Zeiss Milvus 35mm f/1.4 officially announced ($1999)

Zeiss Milvus 35mm f/1.4

At a glance:

  • EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/1.4 to f/16
  • One Aspherical Element
  • Five Low Dispersion Elements
  • Zeiss T* Anti-Reflective Coating
  • Manual Focus Design
  • Anodized Metal Barrel, Rubber Focus Ring
  • Weather-Sealed Construction
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm

After the leaked picturs ahead of the announcement, now Zeiss has officially announced the new Zeiss Milvus 35mm f/1.4 lens. The ZEISS Milvus 1.4/35 will be available from specialist dealers and in the ZEISS Online Shop from July 2017. The recommended retail price is €1,999/$1,999. You can download sample photos here.

Pre-order links for the Milvus 35mm f/1.4: B&H Photo | Adorama

Zeiss press release:

ZEISS Milvus 35mm f/1.4 Camera Lens for DSLR Cameras

The tenth lens in the ZEISS Milvus series for DSLR cameras already shows its many benefits at full aperture

OBERKOCHEN/Germany, 2017-06-21.

ZEISS has launched a new lens for full-frame DSLR cameras from Canon and Nikon on the market: the ZEISS Milvus 1.4/35. Now the tenth lens in the Milvus family, the ZEISS Milvus 1.4/35 is particularly suitable for portrait photography thanks to its speed. “The high maximum aperture enables the subject to stand out clearly against the background, and the photographer can achieve creative combinations of focus and blur,” says Christophe Casenave, Product Manager at ZEISS. “The manual focus enables very exact focusing, and the creamy bokeh provides an excellent image look. And even at full aperture the image quality leaves nothing to be desired.” The ZEISS Milvus 1.4/35 is also perfectly at home in landscape photography: “The 35-millimeter focal length is a genuine all-rounder.” Like all lenses in the ZEISS Milvus family, it is protected against dust and splashes and, according to Casenave, even bad weather is no problem. The metal barrel gives the lens its robust and durable character.

Practically no chromatic aberrations thanks to a new optical design

With aspherical lens elements, special glass materials and advanced correction, ZEISS has given the lens a completely new optical design. “This means the photos are practically free from chromatic aberrations,” says Casenave. Thanks to their excellent edge-to-edge imagery the ZEISS Milvus lenses are designed for high-performance digital cameras. “The resolutions of camera sensors are constantly becoming higher, and this also increases the demands made on the lenses. For ZEISS Milvus lenses this is no problem. They are a solid investment in the future.”

Also suitable for filming

The ten lenses in the ZEISS Milvus family, ranging between 15 and 135 millimeters, are also suitable for film productions: the manual focus with a large rotation angle can be operated with the aid of a ZEISS Lens Gear with a follow-focus system. The de-click function allows the aperture to be set continuously in the version for Nikon3 cameras. A further benefit for filming: ZEISS has matched the color characteristics of the ten lenses. Filmmakers can therefore switch between the focal lengths and still have a uniform color look. “This facilitates editing enormously,” says Casenave.

Price and availability
The ZEISS Milvus 1.4/35 will be available from specialist dealers and in the ZEISS Online Shop from July 2017. The recommended retail price is 1,999 euros.
You can find further information at www.zeiss.com/photo/milvus1435

Canon ready to take next step into space business, will launch own microsatellite on Friday June 23, 2017

Ce-sat-i
View Post

In the past we reported about Canon’s efforts to step into the space business. The company built a “mini-rocket” together with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. The launch, which happened at the beginning of 2015, was a failure. The rocket exploded.

At the end of 2016 we got news about Canon building its own miniature satellite (equipped with Canon EOS 5D Mark III cameras). The launch of this miniature satellite was scheduled for January – March 2017. There have been delays.

Latest news have it that Canon will start the company’s miniature satellite (named CE-SAT-I) on Friday June 23, 2017, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, southeastern India.

Nikkei Asian Review reports:

The CE-SAT-I will be put into orbit 500km from the ground, where it will conduct tests for two years to verify technologies that will be the foundation of the company’s planned space business. The launch of the rocket was initially planned for January but was delayed by the Indian Space Research Organization.

The CE-SAT-I has drawn attention due to the adoption of advanced technologies Canon Electronics has accumulated based on office equipment and cameras, and it is the starting point of the company’s two pillars for its space business model, although details are still sketchy.

As one pillar, Canon Electronics will photograph the surface of the earth via satellite, analyze the pictures and sell them as value-added data to corporate clients. Such data is called remote sensing, and it is seen overseas as a promising business.

Read the report at Nikkei.

Print your own lens hood for free, using downloadable PDFs

Lens hood

Lens hoods get lost, and replacing them costs money. If you are looking for a quick solution to your lost lens hood, or just want to have another one, you should know that you can print lens hoods from PDF files, for free.

lenshoods.co.uk offers free PDFs you can download, with rounded and petal hood designs for a lot of lenses manufactured by Canon and other brands. They have a sister site with lens hood PDFs especially for APS-C DSLRs with 1.6 and 1.5 crop factors.
Given the often horrendous prices asked for what basically is a piece of plastic, this solution may come handy. A lens hood made out of paper may not be a durable solution but for sure it might save your day if you need one and do not want to spend the money for an original lens hood.

Printable lens hoods offer a number of advantages over their costly counterparts:

  • Ultra compact – can be carried unfolded.
  • No waiting to order one – simply download, print, cut-out and attach.
  • Redundancy – don’t worry if you lose one; just print another!
  • 100% recyclable.
  • Can be modified to cater for different digital SLR sensor crop factors.
  • Available in both ’rounded’ and ‘petal’ versions.

Firmware 1.1.1 for Canon EOS 5Ds and EOS 5Ds R released

Eos 5ds R Mark Ii
View Post

Canon released firmware 1.1.1 for the Canon EOS 5Ds and EOS 5Ds R to the general public.

What changed:

Firmware Version 1.1.1 incorporates the following fixes:

1. Corrects a phenomenon in which shooting may not be completed while using HDR (High Dynamic Range) Mode, when certain combinations of settings are selected.
2. Corrects the phenomenon of Err70 which occurs with certain combinations of settings.

3. Corrects the level display when the camera is held in the vertical orientation with the hand grip pointing downward.

4. Corrects a phenomenon in which, when using certain CF cards, it may take approximately five seconds for the camera to power on depending on when the camera’s power switch was turned <ON>.

Please review the instructions thoroughly before updating the firmware on your camera.
The firmware update takes approximately 6 minutes.

Please note that the firmware for EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R is different.

The Evolution of Canon’s Auto-Focus Technology (video)

Neat and short video by Canon USA about the evolution of Canon’s Auto-Focus technology. The second video below is about Dual Pixel AF, the ground breaking and game changing on-sensor AF system Canon introduced 2013 with the EOS 70D. Enjoy.

For over 30 years, autofocus has been a vital tool for making sure your images are sharp. In this video, learn how Canon has continually created new breakthroughs in autofocus technology. Learn more here.

Is there a difference between a pro photog using $500 gear and an amateur using $5000 gear?

EOS 5D Mark IV
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

The folks at Mango Street wanted to know, and thus started a little experiment.

An amateur photographer was given a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with EF 35mm f/1.4L II, a pro photographer got the Canon Rebel T3i with a 18-55mm kit lens and the EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens.

So, what did the test reveal? Watch the video below.

[via Bored Panda]