Canon and Sony News for Dec 2021
From Yomiuri Shimbun (translated), a major newspaper in Japan:
"In an interview with Yomiuri Shimbun, Canon's Chairman and CEO Fujio Mitarai said that he would end the development and production of the flagship model of a conventional digital SLR camera a few years later, saying, "One for a mirrorless camera. It will become.""
"Canon's SLR flagship model is known as the "EOS-1" series, the first of which appeared in 1989. The latest model "EOS-1D X Mark 3" released in 2020 will be the last model in fact."
"Mr. Mitarai said, "The market needs are acceleratingly shifting to mirrorless cameras. In line with this, we are steadily shifting people," and revealed that the development system is being reviewed."
"Demand for beginner and intermediate SLR cameras is strong overseas, so we plan to continue development and production for the time being."
While translations can be difficult to accurately decipher, it appears that the 1-series DSLR line will end at the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III. The last translated line includes "development", appearing to leave the door open for new DSLR models below the flagship series.
The last Canon EOS DSLR introduced was the Rebel T8i / 850D that hit the streets around June 2020. The 1D X III hit the streets early in 2020, and the Canon EOS 90D arrived late in 2019.
Just posted: Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Lens Review
Upgrading to this lens can be fully justified by multiple enhancements, especially including sharper image quality and lighter weight.
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As I maintain a mixed kit of Sony and Canon gear, I was anxious to see how the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Lens compared to the equivalent Canon lens, the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens.
In the image quality comparison, the two lenses appear near equals. The Canon lens seems slightly sharper in the center of the frame from 70mm through 135mm, but any sharpness difference is not meaningful as a differentiator. At 200mm, the Sony lens has about one stop less peripheral shading to its advantage. The Canon lens has slight pincushion distortion at 70mm vs. a tiny amount of pincushion distortion. Both lenses trend toward pincushion distortion as their focal lengths are increased, with the Canon lens having less distortion than the Sony lens by 100mm and through 200mm. The Sony lens shows more color blur in the mid focal length range and blurs corner stars slightly more. The Canon lens produces slightly better specular highlight bokeh and slightly better points on sunstars.
The Sony lens mounted on an Alpha 1 in either AF-S or AF-C mode does not focus slowly, but the Canon lens with an EOS R5 behind it focuses noticeably faster in side-by-side testing. Neither lens makes much noise when focusing, but the Sony lens is slightly quieter.
The Sony lens is compatible with teleconverters, adding the versatility of up to the 140-400mm range with the 2x mounted. However, the teleconverter magnification is not without impact to the image quality, especially with the 2x in the optical path.
Most will find the smaller retracted size vs. fixed size the biggest differentiator between these lenses.
The Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Lens vs. Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens comparison shows, as seen in the comparison image above, the Canon lens measuring considerably smaller — when retracted. The compact Canon lens size is easier to stow a camera backpack and similar cases. Zoomed to 200mm, the Canon measures 0.27" (7mm) longer. Lenses maintaining a fixed size favor in-the-hand use, giving the Sony lens a different advantage.
When zoomed, the elements inside the lens move and repositioning elements can change the balance of the lens — regardless of the external size changing. However, the large objective lens elements remaining in position are advantageous in this regard, and the Sony lens maintains slightly better balance throughout the zoom range.
The Canon lens is slightly wider.
The Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Lens was introduced as the "World's Lightest Large-aperture Telephoto Zoom Lens", qualified to full-frame F2.8 70-200mm telephoto zoom lenses that support autofocus. The Sony lens is indeed lighter than the Canon lens, but the measured in-use (with tripod foot and hood) difference is only 2.9 oz (53.2g). Of that difference, 1.6 oz (13.3g) is in the hood weights. Few will find significance in the weight difference between these lenses.
The Sony lens features a front-positioned focus ring. Positioning the zoom ring toward the back of the lens provides a better balance for handheld zooming. Impacting the Sony lens's advantage is the aperture ring positioned behind the zoom ring. The aperture ring is a Sony lens feature advantage, but only for those intending to use it. Making space for the aperture ring shifts the zoom ring forward modestly, farther forward than the Canon lens's zoom ring.
The front element positioned farther forward of the mount gives the Sony lens a modestly better handheld balance at the wider focal lengths. The balance difference equalizes by the longer focal lengths.
