Canon Ef 400mm f/4L IS DO II Lens Announced

Canon EF 400mm f/4L IS DO II

Canon officially announced the Canon EF 400mm f/4L IS DO II lens. The new EF 40mm f/4L IS DO II has a price of $6,899 and can be pre-ordered at Adorama (click here) | B&H Photo

CPN article here. Description and specs:

The EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM lens delivers brilliant high-speed performance for professionals with minimal glare and superb image quality. Taking advantage of the best in lens technology, it features gapless dual-layer diffractive optical elements for improved diffraction efficiency with reduced flare. These elements are arranged with a large-diameter ground aspheric lens and a UD lens for a new level of sharpness and clarity. New coatings help to reduce ghosting, ensure excellent color balance and reduce fingerprints on the front and rear of the lens.

Professional L-series dust- and water-resistant construction is complemented by impressive performance: a 3 mode Image Stabilization system offers up to four stops of compensation and can even prevent operational errors when the camera is mounted on a tripod. AF stop buttons placed on the front of the lens can automatically stop focusing at any time; full time manual focus ensures complete control no matter the AF mode, and a Power Focus (PF) mode makes for smooth focus transitions when shooting movies. The EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM focuses down to 10.8 ft. (3.3 meters), has a 9-blade aperture for pleasing, soft, out-of-focus areas, and is constructed with environmentally friendly lead-free glass.

 

  • Compact, lightweight super telephoto lens that is ideal for sports and wildlife photography.
  • Newly-developed gapless dual-layer diffractive optical elements deliver improved image quality with reducedvflare.
  • Large diameter ground aspherical lens and UD lens for even greater optical performance.
  • Optical Image Stabilizer provides up to four shutter speed stops of correction*.
  • Three image stabilization modes (standard, panning, and during exposure only) provide exceptional results for a wide range of shooting situations.
  • For greater convenience, Image Stabilizer does not have to be disabled when shooting with a tripod.
  • AF stop buttons on the front of the lens allow you to stop autofocusing at any point.
  • Optimized lens placement and coatings deliver exceptional color balance, while minimizing ghosting and flare.
  • Highly resistant to dust and water, enabling shooting even in harsh conditions.
  • Circular aperture (9 blades) delivers beautiful, soft backgrounds.
  • Full-time manual focus allows manual focus adjustment while in AF Mode.
  • Power Focus mode enables smooth focus shifts essential for filmmaking.
  • Fluorine coating on front and rear lens surfaces reduces smears and fingerprints.
  • Minimum focusing distance of 10.8 ft./3.3 m.

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10 Questions For Canon (by EOSHD)

Canon
Canon’s new and very conservatively specced EOS 7D Mark II

EOSHD’s Andrew Reid posted an educated list of 10 questions he’ll ask Canon (and Nikon) at Photokina 2014.

For the Canon part, it’s about Canon’s strategy, technological plans, marketing etc. Most of the questions are sort of “why do you not get it?” questions :-)

All 10 questions make sense, but I like this one (nr. 3):

The 7D line has been a bestseller in the enthusiast market for the past 5 years but the new model barely moves an inch forwards from the cheaper 70D. After such a long period of time was it Canon’s intention to position the [shoplink 7139]6D[/shoplink] as the real 7D replacement and if so, how do you excuse such poor video quality on the 6D considering the enthusiasts it is aimed at? For video it is not a low end product but it performs like one.

Worth to have a look.

The Canon EOS 7D Mark II is going to be announced tomorrow (so stay tuned), and it will be a typical Canon upgrade: a conservatively specced yet solid workhorse that will most probably sell better than most people expect (sport and wildlife photogs on the APS-C train will love it). That’s where Canon is good: to build reliable cameras that do their job well – without any truly exciting new features. I was expecting more from Canon for the 7D Mark II. These are the specs that leaked so far:

  • Magnesium alloy body
  • Dust and water resistant
  • 20.2MP CMOS sensor
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF
  • A new 65-point AF. All points cross type
  • EOS iTR AF (EOS iTR AF is “intelligent tracking and recognition” AF, a feature that was first seen on the EOS-1D X)
  • 10 fps
  • Dual DIGIC6
  • Max ISO 16000
  • RGB + IR photometry sensor 150000 pixels
  • Full HD 60p video
  • GPS
  • Interval Timer
  • Bulb Timer

In my opinion there is very little (as far as we know for the time being) that positions the 7D Mark II clearly above the [shoplink 14246]Canon EOS 70D[/shoplink]. 10fps vs 7fps of the 70D and a more powerful AF system. I am curious to see what the Dual DIGIC6 CPUs can pull out of Canon’s Dual Pixel AF technology.

