Canon and its Role at London Fashion Week (Expert’s Interviews)

This is a press release from Canon Europe. 40 Canon EOS 100D/Rebel SL1 will be used to capture visitor’s best poses (see below to learn more). Videos can be watched at www.youtube.com/user/CanonEurope

LONDON, 12 September 2013 – Canon Europe, world leader in imaging solutions, is once again supporting the British Fashion Council at the September 2013 London Fashion Week and Vodafone London Fashion Weekend events. As Official Imaging Partner to the British Fashion Council, Canon has a number of exciting initiatives underway to demonstrate the role of imaging in the fashion industry.

James Leipnik, Chief of Communication, Canon Europe, Middle East and Africa, commented: “Canon’s link with fashion is strong and enduring. During London Fashion Week and Vodafone London Fashion Weekend, our passion for the power of image will align closely with the creative skills of the world leading British fashion industry. Across a range of exciting activities that include printing an entire catwalk stage and working with an innovative fashion blogger, Canon will help ensure that great images from new collections shown in London are shared via social media to showcase design excellence around the world.”

Canon Professional Services (CPS) has been sharing its imaging expertise and helping professional photographers get the perfect shot at London Fashion Week events for the last eight years. The dedicated team of CPS technicians at the CPS centre at Somerset House will once again provide accredited professional photographers with advice, essential maintenance services, equipment loans and help with minor repairs.

As part of its initiative to support fashion designers, Canon has been working with Henry Holland to bring unique imagery to his House of Holland show and print his actual catwalk stage using an Océ Arizona flatbed printer. Canon will also collaborate with Ashish to create an instant Look Book about his eccentric and unique collection mixing Western and Eastern cultures, using Canon’s printing facilities.

During Vodafone London Fashion Weekend, Canon Fashion 360˚ Studio will provide an engaging, eye-catching and fun demonstration of the power of the image by encouraging attendees to look at an image from different angles. Visitors’ best poses will be captured by 40 Canon EOS 100D cameras in a purpose built studio and resulting images will be integrated into a four-second 360-degree film clip that can be immediately shared via the individual’s social media profiles.

Further highlights Canon’s sponsorship activities in London include:

  • Blogger Andy Torres from StyleScrapbook.com will be back to tell a story of fashion, from creation to catwalk, through a series of interviews with leaders from the fashion industry, including Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council, and professional photographer Clive Booth.
  • Visitors to Vodafone London Fashion Weekend can try out Canon’s latest products in the touch and try zone of the Canon Fashion 360˚ Studio, Experts will be on hand to offer advice and direction on how to use the cameras to capture the best fashion moments.
  • Canon is inviting accredited professional photographers to participate in the Canon Professional Network (CPN) ‘Best Shot’ competition to find that perfect fashion image.
  • As part of the ‘Shoot like a Pro’ initiative, students from the CPN programme will also have the opportunity to shoot the catwalk at London Fashion Weekend and enter their images into the student version of the ‘Best Shot’ competition to win Canon kit.
  • As the Digital Showcasing Partner at London Fashion Week, Canon will be providing live screenings of the latest in high street chic and haute couture, fashion shows, and designer presentations, in the Canon Cinema & Presentation Space within the BFC Courtyard Show Space at Somerset House.
  • Canon-branded buses will transport professional photographers to and from various locations around London for catwalk shows.

London Fashion Week (13-17 September) is the biggest event on the British fashion calendar, with over 5,000 visitors at this year’s event. It is followed by Vodafone London Fashion Weekend (19-22 September), London’s largest and most exclusive designer shopping event open to the public biannually. Canon is also a Principal Sponsor of Milan Fashion Week and a Key Sponsor of Paris Fashion Week, and Professional Photo Partner of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Russia.

For the latest information about Canon and fashion, please see Canon’s Facebook and Twitter pages #canonfashion.

Firmware Update for Canon EOS-1D C Will be Released in October

EOS-1D C

Canon will release a firmware update for their Canon EOS-1D C camera by mid october. The update brings lens aberration correction and audio recording with line input.