Switches add control, but they also add complication, and the aperture ring adds two switches to the design. The zoom lock switch adds one to the Canon side of the equation, and the Sony DMF switch takes the count back to a two-switch lead. It is easier to tactilely find the Canon lens's switches, and the Canon lens's switches are less recessed and easier to use.
The Sony tripod hood is fully integrated and considerably smoother. However, the Canon lens's entire tripod collar can be removed (erasing the weight difference). The Sony lens collar's 90° marks are easier to align, and its tripod foot is removable (and replaceable with an integrated dovetail mount).
Consuming space utilized by the Sony lens's tripod collar is the Canon lens's control ring. Note that this ring can control the aperture.
The Sony lens has three focus hold buttons, and its hood window is tighter.
The additional fixed lens barrel length provides room for the Sony lens to have a longer focus ring.
At review time, the Sony lens costs $1.00 less than the Canon lens.
The bottom line is that both lenses are outstanding. Photographers deciding their camera brand choice at lens selection time will need to look carefully at the differentiating features between these lenses, along with those of the other lens models destined for their kit. In the end, most photographers with a Sony kit will choose the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Lens, and most photographers with a Canon kit will purchase the Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens.
From Tamron Japan (translated):
Tamron Co. , Ltd.
20mm F / 2.8 Di III OSD M1: 2 (Model F050)
24mm F / 2.8 Di III OSD M1: 2 (Model F051)
35mm F / 2.8 Di III OSD M1: 2 (Model F053)
Notice regarding use
Thank you for your continued patronage of Tamron products.
Our lenses 20mm F / 2.8 Di III OSD M1: 2 (Model F050), 24mm F / 2.8 Di III OSD M1: 2 (Model F051), 35mm F / 2.8 Di III OSD M1: 2 (Model F053) for Sony. We have confirmed that the following problems occur for E-mount, so we would like to inform you.
phenomenon
In combination with the a7 IV, AF switches to MF when shooting movies.
We are currently investigating and will provide details on the "Support Information" page at a later date.
In addition, customers who have registered with TAMRON BASE and wish to receive an e-mail newsletter will be notified by e-mail newsletter as soon as the details are available.
Support information here >>>
Registration is to TAMRON BASE here >>>
To customers, apologize from the bottom of my heart that you apologize for the inconvenience.
Learn more:
Tamron 20mm f/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 Lens Review
Tamron 24mm f/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 Lens Review
Tamron 35mm f/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 Lens Review
My family and I wish you a very Merry Christmas! As always, we hope that your Christmas season is filled with great meaning, great memories, and of course, great images.
Our Christmas tree represents a huge amount of work (primarily for my girls), and the results of their effort deserve preserving in a high quality image. After photographing the annual Christmas tree in the same location for 25 years, I have a few go-to shots dialed in.
An ultra-wide-angle focal length usually gets the selection. In addition to fitting the tree and surrounding space in the frame, this angle of view makes the room appear big, creating a more dramatic look.
There seems to be an outstanding ultra-wide angle lens choice introduced each year, and I seldom capture the tree photo with a lens previously used for that task. The Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM Lens captured the Christmas 2020 tree, the Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens captured the 2019 tree, and, going a bit narrower for a different look, the Canon RF 28-70mm F2L USM Lens took in the 2018 tree.
Which lens got the call for 2021? The impressive Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM Lens.
At this time of the year, I know that I need to take pictures bracketing 5:15 PM by a few minutes to have deep blue sky color showing through the windows with the exposure balanced for the Christmas lights inside. No, I can't remember this time from year to year, but a calendar item reminds me (and EXIF information from the prior year's photos can be referenced).
F/16 images from any current digital camera, and especially from cameras with ultra-high pixel density, show a slight softness due to diffraction. However, I like the starburst effect that narrow apertures, such as f/16, create from point light sources, such as the candles in the windows.
Yes, compositing pictures taken with different apertures, f/8 and f/22 for example, could provide larger starbursts and sharper images, with still adequate depth of field. However, the points on the star rotate as the aperture is changed. This means that each entire starburst must be carefully contained to only one of the images during compositing in order to avoid misalignment.
Getting technical: if in-camera focus shift correction is combining with focus breathing, one image may be slightly magnified relative to the other, further complicating the compositing process.
Using f/16 with a little extra sharpening keeps the process simple — and the results are still very nice.
