the following languages:
• English
• German
• Spanish
• French
• Portugal
• Chinese
• Korean
• Russian
• Japanese
• Added shift + scroll hotkey for brush size adjustment
• Curves filter improved
• Merge layers feature released
• Saving cropped image to document issue fixed
• Fixed several issues with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom plugins usage
• Sidebar UX improvements

Luminar 2018 version 1.1.1 for MAC:
 

• Fixed issues with Photos Extension
• RAW Develop support improved, added Leica Monochrome .DNG , HEIC formats, fixed support for Hasselblad and several other cameras.
• Fixed several issues with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom plugins usage
• Fixed issue with Dodge & Burn mask from documents created on Windows

The update is completely free to all Luminar 2018 users, and here is the instruction how to get it:
 
On Mac: Please, launch Luminar 2018, on the Top Menu Bar choose Luminar 2018 > Check for updates.
On Windows: Please, launch Luminar 2018, on the Top Toolbar choose Help > Check for updates.
 
Purchase Link: Luminar 2018

From Canon USA:
 
Changes for Digital Photo Professional 4.7.21:
 

• Fixes a phenomenon in which Dual Pixel RAW Optimizer may not be started.
• Fixes a phenomenon in which Filter/Sort pane may have malfunctions in displaying when the high-resolution monitor is being used. [Windows version]

Download: Canon Digital Photo Professional 4.7.21

According to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency, Reuters photographers have been banned from covering the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics after they published several unauthorized photos of the rehearsal.
 
From the Yonhap News Agency:

The London-based media company transmitted several photo items showing the Olympic cauldron being lit up with fire during a rehearsal conducted late Sunday at the Olympic Main Stadium in PyeongChang. The company later pulled the items following protests from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the PyeongChang organizing committee.
 
As penalty, the IOC "disapproved the issuing of passes towards Reuters in reporting and photographing the opening ceremony," the organizing committee of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics said in a statement. The IOC also revoked the media accreditation of the photographer representing Reuters.

Read he entire article on the Yonhap News Agency website.

Canon has released their finanicial results for the Full Year 2017. See below for more information. As usual, we suggest checking out the Presentation Material for getting a concise view of the highlights.
 

• Results (PDF | 0.64MB)
• Presentation Material (PDF | 0.96MB)
• Speech Summary (PDF | 0.13MB)
• Supplementary Data (PDF | 0.28MB)

Related Article
 

• Canon sees 2018 profit jumping to decade high on cost cuts, medical unit (Reuters)

Amazon has the Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Lens (review) in stock.
 
This lens has been in very short supply since its release and Amazon says it only has (5) lenses available for purchase.

Facebook is making some changes and if you want to continue seeing TDP's posts in your Facebook news feed, it is important that you select the "See First" option under the "Following" button as shown. So, head over to the Facebook page right now and select that option before you forget!
 
Not following us on Facebook? Now is a good time to start: The-Digital-Picture.com Facebook page

For those of you who purchased a Solar ND filter to photograph the total solar eclipse we enjoyed in August of last year, you may be looking for more opportunities to use the highly specialized gear before the next total solar eclipse graces North America in April 2024. Thankfully, there's a large articificial satellite orbiting overhead which begs to be photographed as it crosses paths with the sun.
 
Of course, I'm talking about the International Space Station (ISS), a 239 x 356 x 66 ft (72.8 x 108.5 x 20 m) platform in low Earth orbit that circles the earth about 15.5 times per day. The frequency of the ISS's orbits means that there's a decent chance that its path will fall between you and the sun in the not-so-distant future. When exactly will the next ISS transit occur in your area? There's a website designed to answer that very question.
 
Simply enter your coordinates on the ISS TRANSIT FINDER website (or give it permission to auto-detect your location), enter a start date and an end date (up to 30 days in the future), and a travel range from your location (up to 149 mi / 240 km), and the website will show you the dates and times of all solar (and lunar) ISS transits available for viewing from nearby locations. If you never purchased a solar filter, you can still take advantage of the lunar transits occurring in your area or you can simply pick up a solar ND filter to take advantage of all available transits.
 
WARNING: Use only ND filters certified for solar photography. Do not look directly at the sun. Do not frame the sun using your camera's optical viewfinder while using telephoto lenses. Use Live View for framing your composition and focusing.
 
Most of the tips shared for capturing the solar eclipse apply to photographing an ISS solar transit, with the main difference being the duration of the events. When positioned in the middle of a total solar eclipse, the entire event may take several hours (with totality ranging from seconds to 7.5 minutes). However, an ISS transit of the sun or moon will last no longer than about 1.75 seconds (with typical transit times being significantly shorter). That means that you'll want to have an accurate clock available (down to the seconds), with a wired (or radio remote) trigger in your hand and your camera set to high speed continuous burst mode.

