Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM price announced, available for pre-order ($999, coming late July)

Sigma 24-35mm f/2

  • EF Mount Lens/Full Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/2 to 16
  • FLD & Special Low Dispersion Elements
  • Two Aspherical Elements
  • Super Multi-Layer Coating
  • Hyper Sonic AF Motor
  • Internal Focus; Manual Focus Override
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
  • Thermally Stable Composite Material
  • Compatible with Sigma USB Dock

Sigma announced price and availability of the Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM lens, the world’s fastest full-frame zoom lens, and the first with constant f/2. The price is $999, availability expected for late July.

You can already pre-order the Sigma 24-35mm f/2: Adorama and B&H Photo.

RONKONKOMA, N.Y. Sigma Corporation of America, a leading DSLR lens and camera manufacturer, today announced that the new Sigma 24-35mm F2 DG HSM Art lens will become available in late July for the street price of $999.

The 24-35mm F2 DG HSM Art lens is the market’s first full-frame zoom that allows photographers to carry one fast aperture lens that can do the work of three popular fixed focal length lenses – the 24mm, 28mm and 35mm. It includes an optimized autofocus (AF) algorithm for smooth, fast, and accurate focusing, a manual focus (MF) override functionality, and is made of Thermally Stable Composite (TSC) reducing its size and weight.

Built upon the impressive versatility offered by Sigma’s 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM Art lens, the new 24-35mm continues the Art line tradition of top optical performance that’s comparable to Sigma’s 24mm F1.4 DG HSM Art and 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Art. It offers optimized lens power distribution, and minimizes spherical aberration, axial chromatic aberration and field curvature. The Sigma 24-35mm F2 DG HSM Art lens also features a video-friendly, inner focusing system that eliminates front-lens rotation, enhancing the lens’ stability as well as a Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) that ensures a silent, high-speed AF function.

“The combination of fast, constant aperture and zoom versatility will make this lens exceptionally popular for photographers who crave the convenience of wide angle zooms, paired with the performance of fast, wide primes,” said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. “The Art lenses have raised the bar for total imaging performance, and this lens is going to make a lot of photographers very happy.”

As with all new lenses under the Global Vision categories, every 24-35mm will be tested using Sigma’s own modulation transfer function (MTF) measuring system, “A1,” in the company’s factory in Japan. It is compatible with Sigma’s USB DOCK, which allows photographers to update the lens’ firmware, adjust focus points and customize full-time MF function settings by using Sigma’s Optimization Pro software. Sigma’s exclusive Mount Conversion Service, which enables users to easily convert the lens’ camera mount between supported versions, is also available for a fee. The lens will be available in Sigma, Canon and Nikon mounts.

The Sigma 24-35mm F2 DG HSM Art lens will also feature:

  • Large-diameter, aspherical lens elements, which require advanced technologies to produce, one “F” Low Dispersion (FLD) glass, and seven Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass elements with two aspherical lenses. The advanced optics and optimized lens power distribution minimizes spherical aberration, axial chromatic aberration and field curvature, resulting in outstanding optical performance
  • A video-friendly, inner focusing system that eliminates front-lens rotation, enhancing the lens’ stability and allowing use of circular polarizing filters
  • A Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) that ensures a silent, high-speed AF function. Smoother AF is achieved when the this AF algorithm is optimized
  • Full-time MF by rotating the focus ring of the lens while auto focusing
  • A nine-blade, rounded diaphragm creates an attractive blur to the out-of-focus areas of the image
  • Specifications: Lens construction containing 18 elements in 13 groups; a weight of 33.2 ounces; a diameter and length of 3.4 inches by 4.8 inches, respectively; a minimum aperture of F16; and angle of view (35mm) of 84.1° to 63.4°; minimum focusing distance of 11 inches; and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:4.4

For information about Sigma, go to www.sigmaphoto.com or follow the company on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Pre-order the Sigma 24-35mm f/2: Adorama and B&H Photo.

Click here to open the rest of the article

Canon partners with British Red Cross for young person’s photography competition

canonlogo

Canon press release:

Canon partners with British Red Cross for young person’s photography competition

Competition inspires entrants to celebrate their community

Canon, the imaging specialist, has partnered with the British Red Cross for this year’s Humanitarian Citizenship Awards photography competition. This is the second year the competition has run, and will aim to build on the outstanding range of talented entries in 2014.

This year also marks the tenth anniversary of Canon’s partnership with the British Red Cross through its official sponsorship of the Humanitarian Citizenship Awards. The awards are aimed at celebrating the extraordinary contributions that young people make in helping others across Britain.

Click here to open the rest of the article

Canon DPP 4.3 updated, adds support for Rebel T5, EOS 60D/60Da, EOS M/M2, and Powershot G7 X and G1 X Mark II

Digital Photo Professional 4
Canon DPP 4.x

Canon has released an updated version of its popular Digital Photo Professional 4 (DPP 4) RAW processing software, which expands the support of its DSLRs to include EOS 1200D, EOS 60Da and EOS 60D as well as its PowerShot G7 X and PowerShot G1 X Mark II premium expert compacts and EOS M2 and EOS M Compact System Cameras…

The new update – version 4.3.0 – also incorporates two critical fixes, including a phenomenon in which the picture style set on the camera is not transferred to Digital Photo Professional properly and a phenomenon in which the copy and paste command using keyboard shortcuts cannot be used for the folder name.

