Yongnuo announces YN 14mm f/2.8 lens for Canon mount

YN 14mm f/2.8
View Post

Yongnuo YN 14mm f/2.8 at a glance:

  • Focal Length 14mm
  • Lens Structure 9 groups 12pcs
  • Diaphragm Leaves 7pcs
  • Minimum Aperture 22
  • Minimum Focus Distance Approx 0.2m
  • Maximum Amplification Factor Approx 0.15x
  • Drive System DC Motor
  • Maximum Diameter and Length Approx Φ86×105mm
  • Weigh tApprox 780g

Chinese manufacturer Yongnuo announced a ultra-wide angle lens for Canon mount, the YN 14mm f/2.8. The YN 14mm f/2.8 looks very similar to Canon’s 14mm lenses. Interesting detail: the Yongnuo YN 14mm f/2.8 has a USB port for firmware updates. Although the new Yongnuo lens looks similar to Canon’s 14mm f/2.8 II lens it’s not a clone. As for the time of writing neither the price nor the shipping date are known.

From Yongnuo:

A Professional Lens of Capturing Grand View

YONGNUO Ultra-wide Angle Prime Lens YN14mm F2.8

114° Ultra-wide Angle

The diagonal angle of view is about 114°. For YN14mm F2.8 helps to collect the vast landscape and giant structures, it’s easier to show a grand and solemn atmosphere.

High-precision,Ultra-low Dispersion and Aspherical Lens
It carries two high-precision aspherical glass lenses, one of which adopts ultra-low dispersion lens, which effectively compensates various optical aberration,  minimizes chromatic aberrations, and provides excellent sharpness and color correction.

Precision-machined Abnormal Dispersion Lens

YN14mm 2.8 adopts 1pcs of abnormal dispersion lens, which helps to better control the dispersion problem from super-wide angle and large aperture, and, helps to improve second order spectrum.

Glass Optical Lens, Multilayer Coating

It adopts glass optical lens and multilayer coating technology to effectively increase light transmittance and minimize backlight ghost image and glare.

Firmware Upgrade

YN14mm F2.8 is equipped with USB port. The users can download the latest firmware from the official YONGNUO website and update the lens to keep the best compatibility and performance.

F2.8 Large Aperture

With F2.8 bright and large aperture, background blurred, subject highlighted.

Focus Modes: Auto Focus (AF) and Manual Focus (MF)

YN14mm F2.8 supports auto focus and manual focus. The focus mode can be selected according to practical requirement.

7 pieces of Aperture Blades

YN14mm F2.8 has 7 pieces of aperture blades, which helps to take picture of circular defocused spots and helps to reduce the aperture and take picture of 14-star effect.

Durable Metal Mount

YN14mm F2.8 adopts chrome-plated and high-accuracy metal mount. It’s wearable, corrosion-resistant, and highly consistent with the camera.

Focus Distance Indicator

YN14mm F2.8 is equipped with focus distance indicator. It’s convenient for you to judge the distance and the depth of field.

Gold-plating Technology

The metal contacts adopts gold-plating technology,which brings the advantages of excellent signal transduction ,perfect image quality and new performance breakthroughs.

The Canon EOS 6D Mark II is Casey Neistat’s new vlogging tool, here is why

Canon eos 6d mark ii deal
View Post

Canon EOS 6D Mark II: [shopcountry 46185]

EOS 6D Mark II at a glance:

  • 26.2MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 7 Image Processor
  • 45-Point All-Cross Type AF System
  • Full HD Video at 60 fps; Electronic IS
  • 3.0″ Vari-Angle Touchscreen LCD
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF and Movie Servo AF
  • Native ISO 40000, Expanded to ISO 102400
  • 6.5 fps Shooting; Time-Lapse & HDR Movie
  • Built-In GPS, Bluetooth, & Wi-Fi w/ NFC
  • Dust and Water Resistant; SD Card Slot

Video blogger Casey Neistat now uses a Canon EOS 6D Mark II (price & specs)  for his job. He switched from a Panasonic GH5. The reason? Better auto focus with Dual Pixel AF and better depth of field.

[via Fro Knows Photo]

Interview with the developers and engineers behind the Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS lens

Canon Ef 85mm f/1.4L
View Post

Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS at a glance:

  • EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/1.4 to f/22
  • One GMo Aspherical Element
  • Air Sphere and Fluorine Coatings
  • Ring-Type Ultrasonic Motor AF System
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • Dust- and Water-Resistant Construction
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm

As I wrote many times, the Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS is the hottest Canon lens of 2017.

Canon Asia’s Snapshot site posted an interview with the engineers and developers who thought, designed and built the Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS (price & specs).  The interview comes in two parts, part one is here and part two here. An excerpt from the interview:

When the product planning department requested development of this lens, our development department was initially stumped by the high degree of difficulty in the design. When equipping large aperture lenses with image stabilisation, the arrangement of the focus and image stabilisation groups is an important factor for determining the size and weight of the lens. Lenses with a small f-number (large aperture) characteristically have large diameter glass. The image stabilisation group, which is a part of the optical system, needs to be able to move to compensate for camera shake, which naturally makes the group heavy. An actuating force is also required to drive the group, and this further adds to the lens’ size and weight. Therefore, the development team’s first impression was that it would be almost impossible to develop the reasonably-sized, appealingly-priced 85mm f/1.4 lens with image stabilisation that the product planning department had requested.

Well, they managed to do it. This lens is a masterpiece. Kudos Canon!