With only the tree and other decorative lights on, the exposure needs to be long — 30 seconds at ISO 160. The exposure duration means that only a few images can be captured during the perfect deep blue sky time.
Long exposures also mean that the tree ornaments must be still to avoid motion blur, and the floor vibrates when walked on, making the ornaments swing. One person walking across the room at the wrong time could eliminate one or two exposures from that short period. Thus, the photo day is (usually) selected for when I am home alone at 5:15 PM.
Setup starts about 30 minutes prior to the optimal shooting time. Due to lack of space for this composition, some furniture was moved out of the camera position. The LED thermostat light is blocked with sticky notes, oOttoman wheel tracks in the carpet are pressed out, etc.
The vertical lines in the windows (or sometimes a wall unit) on the right side of the frame look best when running parallel to the edge of the frame. Thus, a camera position leveled for both tilt and roll is usually selected. In this case, the Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM Lens especially impresses with its lack of geometric distortion (no correction was applied to this image), rendering the window frame straight.
I am fortunate to have a range of tripods to work with, and holding the Sony Alpha a7R IV and FE 14mm f/1.8 GM Lens combination steady indoors is not a support challenge. However, when shooting on carpet, I prefer a tripod with some weight (or spikes) to press into the carpet fibers, decreasing movement. The Really Right Stuff TVC-34L Mk2 Tripod and BH-55 Ball Head handled this job nicely.
With that, another Christmas tree photo is in the archives.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 160
9538 x 6570px
Lensrental's list of the Most Popular Photography & Videography Gear of 2021 is up.
Interesting is that Canon took 13 out of the 19 positions, with the Canon EOS R5 in the #1 slot. Sony took all but one of the remaining positions.
Reminder: Purchase a Lensrentals gift card and get a bonus card for 20% of the value! No coupon code required. This offer ends 12/25/2021.
Renting is a great option for trying new gear or for getting otherwise unaffordable gear to use for short periods of time.
Bad news regarding the chip shortage from Sony Marketing Inc. (translated):
Dear customers,
Notice and apology regarding temporary suspension of orders for digital imaging products
Thank you for your continued patronage of Sony products.
Currently, with regard to digital imaging products, parts procurement is delayed due to the effects of global semiconductor shortages.
Therefore, we will suspend the acceptance of orders from our distributors and customers at the Sony store as follows for specific models with tight supply.
In addition, we will inform you as follows because there is a change in the supply status of some products that are subject to suspension of order acceptance.
Suspension of order acceptance We will consider resuming order acceptance of the target product while observing the status of parts supply, and will separately inform you on the product information page.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to our customers.
We will do our utmost to deliver the product as soon as possible, and we appreciate your understanding.
Record
| Update date and time | product name | About supply status |
| December 23, 2021 Stop accepting orders | Digital SLR camera: a6600 series / a7C series | After December 23, 2021, we will suspend the acceptance of orders from our distributors and customers' orders at the Sony store. |
| Production completed on December 23, 2021 | Digital single-lens camera: a7 II series / a6100 series | At the time of the announcement on November 19, 2021, the a7 II series / a6100 body (black) was designated as a “product subject to suspension of order acceptance”, but since there is no prospect of future parts supply, 2021 Production will be completed on December 23rd. |
| December 3, 2021 Stop accepting orders | Digital single-lens camera: VLOGCAM ZV-E10 series | After December 3, 2021, we will suspend the acceptance of orders from our distributors and customers' orders at the Sony store. |
| November 19, 2021 Stop accepting orders | Digital single-lens camera: a7 II series / a6400 series / a6100 body (black) Shotgun microphone: ECM-B1M Professional camcorder: PXW-Z190 | After November 19, 2021, we will suspend the acceptance of orders from our distributors and customers' orders at the Sony store. |
The top of a mountain in Acadia National Park is a great location to take in a sunset. Better still is to extend that sunset photography opportunity into night sky photography.
It is hard to make a bad composition of the milky way, but adding an interesting foreground usually improves nightscapes. My eye is naturally drawn to mountain peak markers, and the Bald Peak marker was available.
The next step in composing this image was determining the ideal balance of the marker with the milky way, and the camera position illustrated here seemed optimal of the accessible shot locations.
The Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens is one of the best nightscape lenses ever made. While the ultra-wide f/1.4 aperture is one of this lens's key nightscape advantages, the 24mm f/1.4 depth of field is shallow, too shallow to keep this sign and milky way sharp. Thus, this capture required an image focused on the peak marker and another focused on the stars.
