Canon Product Advisory For Speedlite AF Assist Beam Issue on EOS 5D Mark III and EOS -1D X

Speedlite AF assist beam

Ok, Canon reacted to the problem of the auto-focus beam issue observed using Speedlite AF assist beam with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III (price & specs) or Canon EOS-1D X (price & specs). Everything started when a user posted about the problem in the Canon USA EOS forum, getting the following answer from a forum moderator (I reported about this here):

Canon has confirmed that, depending upon the shooting conditions, it may take slightly longer for the EOS 5D Mark III and EOS-1D X digital SLR cameras to acquire focus when using the Speedlite’s AF Assist Beam, compared with that of the EOS 5D Mark II and EOS-1D Mark IV digital SLR cameras using the Speedlite’s AF Assist Beam. We are developing a firmware update to enhance the focusing feature for the EOS 5D Mark III and the EOS-1D X. The schedule for release of this firmware update will be announced shortly.

Yesterday Canon USA released the following product advisory:

Thank you for using Canon products.

Affected Products

EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR Camera

EOS-1D X Digital SLR Camera

Details

Depending upon the shooting conditions, it may take slightly longer for the EOS 5D Mark III and EOS-1D X digital SLR cameras to acquire focus when using the Speedlite’s AF Assist Beam, compared with that of the EOS 5D Mark II and EOS-1D Mark IV digital SLR cameras using the Speedlite’s AF Assist Beam.

We are developing a solution to enhance the focusing feature for the EOS 5D Mark III and EOS-1D X and plan to release a firmware update based on following estimated schedule:

EOS 5D Mark III: (estimated) Late April, 2013

EOS-1D X: (estimated) Late May, 2013

Support

This information is for residents of the United States and Puerto Rico only. If you do not reside in the USA or Puerto Rico, please contact the Canon Customer Support Center in your region.

If you have not already done so, please register your Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR Camera or your Canon EOS-1D X. Digital SLR Camera. By registering, we will be able to notify you via email about future service upgrades.

Thank you,

Customer Support Operations

Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Contact Information for Inquiries

Canon Customer Support Center

Phone: 1-855-CINE-EOS (toll free)

1-855-246-3367

TDD: 1-866-251-3752

Email: [email protected]

For additional support options: pro.usa.canon.com/support

Canon EOS 5D Mark III price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EOS-1D X price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

A Bit Of Everything

$2000 Instant Rebate On Canon EOS C300 (and more cool stuff from Adorama)

cool stuff from Adorama

Today we have some cool stuff from Adorama. Adorama has an instant discount program for the Canon EOS C300 going on. Instead of $15999, the C300 is on sale for $13,999 (click here). The offer is for both the EF (click here) and PL (click here) mount versions.

Before I forget it: Adorama started a best shot contest. The price is an EOS 6D (or a camera of another brand).

Adorama also has the instant rebates program going on on selected Canon lenses and Speedlites (click here to see all items on sale). For instance:

Finally, if you have some old Canon body you want to get rid off, and if you are looking forward to get a Sony camera (you do? shame on you!), then Adorama has the right deal. For a limited time (until March 3rd), they offer a trade in-trade up special promotion when you trade in an old and even non-working camera to credit towards a new Sony RX1 and Sony RX100 (the credit applies right on the invoice). How does it work? Order a Sony RX1 (do it here) or a Sony RX100 (do it here) and email [email protected] to let Adorama know so that they can apply the trade in discount. The trade in credit is not fixed to a given amount, it depends, but in any case it is consistent enough to make it worth. For instance, when trading in a PowerShot SD1000 (even a broken one) to purchase the Sony RX100 (would cost $648) you will receive around $80 as credit for the purchase, effectively paying $568. The whole operation is quick and effortless. But do you really want to give away your Canon camera, even if it is not working? :-)

Want To Win A Canon EOS 6D? Read Here How To

Win A Canon EOS 6D

Adorama started a best shot contest, you can win a Canon EOS 6D (or Nikon D600) as final price.

It is easy to take part to the contest, these are the rules:

We are constantly impressed by the photographic talents of our customers, so we’re asking you to show us your best shot of 2012. Everyone is welcomed to participate and no purchase is necessary. Simply post your image to the AdoramaPix Facebook wall and send a high resolution image to [email protected]. So what are you waiting for? Your talent could win you a pro DSLR.

Entries are due by March 17th, 2013. Contest details are available on our blog.

