[Rumor] Does Canon Have Problems With The EF-S 18-135mm STM IS Lens?

There are reports of customers that saw their orders for the Rebel T4i/EOS 650D with the EF-S 18-135mm STM IS lens cancelled, apparently without any reason. It’s also rather curious that the only shop that has the EF-S18-135mm STM IS in stock and ready to ship is the Canon Store itself ($549.99, click here). Except for DigitalRev (click here, price depends by check-out location), none of the shops in my database have the lens in stock. Isn’t that strange enough?

[via CR]

[Rumor] Canon Working On A New 50mm f/1.8 IS?

A new rumor surfaced, saying Canon is working on a replacement for its 50mm f/1.4 USM lens:

A purported replacement to the EF 50 f/1.4 was mentioned today in the form of an EF 50 f/1.8 IS. The lens would be smaller than the current 50 f/1.4. There is no imminent announcement of such a lens, but Canon is working to replace the 50 f/1.4 sometime in the next year. The current 50 f/1.8 would remain in the lineup.

Sounds plausible to me.

[via CR]

[Patent] Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 Image Stabilized Lens

Egami (machine translated) found a new Canon patent for a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens with Image Stabilization. They suggest, correctly in my opinion, that Canon has to react to the release of the Tamron AF 24-70mm f/2.8 SP Di USD VC which has image stabilization (called VC, Vibration Compensation by Tamron).

  • Patent Publication No. 2012-123156
    • 2012.6.28 Release Date
    • 2010.12.8 filing date
  • Example 1
    • Zoom ratio 2.46
    • 68.99mm – f = 28.00 focal length
    • Fno. 2.88
    • 17.41 deg – 37.69 half angle of view.
    • Image height 21.64mm
    • 222.38mm – 192.25 full-length lens
    • BF 39.98 – 53.68
    • Effective diameter 74.47mm ball before
    • Effective diameter aperture 31.23mm
    • 19 sheets 12 group lens configuration
    • Three three aspherical surface
    • 2 UD glass sheet
  • Example 2
    • Zoom ratio 2.86
    • 68.70 – f = 24.00 focal length
    • Fno. 2.88
    • 17.48 deg – 42.03 half angle of view.
    • Image height 21.64mm
    • 224.86mm – 191.93 full-length lens
    • BF 39.85 – 55.68mm
    • Effective diameter 77.29mm ball before
    • Effective diameter aperture 32.58mm
    • Lens Construction 12 group 21 sheets
    • Three three aspherical surface
    • 2 UD glass sheet
  • Five-group zoom positive and negative positive positive and negative
  • (For Focusing group 2) Inner Focus
  • (Part 1 of the fourth lens group, anti-vibration unit is L4a) image stabilization
  • Positive refractive power of the first lens group
    • The aberration can be corrected and weaken, the lens is larger
    • Difficult to correct aberration and strengthen
  • The amount of movement of the second lens group and one, the first
    • Must be strengthened to reduce power and refraction, aberration correction is difficult
    • Diameter of the first lens group becomes larger and more

[Deal] Huge Rebel T4i/EOS 650D/Kiss X6i Bundle (10 Accessories)

Big starter kit around a Rebel T4i/EOS 650D/Kiss X6i body.  A huge, 10 items bundle that comes at the price the T4i/650D/X6i body usually comes alone. For $850 by Adorama (click here) you get all of the following items:

  • Canon EOS Rebel T4i Body
  • 32 GB SD Memory Card
  • Camera Bag
  • Spare LP-E8 Lithium-Ion Rehargeable Battery
  • Cleaning Kit
  • Screen Protector
  • USB 2.0 Card Reader
  • 8GB USB Flash Drive
  • Microfiber Cloth
  • Memory Wallet Card Holder
  • Red Giant Adorama Production Bundle

Want to know more about the Rebel T4i/EOS 650D? Have a look here.

Have a nice weekend. :-)

 

[Review] Canon EOS 50D – Still Kicking

The EOS 50D (click here), released back in 2008, and still a great camera. Carl at photographic central reviewed the 50D. He got the point so well that I just have to quote him.

Comparing the 50D to today’s DSLR’s on specifications and you might find it has a lot more in common with them than you think a DSLR announced in August of 2008 should. This is one loaded DSLR with lots of resolution and features that, on paper at least, stands up quite well with today’s newest DSLRS on the market- even against Canon’s own EOS 7D […].

Agree. You should also know that the 50D was the last true iteration of the x0D series. The next model, the EOS 60D, didn’t really push the line-up forwards: Canon decided to split the x0D series, crippling down the 60D and introducing the EOS 7D (btw, the 7D is still on sale on B&H – click here). This was a little bit disappointing for some people (myself included). The 60D didn’t get a magnesium alloy, nor does it have some of the “semi-pro” features of the 50D (and 40D). Carl summarizes very well what it is about with the 50D:

A quick rundown of the Canon 50D for those who have never read about it before: This is a semi professional DSLR with a 15.1mp APS-C sensor that includes weather sealing, live view w/two kinds of autofocus, a very robust magnesium outer frame and internal stainless steel chassis, an ISO range of 100-12,800, a 920K anti-reflective LCD screen w/top plate LCD screen as well, auto focus fine tuning for up to 20 lenses, a custom control menu system, 9 point high speed AF system w/all 9 points double cross f/5.6 high sensitivity except the center which is double cross and sensitive to f/2.8, high frequency dust reduction system, a large pentaprism viewfinder with .95X magnification and 96% accuracy, and a lens vignetting correction option available in the menu.

Made using an EOS 50D – Great shot Carl! (image courtesy of Photographic Central)

The review is detailed and comprehensive, I really suggest you have a look. Let me cite from the conclusion (which has much more to say than I am quoting here):

Speaking plainly I just enjoy using the 50D on a daily basis for a wide variety of subjects in many different conditions. It’s a camera that doesn’t really have any real weaknesses in any particular category and is just a fun camera to shoot with and rely on. At the end of the day, isn’t that what we want from a DSLR?

[…]

The Canon 50D is one such steal on the market right now that sacrifices very little of newer modern features found in DSLRS, but at almost 1/3rd the cost used than a similar camera would cost you new. Therefore the Canon EOS 50D is indeed one of the best bang for the buck deals you can get on a DSLR (as of today’s date) and I highly recommend it to any shooter, especially those who are on a tighter budget as long as you don’t need video. And I assume that if you are reading a Canon 50D review, you probably aren’t in that camp anyways.

Canon EOS 50D price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA.

Click here to see the Canon EOS 50D price on eBay.

Technical specifications:

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