Post-processing the two image stack was simple. The images were layered into a Photoshop file, and a layer mask was added to the top layer. Painting the mask black reveals that portion of the layer below, the peak marker and rocks in this case.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 5000
9504 x 6336px
Image quality test results are now available on the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Lens page.
You are going to like what this lightweight lens is delivering, and inventory for the used version I lens is growing rapidly.
Compared to the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS Lens
Compared to the Sony FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS Lens
Compared to the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD Lens
Compared to the Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens
Note the relatively small size and weight difference in the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Lens and Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS Lens comparison.
Order the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Lens from B&H | Adorama | Amazon USA | WEX (in Stock)
Rent the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Lens from Lensrentals.
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Just posted: Manfrotto Pro Light Reloader Tough-55 Roller Hard Case Review.
This is a highly-protective case sized ideally for common camera kits.
Note the current $50.00 under regular street price deal at Adorama.
The Manfrotto Pro Light Reloader Tough-55 Roller Hard Case is in stock at B&H | Adorama (on sale for $50.00 off usual street price) | Amazon USA
When multiple animals are in the frame, the composition challenge increases considerably, and the juxtaposition becomes critical to a good image.
Spending enough time in the right remote places aids in that good juxtaposition happening.
This day brought a blue sky background scenario. The camera's exposure was set to push the blue channel barely against the right edge of the histogram, retaining the brightest blue details.
During post-processing, I wanted the animals to be brighter than the original exposure provided. Therefore, taking advantage of the Canon EOS R5's exposure latitude, the same RAW file was processed at the initial exposure and again at brighter settings.
The two files were layered in Photoshop with a layer mask separating the animals and ground from the sky. The sky adjustment contained in a masked layer permits full control of the sky brightness in the final image. The result shared here has just enough blue dialed in to not be white.
The RF 100-500 has proven an outstanding choice for run and gun wildlife photography.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 1000
8192 x 5836px
SmugMug recently released the Source RAW file management add-on. PSD and PSB file formats have now been added to this feature.
"Photoshop users, rejoice! SmugMug Source—our workflow add-on that lets you upload, organize, and manage RAW files from anywhere—now includes support for PSD and PSB files. These files are visualized on Source just like RAWs are, too. Now all your working files have a safe, secure, and easily searchable home that’s accessible from any device. So what are you waiting for?" [SmugMug]
Do you have an online portfolio? If not, or if you are not happy with the one you have, I highly recommend SmugMug. The starter plan is quite affordable and full-featured. Try for free.
Just posted: Sigma 90mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary Lens Review
The 90mm version is similar to the other five Sigma I series compact prime lenses.
The Sigma 90mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary Lens is in stock at B&H | Adorama | Amazon USA | WEX
Rent the Sigma 90mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary Lens from Lensrentals.
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Just posted: Sigma 65mm F2 DG DN Contemporary Lens Review.
This lens is another good addition to your your Sigma I series compact prime collection.
The Sigma 65mm F2 DG DN Contemporary Lens is in stock at B&H | Adorama | Amazon USA | WEX
Rent the Sigma 65mm F2 DG DN Contemporary Lens from Lensrentals.
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The warm early morning sunlight breaks through a small hole in the clouds at Monument Cove.
As is typical with landscape photography, being at the right place at the right time was the key to this image capture. While it is easy to control the when and the where, timing the clouds is a bigger challenge, one that often involves going home without the targeted image.
When photographing a large body of water, wave action is another image quality factor involving timing. Every wave is different, and the brightness caused by air in the water changes as the wave approaches, breaks, crashes, and recedes.
This image was captured at 28mm, well within the comfortable range of angles of view provided by the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens. When creating a composition, determine the elements that are helpful to an image and frame to include only those.
On this day, the sky was extremely bright and not especially photogenic. Therefore, I chose a downward camera angle combined with a focal length long enough to include only a small amount of sky, just enough to fit the ocean horizon.
As you likely guessed, I pressed the shutter release many times while this window of light availed itself. This image made the cut for the wave position and the shadow of a small cloud creating uneven lighting on the far edge of the boulder beach. The latter helps the monument to garner more attention.
A larger version of this image is available here.
ISO 100
9325 x 6216px
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