More Ef 85mm f/1.4L IS coverage here. The Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS is in stock and sells for $1,599 at Amazon US,  Adorama, Canon Store, and B&H Photo.

More Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS order/pre-order links (if available in the respective countries):

[shoplist 46811]

Canon starts fully automatized indoor farming with robots, report

canon rumors

Canon is active in various markets, here is another one I didn’t know about: automatized indoor farming.

Nikkei Asian Review reports:

TOKYO — Canon Electronics plans to open an entirely automated vegetable factory in 2019, seeking to lower costs by applying homegrown robotics technology to a burgeoning industry where stable profits remain tough to cultivate.

The Canon unit will convert empty space at a Gunma Prefecture facility into an indoor farm initially dedicated to growing lettuce and other green, leafy vegetables friendly to hydroponics. Robots will handle everything from planting seeds and transplanting seedlings to harvesting and packaging crops for shipment. Details such as annual production scale and sales targets will be settled later.

The company will partner with other businesses for know-how on managing the factory and building sales networks. Canon Electronics is also considering building a second such factory in western Japan.

The unit makes some of the manufacturing machinery on the automated production lines in Canon’s domestic camera business. Its delicate automation technology from that precision machinery will be put to use developing green-thumbed robots for the company’s new factory plan. Read the report…

Is Canon getting ready to jump into the pot revolution that just started in the US? :-) Just kidding, they are going to grow “lettuce and other green, leafy vegetables friendly to hydroponics”. Or what…?

Can’t wait to meet one of Canon’s “green-thumbed robots”.

Canon Encourages Everyone to See the Impossible Through Innovation (at CES 2018)

See the Impossible
View Post

Canon press release:

Empowering Visionaries Everywhere, Canon U.S.A. Invites Innovators To Its Booth At The 2018 Consumer Electronics Show

Canon Encourages Every Business to See the Impossible Through Innovation

MELVILLE, N.Y., December 27, 2017 – Continuing its innovative path this year, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is proud to welcome visionaries back to its booth at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV (Booth #16206). This year, the booth welcomes back visionary FoxTales. An experiential marketing technology company that works with brands to create immersive shareable moments, FoxTales has created a “face painting in the dark” experience with Canon’s ME20F-SH Multi-Purpose camera to showcase its low-light video capabilities. Joining FoxTales this year will be a myriad of new visionaries focusing on manufacturing, retail, sports and entertainment. Each visionary will showcase how they leverage Canon’s rich heritage of sensor and optics technologies, innovations and manufacturing to help shape their vision.

“CES 2018 marks our persistent trajectory of redefining the boundaries of innovation and creating business solutions for more imaging related products,” said Eliott Peck, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies and Communications Group, Canon U.S.A., Inc. and chairman & CEO, Canon Information Technology Services, Inc. “We learned, we listened, and we look forward to continuing on this journey as we introduce new visionaries that are leveraging Canon technologies in ways that inspire new concepts of imaging.”

The visionaries to be highlighted by Canon at CES 2018 include:

  • Fellow Robots, helping revolutionize the retail industry one robot at a time through machine learning and shelf analytics that simplify the inventory process, will display two robots to engage in real-time inventory scanning demonstrations using Canon cameras and sensors.
  • Highlighting the manufacturing world, Cablevey Conveyors, a clean and gentle way to move materials around production facilities, will demonstrate how Canon cameras are used to help cable conveyors systems operate.
  • Those interested in technology driven marketing & advertising in sports and entertainment verticals can remote control a simulated stadium camera offering easy breezy in-seat fan engagement experience. Brizi, the company behind BriziCam, will provide attendees the opportunity to test camera zoom capabilities of Canon cameras from a “field” away.
  • Anyone looking to examine their backswing or work on their short game can tee off with a golf simulation experience from About Golf leveraging Canon projectors.

Also appearing in the booth will be Silhouette, which creates 3D educational models utilizing 2D prints from a Canon inkjet printer, The Crowley Company, a leader in digital imaging technologies for the archival preservation and records management industries, and Tome, which develops AI enterprise software for connected products and mobility solutions.

Further expanding its focus on innovation, Canon hosted their first-ever Code Canon hackathon. Focusing on the possibilities of imaging and creating unique trail-blazing solutions, more than 80 developers, engineers, designers, entrepreneurs, startup and fresh code teams gathered in New York City for two days to work on exciting solutions in imaging for commercial applications. Visitors to the booth can learn more by watching the Code Canon hackathon video.

New to the booth this year, Canon will showcase its lineup of inkjet card printers, thermal re-transfer ID card printers and label printers offering convenient on-demand printing that yields professional quality output. This new lineup empowers customers in a variety of markets to create print materials in-house, such as security credential cards, encrypted ID cards, product labels and business cards on demand that meet their everyday business printing needs.

Additionally, Canon will show its impressive lineup of consumer and professional imaging products including cameras and printers such as the PowerShot G1 X Mark III, Canon’s first point-and-shoot camera to feature a APS-C sensor and the latest lineup of PIXMA series printers as well as displays showcasing the Company’s world-class technologies, optics, sensors and processors. Canon will also display its wide range of service and support capabilities at the booth.

Please visit Canon at the 2018 CES Show at Booth #16206 in the Central Hall and follow Canon throughout the show on Instagram at @CanonUSA and Twitter at @CanonUSAimaging. Use #CanonCES to join the conversation and visit our website at www.usa.canon.com.

Click here to open the rest of the article