The Nikon MB-D18 Multi Power Battery Pack for D850 is in stock at Adorama with free expedited shipping.

by Sean Setters
 
While casually looking through the Play store yesterday, Google suggested I take a look at an app called ASCII Art. As Google seems to know me fairly well (we've spent a lot of time together), I thought I'd give the app a shot. After about 20 minutes of throwing various images at the app to see its results displayed in glorious monospaced text, the point about Google knowing me very well was reiterated once again.
 
From Wikipedia:

ASCII – Abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Most modern character-encoding schemes are based on ASCII, although they support many additional characters.

From the viewpoint of a photographer who's always looking at high resolution, 14-bit, as-sharp-as-I-can-get images, there's something very fun and novel about seeing one's images displayed in a fixed size font. You can even choose to have your image converted using colored text for a slightly less archaic look.
 
After conversion, the file can be saved or shared as a .PNG, .TXT or HTML document (you'll need to change the file name extension from ".txt" to ".html" after saving). Click here to see the full resolution ASCII image from above.
 
I haven't done extensive testing, but my guess is that simpler images with a strong subject will work better than more complex ones. If you download and try out the app, share your favorite ASCII-converted (G-rated) image below.

I've lowered the prices of most items in the fundraising sale. This is your last chance – I'll be moving this gear on to other outlets soon.
 
Items available include:
 

• A mint Canon 400mm f/2.8L IS II Lens
• Other Canon lenses
• A mint Sony a7R II
• A couple of excellent Gitzo tripods
• A Gitzo ball head
• Nikon extension tubes
• Much more!

Take a look at the list!

 
From the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom YouTube Channel:
 
Lightroom tips and tricks in 60 seconds or less from longtime Lightroom team member Benjamin Warde.
 
B&H carries Adobe Photography Plan subscriptions.

 
Learn about fluorite, aspherical ED and phase fresnel lens elements along with nano crystal/fluorine coatings, vibration reduction and more.
 
B&H carries Nikon NIKKOR lenses.

From Cascable:
 
Industry-leading photography automation tools and a modern camera SDK, available now
 
STOCKHOLM — January 18th, 2018 — Cascable AB is happy to announce the release of two new products that will revolutionise the automation of complex photography tasks, from building custom time-lapse routines to building entire custom photography applications.
 
Shutter Robot Recipes is the most powerful photography automation tool available on mobile platforms, providing complete freedom and creativity when building that perfect time-lapse, exposure bracket sequence, or any other series of shots you can think of. Alongside a powerful and intuitive recipe editor, Cascable provides tools to ensure your recipe works exactly as intended, including a built-in camera simulator—perfect for checking your multi-hour time-lapse recipe before you hike up that mountain!
 

Cascable is available to get started with for free from the iOS App Store. Cascable's Pro features come with a free trial when subscribing from $2 per month, or can be unlocked with a one-time $29.99 purchase. Please visit http://cascable.se for more information on Cascable, including screenshots, photographs, and detailed user guides.
 
CascableCore is a Software Development Kit (SDK) for iOS and macOS that provides the power and flexibility of Cascable’s industry-leading camera connectivity to your public or internal applications. Using one set of unified and modern APIs, the CascableCore SDK allows you to concentrate on building great applications while we handle interfacing with well over 100 supported cameras.
 
CascableCore is available with a 30-day evaluation for products and companies that meet our partnership criteria, with pricing depending on the application. Please visit http://developer.cascable.se for more information on CascableCore.
 
Download: Cascable

From LibRaw:
 
In order to streamline the workflow with the raw shots taken in the new Pixel Shift Multi Shooting mode offered by the new Sony A7R-III camera, and provide a way to use popular RAW converters (Adobe Camera Raw/Lightroom, Capture One, and some others) for processing these shots, we’ve developed the SonyPixelShift2DNG application, which converts Sony A7R-III shots taken in Pixel Shift mode to DNG, supported by most (but not all) programs that process RAW files.
 
SonyPixelShift2DNG performs the two following tasks:
 

• Combine 4 source ARW files taken in Pixel Shift Multi Shooting mode and save the result as a DNG;
• Convert the ARQ files resulting from Sony’s Imaging Edge Viewer software (so, already-combined quartets of ARW files) to DNG

The resulting DNG files can later be processed in familiar applications like Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw, CaptureOne, Iridient Developer, Luminar, and others.
 