“As part of Canon’s ongoing development of its Digital Photo Professional software, regular updates and fixes keep it up to date with our end users. Canon always listens carefully to customer feedback and this latest update is an example of that,” commented Mike Burnhill, Canon Europe’s Professional Imaging Technical Support Programme manager.

DPP 4.3.0: KEY FEATURES

  • Faster, real-time adjustments
  • Improved RAW file workflow
  • Better, more approachable user interfaces
  • Compatible with 64-bit native environments
  • Colour adjustments for specific colour gamuts
  • Improved highlight recovery provides expanded tonality
  • Improved shadow recovery function
  • Support for movie playback
  • Auto Lighting Optimizer can be applied to JPEG images
  • Better integration with EOS Utility 3 software

You can download DPP 4.3.0 now, free of charge, from Canon Europe’s support site here. Just click on your camera – EOS-1D X, EOS-1D C, EOS 5DS, EOS 5DS R, EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 6D, EOS 7D Mark II, EOS 7D, EOS 60Da, EOS 60D, EOS 70D, EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS 760D, EOS 750D, EOS 700D, EOS 100D, EOS 1200D, EOS M3, EOS M2, EOS M, PowerShot G7 X and PowerShot G1 X Mark II – and select DPP 4.3.0 from the software options to download.

Canon News Round-Up


Video above: First Impressions of the Canon XC10 – LensRentals

Video above: Field Testing the Canon 5DS R in Botswana, Africa – PetaPixel

Abraham Joffe of Untitled Film Works released this 3-minute video showing photographer Denis Glennon field testing the new Canon 5DS R by capturing wild animals in Botswana, Africa (he was likely using the first 5DS R to hit African soil).

Canon PowerShot G3 X Review – Photography Blog

The new Canon PowerShot G3 X is a solid super-zoom camera for enthusiast photographers, offering a wealth of options for shooting both stills and video, excellent image quality, speedy auto-focusing, intuitive and configurable handling, and solid construction. Unfortunately, it’s rather ham-strung by the strange omission of a built-in viewfinder – trying to hold the Canon PowerShot G3 X at arm’s length whilst using the full extent of the 25x zoom lens results in too many misses due to camerashake.

Creating Movement in Still Images – Canon Digital Learning Center

Creating Botanical Portraits: How to light subjects – Canon Digital Learning Center 

5 Things Hot & 5 Things Not on the Canon C300 Mark II – Cinema 5D

Comparing Sony A7S vs Canon EOS 6D Shutter Lag for Light Painting – DIY Photography

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens Review – The Digital Picture

Canon 5DSr – First Impressions in the Field – Cole Thompson Photography

Canon Supports the Future of Education with Mixed Reality Student Competition at the University of Central Florida

A UCF student from the winning team demonstrates the MREAL System to simulate the conditions of a medical emergency for training first responders (image credit: Canon).
A UCF student from the winning team demonstrates the MREAL System to simulate the conditions of a medical emergency for training first responders (image credit: Canon).

Canon press release:

MELVILLE N.Y., July 15, 2015 – Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, and the University of Central Florida (UCF) recently partnered in the Company’s first collegiate mixed reality competition and mentorship program, in which students brought their virtual designs to life using the Canon MREAL Solution for Mixed Reality. Starting in February, Canon provided a mixed reality expert to mentor and work with the students bi-weekly throughout the competition, demonstrating the use of mixed reality solutions to advance and develop the future of education.

Click here to open the rest of the article

Canon announces pocket-sized Mini Projector C-5 (in Japan)

canon Mini Projector c-5

Canon Japan announced the Canon Mini Projector C-5 in Japan, a pocket-sized mobile projector . No idea so far if we will see it in Europe and USA. Shipment is expected early August 2015. No price indication. Silver and deep blue color options are available. A tripod is included.

The Canon C-5 is a small and lightweight projector, it measures 124×71×20mm and weights 169g. The C-5 features a miniHDM terminal, MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) standard is supported. MHL allows you to feed the projector with data from your PC, smartphone, or tablet. The LED light sources are stated to last 10,000 hours. The C-5 has a resolution of 640×480 pixels, a brightness of 50 Lumen, and a contrast rate of 800:1.

You can read the machine translated press release here.

Specifications (machine translated):

Product name C-5 (Deep Blue / Silver of 2 models)
Image element (number) One DLP ×
Number of pixels 640 × 480 (VGA)
Real input resolution / aspect VGA / 4: 3
Zoom Fixation
Focus Manual
Light source LED light source (life guideline 10,000 hours)
Brightness 50lm
Contrast ratio 800: 1
Keystone correction function None
Video input Mini HDMI × 1 (MHL compatible)
Audio output Stereo mini Jack × 1
Built-in speaker 1W (monaural)
Battery drive Up to three hours
Dimensions (including protrusions) 124 (width) × 71 (depth) × 20 (height) mm
Mass 169g
[via Akihabara News via DC Watch]