A new firmware update is available for the EOS-1D C. Firmware Version 1.3.x adds new functionality incorporating the following features and modifications:

Lens aberration correction with EF Cinema Lenses: Communication between Canon EF Cinema lenses and Canon cameras has had a few effects on the operation of the EOS-1D C. The following features are now available as menu options:

  • Peripheral Illumination Correction: This feature maintains even brightness from corner to corner of an image. This will virtually eliminate vignetting and any other unevenness of light across the image.
  • Chromatic Aberration Correction: This feature reduces color fringing in areas of an image with high contrast color. It reduces color bleeding, which is easily noticeable at edges and degrades perceived image quality.
  • In addition, communication between the lens and camera body will allow the F-stop to now be seen on the viewfinder. Focus position and F-stop will also now be recorded by the camera.
  • Flicker caused by manual aperture adjustment has been reduced with this update, this could cause slight underexposure which may result in exposure compensation in some cases.

Sound recording with Line input:

  • After requests from users in the field, audio recording through a mini plug (3.5mm) connected to the external microphone terminal is now supported. This will allow for the recording of audio sources other than microphones, such as mobile devices or audio players. The standard input level is -8 dBV and can reach an input signal of up to +6 dBV. Sound recording levels are adjustable at 64 sound-recording levels.

Service support start date is anticipated mid-October 2013. For information regarding the EOS-1D C firmware update (which must be performed by a Canon Factory Service center) please contact Canon Cinema EOS Support at 1-855-CINE-EOS (246-3367).

Canon EOS M and EF-M 11-22mm IS STM Issue (with firmware 2.0.2)

EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM Review

Canon EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM
[shopcountry 14076]

A Canon Watch reader (thanks MdB) wrote me an email reporting a strange issue he and another user are having with the Canon EOS M and the EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens. MdB writes:

The problem: If you turn the camera on whilst the lens is already extended the M will not fire off a shot at all. If you turn the camera on and then extend the lens it works perfectly fine. If you turn the camera on with the lens already extended you have to retract the lens and then re-extend the lens and the camera will start shooting again.

The issue appears to show up even with the latest firmware (2.0.2). I tested this on my EOS M and the 11-22mm and could not replicate it.

Does someone here experience the same issue? Would be glad if you can post it in the comments. Thank you.

Five Consumer Directors Premiere Their Short Films at Project Imaginat10n Film Festival

Canon USA press release:

Canon U.S.A., Ron Howard and Bryce Dallas Howard Discover Five Consumer Directors to Premiere Their Short Films at the Project Imaginat10n Film Festival

10 Films Inspired By User Submitted Photographs Will be Packaged by Canon as “A Ron Howard Presentation” – The Winning Consumer Directors and Five Celebrity Directors: Eva Longoria, Jamie Foxx, James Murphy, Georgina Chapman and Biz Stone

MELVILLE, N.Y., September 19, 2013 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, two-time Academy Award® winner Ron Howard, and Bryce Dallas Howard, one of Hollywood’s most versatile actresses and director of the 2011 short film “when you find me,” have announced the five winning consumer directors of the “Project Imaginat10n” film contest, which gave filmmakers of all skill levels an opportunity to showcase their creativity and storytelling abilities. Five celebrity directors also took part in the same creative exercise: Eva Longoria (film and TV actress), Jamie Foxx (Academy Award® winner), Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter), Georgina Chapman (designer and co-founder of Marchesa) and James Murphy (founder of LCD SOUNDSYSTEM).

Click here to open the rest of the article

Hack: A Canon PowerShot A530 with CHDK Used to Shot (and send) Pictures from Stratosphere

There is not only Magic Lantern to get the juice out of your Canon DSLR, CHDK is a firmware extension for Canon PowerShot cameras (with many many supported PowerShots):

CHDK is a firmware enhancement that operates on a number of Canon Cameras. CHDK gets loaded into your camera’s memory upon bootup (either manually or automatically). It provides additional functionality beyond that currently provided by the native camera firmware.

To see all features click here, for an overview go here.  So, what do you need if you want to send images from the stratosphere to the ground? A lot of stuff I guess, but for the photographic part you’ll not need the high end gear you may think. Chris Stubbs is an apprentice electronic engineer who started a pretty cool project concerning high altitude balloon flights. To shot images he uses a Canon PowerShot A530 (here on eBay) with CHDK installed, and a cheap Radiometrix NTX2 FSK radio module that is so small it fits into the battery compartment.

There are a lot of technical details in Chris’ post, the project is described in every detail. Not a DIY weekend project but something you could replicate with a bit of patience and some technical skills.

Ready to go high (image credit: Chris Stubbs)
[via hackaday]