Download Links:
 
This is time-limited beta version. It will expire on May 01, 2018
 
Mac OS X/macOS 10.6 - 10.13, 64-bit: SonyPixelShift2DNG-0.8.0.29.dmg
Windows 7-10/64 bit: SonyPixelShift2DNG-0.8.0.29-x64-Setup.exe
 
System Requirements
 

• OS and Processor*:
• Windows 7 – Windows 10, 64-bit;
• Mac OS X/macOS 10.6-10.13, 64-bit processor (so, all Intel Macs, except for some models from 2005-06 with Core Solo and Core Duo processors).
• Screen resolution no less than 1600x900.
• 50MB of disk space for the application.
• Disk space for writing DNG files (110-140MB per file)

* There is no 32-bit version right now: to work, the program needs 700+MB of free RAM, which is unlikely on a 32-bit system.

 
In the video above, the first line the narrorator says is, "Manfrotto's created the XUME system, a revolutionary way of attaching filters to lenses." The only problem is, the way I see it, they didn't actually create the XUME system. Instead, they acquired the XUME brand in September 2016, which had already been on the market for at least 5 years. And let me be clear, there's nothing wrong with acquiring a company's technologies so that you can market them along with your own product portfolio. However, taking credit for the invention is... a bit tacky, in my opinion.
 
Regardless of who created the system, the now-Manfrotto-branded XUME filter products are quite intriguing, potentially saving you some time and frustration in the field when switching between filters. [Sean]
 
B&H carries Manfrotto XUME products.
 
What are your thoughts? Would it make a difference if Manfrotto hired the inventor of the XUME system when it acquired the company? Let us know in the comments.

Image quality test results have been added to the Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens page.
 
It was interesting to see Tamron announce a 100-400mm lens not terribly long after the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens introduction. The Sigma was a big hit, delivering great image quality in a small, lightweight package that was nicely built and well-featured for an especially-popularity-driving low price. With these two lenses being very similar, including the same street price, I am anxious to learn which is the best. The image quality results are a good start in that determination.
 
Of importance is a short discussion of the corner performance equivalency of this lens copy at the wider half of the focal length range. As long as the lens elements are properly constructed/dimensioned, a properly-aligned lens will deliver equal image quality in each corner. The Tamron 100-400 we are testing modestly favors the left corners. That of course places it at a disadvantage in the site's image quality tool as the right corner shows there.
 
For clarification, here is the top-left vs top-right corner comparison:
 

 
Because the Sigma 100-400 is this lens' closest competitor, I added that lens' wide open 100mm sample to the bottom. While the Sigma crop appears slightly sharper than the Tamron crop, I doubt that most will find that difference to be of significance in the overall comparison.
 
Most of our review lenses are off-the-shelf retail and your chances of getting a slightly misaligned one are as good as ours. This defect can happen, but ... no one is happy when they learn that their lens has an issue (and it costs us a lot of time to minimally explain what is happening and ideally to re-test another lens). We'll try to find time to test another lens copy at some point, but for now, try to visualize the above differences when viewing the following comparisons.
 
Tamron 100-400mm Lens compared to Sigma
Tamron 100-400mm Lens compared to Canon
Tamron 100-400mm Lens compared to Sony (different resolution cameras used)
 
The Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens is in stock at B&H | Amazon | Adorama.
 
We'd love to hear your thoughts on the new Tamron 100-400mm VC Lens. Leave them in the comments section!

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

Using two or more Canon Speedlites is a tremendously effective way to make exquisite wildlife images. My journey in wildlife photography began with multiple Speedlites four decades ago. The key is setting the exposure, placing the lights for the best lighting, and getting them to all fire instantly.
 
In the beginning, I wired photoelectric triggering devices to each flash, and then advanced to using PC sync cords to wire all the Speedlites and camera together. Both systems were fraught with problems. Then optical wireless systems became available and things improved considerably. And with the new radio controls, it is the best time for working with multiple Speedlites. It is so easy today with modern flash gear, so I hope you will take advantage of it.

Read the entire article on the Canon Digital Learning Center.
 
B&H carries Canon Speedlite Flashes.

 
From Nikon Europe:
 
What does it take to break into a career as a sports photographer? For pro sports photographer, Joel Marklund, it all started at the tender age of 16. Listen in, as he shares his story.
 
Based in Stockholm, Joel Marklund is currently Chief Photographer at Sweden’s number one sports photography agency, Bildbyran. He is also a Nikon Europe Ambassador and is product ambassador for the Nikon D5.

Although the device has yet to be officially announced (as far as I can tell), B&H has the Zoom F1 Field Recorder available for preorder with free expedited shipping.
 
