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Canon issued a new product advisory regarding the EOS 5D Mark III and the infamous light-leaking issue. It looks as if Canon has identified the 5D Mark III batches that are affected by the issue: Products whose sixth digit in the serial number is 1 or 2 (e.g. xxxxx1xxxxxx or  xxxxx2xxxxxx, where x represents any optional number). Canon will provide a free inspection of you camera if you are worried about the light-leaking issue. Moreover, a firmware update for the 5D Mark III has been released (rel. 1.1.2, click on “software and drivers”, then select your operating system, then click on “firmware” to download). The firmware update fixes the following issues: 1. Supports a new accessory, GPS receiver GP-E2. 2. Fixes a phenomenon where a pink cast may develop over the image when the shutter is completely pressed with the camera’s power turned off (by the auto power off setting). 3. Fixes a phenomenon where the camera operation stops after one shot when shooting in High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode. 4. Fixes a phenomenon where the Shooting Date/Time in the EXIF data of the image shows a later time than the actual shooting time. 5. Fixes the time zone for the Samoa Islands. 6. Corrects errors in the Finnish menu screen. (Products for the Japanese market do not display the Finnish menu.)

The full text of the light-leak product advisory:

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This is a list of 100 tips and observations about photography by Los Angeles based street photographer Eric Kim. Some are obvious, some may sound weird, and some tips are of the kind I never thought about (take #16 for instance, ).

1. Just because someone has an expensive camera doesn’t mean that they’re a good photographer.
2. Always shoot in RAW. Always.
3. Prime lenses help you learn to be a better photographer.
4. Photo editing is an art in itself
5. The rule of thirds works 99% of the time.
6. Macro photography isn’t for everybody.
7. UV filters work just as well as lens caps.
8. Go outside & shoot photos rather than spending hours a day on photography forums.
9. Capture the beauty in the mundane and you have a winning photograph.
10. Film isn’t better than digital.

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More footage shot with a modified EOS 5D Mark III has been published. I reported about this hack made by James Miller (here, here and here). The mod consists in removing the OLPF (Optical Low-Pass Filter) from the sensor of the 5D Mark III. The result: an increase in resolution. The surprising thing is that neither moire nor aliasing become a real problem without the OLPF (aka Anti-Aliasing filter). Without the OLPF filter the sensor becomes also more sensitive to IR light, making the 5D Mark III suitable for astrophotography. To fully enjoy (and analyze) the footage it’s better to login to Vimeo and to download the uncompressed version of the video.

[via EOSHD]

Good deal on Amazon: The Rebel T3i/EOS 600D with the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Type II Lens dropped to $899.88 on Amazon US – click here to check the deal. The core specs of the Rebel T3i (EOS 600D in Europe):

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Ever heard about liquid lenses? It may be the next big thing in optical engineering. Basically, liquid lenses work by applying an electric voltage to an electrolytic solution (that’s the liquid) in order to curve its surface (called meniscus). You probably are already thinking: Hey, that means no moving parts! And you are right. Liquid lenses have a series of advantages over traditional lenses. Beside not having moving parts (and thus less mechanical parts), they  respond quicker to electrical signals, they do not have a motor (you thought that USM was the big thing? Think again) and they are naturally much more silent. Just one quick note: Not having a motor means they need less electrical power, and that means the battery charge will last longer. There is a 10 minutes video at the end of the post that explains the technology. Fun to watch and good examples. Ok, let’s see the patent (it was very tiring to read ).

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This is the most hilarious review about Nikon’s D800 I’ve ever read. Scott Bourne reviews it, and while doing the review he praises the EOS 5D Mark III. Funny. Needless to say: he also considers the AF of the 5D Mark III superior to the AF featured on the D800. The lower price tag is also demystified, since having a 36MP sensor means having bigger files, and that means you eventually have to invest in new computer equipment: [...] you better also plan on buying more and larger hard drives, a faster computer and more and larger memory cards. The files coming off the camera are at least 40 megabytes. Do the math! [...] that means you’ll need three times the hard drive space and three times the camera memory. Add that to the cost of the camera and it’s not quite the bargain it appears to be compared with the 5D MK III. Also – get used to going for coffee while your images import.

About the Auto-Focus: The Nikon D800 also has a few small problems. Its autofocus doesn’t work as expected. It seems to do an initial grab and then fine tune. The AF on the D800 is in my opinion, inferior to the AF on the 5DMKIII.

[via photofocus]