Rich Canon EOS 5D Mark III Kit On Sale At Adorama

EOS 5D Mark III

Adorama has a rich Canon EOS 5D Mark III kit on sale. No lenses but a lot of accessories (free shipping & USA warranty). For $4,549.50 (click here) you get:

  • Canon EOS 5D Mark III body
  • Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT Shoe Mount Flash, USA Warranty
  • Canon PIXMA PRO-1 Professional Inkjet Printer
  • SanDisk SDCFX032GA61 32GB Extreme 60mb/sec CompactFlash
  • Canon 100-EG Custom Gadget Bag
  • Flashpoint LP-E6 Replacement Battery for Canon
  • Flashpoint BGe11 Battery Grip for Canon 5D Mark III
  • Mack 3 Year Extended Warranty, for Digital Camera & Basic Lens up to $6000
  • Flashpoint Glass Screen Protector f/Canon 5D Mark 3
  • Adorama Wireless Radio Remote Release for Canon EOS
  • Adobe Dual Software Photoshop Elements 10 and Premiere Elements 10
  • Canon 13″ x 19″ Photo Paper Pro Luster, 50 Sheets
Not bad. :-)

A Bit Of Everything

Patent For New Canon 14mm f/2.8 With Improved Surface Coating

Canon 14mm f/2.8

Canon 14mm f/2.8

Egami (translated) found a patent filed by Canon for a 14mm f/2.8 lens with a new anti-reflective coating, Subwavelength Structure Coating. This method optimizes the refractive index and allows for a thinner anti-reflective film.

Appears as if Canon is working on a successor of the EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM lens (price & specs).

Patent specification (machine translated):

  • Patent Publication No. 2013-47780
    • 2013.3.7 Release Date
    • Filing date 2011.7.26
  • Example
    • F = 14.3mm focal length
    • Half angle ω = 56.6 °
    • Fno. 2.89
    • 14 images in 10 groups lens configuration
  • Canon patent
    • Antireflection film which is excellent in productivity and reflectance characteristics
    • The refractive index of the substrate (original surface of the lens) is 1.65 to 2.20
    • Consists of three layers, the ratio of the refractive index change with a three-layer
    • The third layer
      • Average roughness of less than 400nm pitch structure
      • By continuously varying the ratio of the space-filling structure uneven, changing the refractive index
      • After drying, the film is immersed in hot water and applied to the second layer solution (containing aluminum oxide) by spin coating, plate-like crystals deposited on the surface
    • If spin coating of the wet process, excellent in productivity can be realized a uniform thickness
    • Little change in the characteristics even if there is variation in thickness

 

Good Times To Buy An EOS 6D, and other Canon Gear

EOS 6D

If you are not willing to wait to see how much up-market the upcoming EOS 70D will be, or to wait Fall for the EOS 7D Mark II, if you need or simply want a full-frame sensor DSLR, then these are good times for you price-conscious folks. The Canon EOS 6D got cheaper, and there are good kits around. The well performing EOS M with the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens or the Ef-M 22mm f/2 STM is also available with discounts. Then we have a 7D and a T4i deal. Be aware that most of the prices in the list below show up after having added the item to the cart.

  • The EOS 6D body only option is now down to $1789 (Adorama | B&H| Amazon)
  • The EOS 6D with the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens is $2329 (Adorama | B&H| Amazon) – B&H bundles the kit with these additional bonus items:  Lexar 16GB SDHC Professional 400x Class 10 UHS-I Memory Card and a Lowepro Adventura 170 Shoulder Bag
  • The EOS M with the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM is $733.36 at Amazon and $749 at B&H and Adorama
  • The EOS M with the Ef-M 22mm f/2 STM is $675 at Amazon and B&H and Adorama
  • The EF-M 22mm f/2 STM pancake lens is sold for $245 at B&H
  • Adorama has refurbished EOS 7Ds for $979 (click here)
  • Canon Rebel T4i (EOS 650D) kit with the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens and a 16 GB memory card for $799 at B&H
EOS 6D 

More Canon Rumors: EOS 6D Firmware Update And Some EOS 7D Mark II Specs

EOS 7D Mark II

It’s rumors day today. After the rumor about a next to come announcement of the EOS 70D, more is coming out of the rumor mill.

First rumor: Canon will release a firmware update for the EOS 6D (price & specs). Besides tweaks and fixes, the firmware update should deliver f/8 autofocus at the center point, and the AI servo indicator could also be added. The expected release date for the firmware is May/June 2013.

Second rumor: apparently there are some prototypes of the EOS 7D Mark II out in the wild. One of the prototypes of the successor of the EOS 7D (price & specs) has an internal grip, making the body look a little like a mini EOS-1D X (price & specs). It looks like a bigger battery allows for better auto-focus on bigger lenses. The EOS 7D Mark II is expected to be announced end of summer or in fall. This was anticipated by Nippon Magazine some weeks ago.

There is a good EOS 7D deal at Adorama: refurbished EOS 7Ds for $979 (click here).

Canon EOS 6D price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EOS 7D price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA [via CR]

 

Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II USM Review (DPreview)

EF 24-70 f/2.8L II

DPreview reviewed the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II USM lens (price & specs), one of Canon’s top level pro lenses.

In the conclusion they write:

Conclusion – Pros

  • Superb, almost flawless optics
  • Impressive flare resistance
  • Fast, silent, and accurate autofocus
  • Excellent build quality including weathersealing

Conclusion – Cons

  • Unpleasant vignetting in the 50-70mm region at F2.8 on full frame
  • Noticeably lower image quality at close focus distances
  • No image stabilisation
  • Very expensive

In fact, the 24-70mm II follows its big brother, the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM (price & specs), in being a lens that’s so good we’ve found it difficult to pick out any significant flaws. It’s superbly sharp, even wide open, but manages to combine this with lovely bokeh. Distortion is pretty well under control (and of course easily corrected in post processing), and chromatic aberration extremely low. Vignetting can be a problem towards the long end on full frame cameras, with a very abrupt falloff in brightness in the corners at F2.8. But again that’s easy to correct, either in post-processing, or in-camera with recent EOS models.

The 24-70mm deals well with difficult lighting too, and handles shooting directly into the sun without much image degradation due to flare. Autofocus is fast and decisive, and we’ve found it to be impressively accurate on higher-end cameras such as the EOS 6D (price & specs). The entry-level EOS 650D (price & specs) can struggle to hit perfect focus every time at F2.8, but that probably reflects more on the camera than the lens. The build quality is difficult to fault too, combining weathersealing with a welcome wieght reduction compared to its predecessor.

Nothing surprising, the EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II was called a peerless performer by the DXOMark’s people.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM price check: [shopcountry 2160] The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM can be rented at borrowlenses (click here)

[via dpreview]