Product Highlights
 

• 2-Channel Field Audio Recorder
• Attach On Belts, Slip Into a Pocket
• LMF-1 Omnidirectional Lavalier Mic
• 1/8" Stereo Mic/Line Input
• 24-Bit / 96 kHz Audio, WAV and MP3
• On-Board Limiter and Auto-Level Control
• One-Touch Controls, Easy-To-Read Display
• Up to 32GB on microSD or microSDHC Card
• 2 x AAA Batteries Record 10 Hours
• Windscreen, Belt Clip, Mic Clip

The Zoom F1 looks to be very similar to the Tascam DR-10 except the F1 has a larger LCD screen (with more details), requires an extra AAA battery and records two channels instead of one.
 
Update: Zoom just added this F1 introductory video to its Vimeo channel:

SIGMA Corporation is proud to announce the launch of its first online magazine, SEIN Online. The magazine launches today, January 24, 2018, and can be found at the following address: sigma-sein.com/en
 
SEIN Online is an original web magazine created by SIGMA, manufacturer of digital cameras and interchangeable lenses for creative artists. The magazine’s aim is to share with its readers our passion and respect for visual culture and the art of photography, highlight our unique approach to manufacturing, and introduce the challenges and innovative ideas involved in our continuous quest to create the world’s best optical instruments.
 
Available in English
 
SEIN Online succeeds SEIN, a quarterly print magazine we started in 2014 to great success. In addition to the content already created for the printed SEIN our newly launched web magazine SEIN Online will see new categories and a constant addition of new articles in English and Japanese each month.
 
Original content capturing the heart of photography culture & expressing our brand philosophy
 
SEIN Online’s central theme can be summed up as “Life with photography, Scenes with SIGMA”. Employing a variety of forms — interviews, essays, special features and more — we aim to explore the joy and depth of taking photographs, of actively looking at the world. We aim to introduce our readers to new and fresh ways of thinking and imagining, and to illustrate SIGMA’s constant pursuit of innovative optical equipment of the highest quality.
 
Regular updates & new Instagram account
 
SEIN Online will be updated with new content four to five times each month, consisting of both newly created articles as well as material from SEIN’s archives.
 
Additionally, SIGMA launches an official SEIN Online Instagram account in order to further improve the reach and accessibility of SEIN Online’s content. We also plan to collaborate with other sites and services both in and outside of Japan.

From Nikon USA:
 
Market Bolstered by Exceptional Demand for the Award-Winning Full Frame (FX-format) D850 DSLR
 
MELVILLE, NY – Imaging leader Nikon attained the #1 position for both market share and revenue for December 2017, in the full frame digital camera with interchangeable lens (DCIL) category in the U.S.1 The overwhelming success of the powerful new Nikon D850 DSLR as well as the acclaimed D750 DSLR helped contribute to the brand’s strong growth within the full frame camera segment for December 2017. According to The NPD Group, Nikon achieved double-digit unit and dollar sales growth within the full frame camera segment in December 2017 vs. December 2016.2
 
This market category comprises all full frame digital cameras with interchangeable lenses (DCIL), including DSLR and mirrorless cameras. December is a significant month for sales because of the large volume of units sold during the holidays; industry-wide, DCIL full frame unit sales for the month of December 2017 were almost equal to unit sales from January through March of 2017, according to The NPD Group.3
 
“Nikon has returned to an emphasis on high-end products for advanced and professional users. These users appreciate Nikon’s full frame offerings because of their amazing image quality, reliability, low-light capability and high-speed performance,” said Bo Kajiwara, President and CEO, Nikon Inc. “Nikon is an innovative, diversified company with a clear, long-term strategy to thrive into 2018 and beyond.”
 
Since the beginning of 2017, the camera industry has seen strong growth in the full frame segment, with consumers gravitating toward Nikon’s innovative offerings for advanced and professional photographers. The month of December alone saw an overall increase of 69% in units and 59% in dollars compared to the same period in 2016.2 Nikon specifically experienced an 81% increase in units, and 88% growth in dollars for this segment.2
 
For the month of December, the top two selling DSLR cameras in this segment were the Nikon D750 and the Nikon D850.4 There has been exceptional demand for the extremely versatile, highly acclaimed D850, which is the ultimate combination of speed and resolution. This 45.7-megapixel full frame DSLR is a tool for serious photographers with robust construction, unparalleled imaged quality and proven reliability. Both the D850 and the D750 have won a myriad of industry and consumer accolades, and both are perfectly complemented by the vast NIKKOR lens system, which offers the best in optical excellence.
 
“Premium segments are leading the imaging market, as consumer demand for features like full frame are on the rise,” said Ben Arnold, executive director, industry analyst for The NPD Group.
 
Kajiwara also added, “We want to sincerely thank our customers and our fans for making this achievement possible.”
 
B&H carries the Nikon D850 DSLR camera.