Get Started

*PS: All submissions should be posted to the AdoramaPix Facebook page or emailed to [email protected]. If you’re not on Facebook just email us your image and say that in your email. We will post the image on our wall with your credits.

Win A Canon EOS 6D

The price of the EOS 6D has gone down to $1899  (Amazon | B&H | Adorama) for the body only, and to $2499 (Amazon | B&H | Adorama) for the 6D with the EF 24-105 f/4L IS lens.

Canon EOS 6D price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

One Canon Park To Become The New Home Of Canon U.S.A. In Melville, New York

Canon's press release:

MELVILLE, N.Y., February 18, 2013 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is proud to announce the new address of its new Americas headquarters. One Canon Park, located in Melville, New York will consolidate nearly 1,400 Canon employees into one central location. Nearly half of all Canon U.S.A. employees have relocated to the Melville headquarters while the remaining employees will complete the move in March. The new headquarters will serve all North and South American countries and will be one of Canon's three worldwide headquarters, with the other two located in London and Japan.

“We are so proud to be moving to our brand new, state-of-the-art headquarters at One Canon Park,” said Seymour Liebman, executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel, Canon U.S.A. “One Canon Park will be a symbol of not only our dedication to our employees, but also our dedication to the Long Island community we have called home since 1971.”

Remaining on Long Island was always a top priority for the company to help retain the highly skilled and dedicated workforce. One Canon Park is a 700,000 square-foot facility and is located approximately 16 miles east of the current headquarters in Lake Success, New York.

The mailing address will be: One Canon Park, Melville, NY 11747.

 

New Arrival: Samyang 24mm F3.5 Tilt Shift Lens

Samyang 24mm F3.5 Tilt Shift

Available for pre-order at B&H: the Samyang 24mm F3.5 Tilt Shift Lens for $999 (click here). The lens was announced at Photokina 2012. The press release:

Samyang Optics is about to release a new lens with the perspective control function — Samyang T-S 24mm 1:3.5 ED AS UMC. The official product presentation will take place on September 18th 2012, during international photographic Photokina fairs held in Cologne.

New Samyang T-S 24mm 1:3.5 ED AS UMC is a wide-angle, full-frame lens fitted with the perspective control and tilt-shift functions. Its unique optical and mechanical construction makes it an ideal tool for architecture and landscape photography. The product will be also extremely useful when convergence of the lines in the frame is required. Owing to the mechanism of optical axis tilt, focus depth operation brings utterly new quality and possibilities, enabling photographers to shape the image according to their individual needs, both on digital and nalog carriers.

Optical design of Samyang T-S 24mm 1:3.5 ED AS UMC comprises of sixteen lenses arranged in eleven groups, including two aspherical lens and two lens made of ED glass with low dispersion factor. Thanks to this solution, the lens perfectly reproduces detailed elements and gives splendid image plasticity, also with the T-S function on. Each optical component of the product was covered with multi-layered, anti-reflective UMC coatings, which provide great light transmission factor, high contrasts and render only natural colors of the photographed scene. With sophisticated optics and developed T-S function, Samyang T-S 24mm 1:3.5 ED AS UMC is currently the most advanced lens produced by Samyang Optics and may compete with similar lenses of other brands.

Tilt-Shift function

Tilt-Shift function in Samyang T-S 24mm 1:3.5 ED AS UMC allows for smooth and individual adjustment of the focus plane angle by +/-8.5 and enables parallel shift of the optical axis by +/-12 millimeters. To make Tilt-Shift function even more seamless, both the lens mount as well as Tilt-Shift section may be rotated on the optical axis. The Tilt-Shift section may be rotated left by 90 degrees (with 30 degree adjustment), while mount of the lens may be rotated both in left and right direction by 90 degrees, also with 30 degree adjustment.

Samyang T-S 24mm 1:3.5 ED AS UMC will be available with mounts for Canon EF, Nikon F, Pentax K and Sony A. We welcome everyone to visit us at Photokina at our booth A025 in the hall 2.1.

Samyang T-S 24mm 1:3.5 ED AS UMC Specifications

Aperture Range F3.5-22
Optical Construction 16 elements in 11 groups / 2 aspherical elements
Minimum Focus 0.2m
Filter thread 82mm
Maximum Diameter 86mm
Angle of view 83.5° (35mm full frame)
Length 110.5mm (Nikon F mount)
Tilt movement +/-8°; rotates 90° relative to shift movement
Shift movement +/-12mm; rotates +/- 90° relative to lens mount