Tomorrow we will know the full specs. And then let’s discuss.

The Time’s Photographer Marc Aspland And The Art Of Sports Photography

Sports Photography

Canon Professional Network Europe published an interview with Marc Aspland, Chief Sports Photographer at The Times newspaper in London, and the subtle art of sports photography.

During a career spanning over a quarter of a century thus far Marc Aspland has gained an international reputation as one of the world’s finest sports photographers, with a style all of his own. He has been Chief Sports Photographer of The Times newspaper in London since the late 1990s but it is only now that many of his most famous images have been brought together in his new, and first-ever, book ‘The Art of Sports Photography’. CPN writer Mark Alexander spoke to Marc Aspland about what it took to create the magical images in the book and his unique approach to shooting sports.

Read the interview at CPN –>

Tamron Announces Development Of Image-Stabilized SP 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD Lens

SP 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD

Tamron press release:

Tamron announces development of F/2.8 fast ultra-wideangle zoom lens with VC (Vibration Compensation), world’s first in its category

SP 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD

XGM (eXpanded Glass Molded Aspherical) element and LD (Low Dispersion) glass elements deployed in the front group ensures outstanding image depicting performance.
Proprietary eBAND coating coupled with improved BBAR coating efficiently reduces ghosting and flare inherent to wideangle focal lengths to an absolute minimum.

Saitama, Japan – Tamron Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Morio Ono), a leading manufacturer of precision optics, announces development of a new ultra-wideangle zoom lens for full-frame D-SLR cameras with a fast F/2.8 aperture and VC (Vibration Compensation), the world’s first in its category.

Since 2012, Tamron has been expanding its lineup of interchangeable lenses for 35mm full-frame D-SLR cameras. SP 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC USD (Model A007) was the first in the series, being integrated with VC, followed by the SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD (Model A009), SP 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD (Model F004), and SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD (Model A011). The array of those new lenses have been highly acclaimed among the photo enthusiasts and working pros around the globe. To address the needs for more towards the wider angular field, Tamron spearheaded the development of SP 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD, a fast ultra-wideangle zoom lens with the image stabilization feature, setting itself apart from the rest of zooms in this category.

The lens will be showcased at the Tamron booth at Photokina 2014, September 16- 21, 2014 in Cologne, Germany. (Photokina Booth Number: Hall 4.2 D10 – E19).

Product highlights and specs after the break.

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Sigma Announces 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM Contemporary Lens (and more products)

18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM

After the 2 different 150-600mm lenses, Sigma announced the 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM Contemporary lens for APS-C DSLRs, and other products: 2 weather-sealed teleconverter and various filters. All new Sigma products can be pre-ordered at B&H Photo.

Sigma press release:

Sigma Corporation Announces New 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM Contemporary

New range in Sigma’s lineup offers optimized optics and stabilization with optional, add-on close-up lens for macro-zoom capability

RONKONKOMA, N.Y — September 12, 2014 – Sigma Corporation of America, a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of some of the world’s most impressive lines of lenses, cameras and flashes, is adding a new lens to its Global Vision Contemporary category with today’s announcement of the 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM.  The lens will become available in October for the street price of $579.

Designed exclusively for APS-C camera sensors, the new 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM features a 16.6x high-ratio zoom lens which equates to a 27-450mm zoom range.  It incorporates four “F” Low Dispersion (FLD) glass elements, which have performance equal to flourite, in addition to one Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass element. This enables the lens to minimize the chromatic aberration, especially toward the telephoto-end, and provide clear image quality with high color fidelity. Also, this lens comes with a newly developed optical stabilization (OS) system, ensuring better compensation.

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