Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM Lens Review (ephotozine)

[shoplink 11783]Sigma 30mm f/1.4[/shoplink]

ephotozine reviewed the [shoplink 11783]Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM[/shoplink] lens, a fast prime that’s interesting especially for Canon APS-C shooters. In the conclusion they write:

During this test, we did have issues with inaccurate focusing, which may be down to a flaw with the samples provided for review, and were able to resolve using the Sigma USB Dock. Presuming this problem isn’t widespread, then this lens is a great choice for owners of Canon cameras, after a high quality, standard lens with a fast maximum aperture.

The Sigma 30mm f/1.4, part of Sigma’s “Art” line-up,  retails for around $500/€490. The reviewers liked the good sharpness and build quality of the Sigma. However, they noticed that sharpness towards the edges is deteriorating, and some chromatic aberrations at maximum aperture. The review comes with test charts and sample pics.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM price check: [shopcountry 11783]

Lens specs after the break.

Click here to open the rest of the article

Silent Upgrades – Internal Changes on Gear that are not Announced

Roger Cicala
A 6 month old Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 on the left, and an 18 month old copy on the right (image courtesy of lensrentals.com)
What are “silent upgrades”? These are internal changes that a manufacturer may apply without announcing them. The picture above shows two copies of the EF 85mm f/1.8 lens [shoplink 133](price & specs)[/shoplink] – the changes are immediately visible. Roger Cicala at lenrentals.com – a guy who disassembled lots of lenses – wrote a post about this issue. Often these silent upgrades are due to a change in subassembly suppliers, just to make an example. Good read if you want to know how manufacturers operate (and why).

Canon EOS 70D Moire Test (video, DicaHub)

Korean site DicaHub (translated), after having provided the second independent Dual Pixel CMOS AF test I know about, produced another video to show and test how the [shoplink 14246]Canon EOS 70D[/shoplink] deals with moire artifacts. A pre-production model of the EOS 70D was used, along with the [shoplink 6095]EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS STM[/shoplink]. Is stunning the right adjective here?

Canon EOS 70D pre-orders: [shopcountry 14246]

Image courtesy: dicahub.com

Magic Lantern RAW Workflow Video Tutorial (and a beautiful video made with EOS 5D3)

Neumannfilms posted a video tutorial about how to use the Magic Lantern hack to get raw video from a [shoplink 2431]Canon EOS 5D Mark III[/shoplink]. You can download the RAW file, the H.264 comparison shot, and the raw2dng.exe file here. A tutorial on how to install Magic Lantern can be found here. They say:

The quality is really amazing in this raw video. I would compare it to shooting 1080p moving cr2 files which is the file type that you get with doing raw photography in the Canon cameras. So just having this option in the Canon 5D Mark III and other Canon cameras is just huge. Even if you’re only going to use it twice a year to shoot greenscreen work, having the option in the camera instantly bumps up its worth at least a few thousand dollars.

Neumannfilms produced the video below, Summer in Oregon, which shows what you can do with the Magic Lantern RAW hack.

[cinescopophilia via creativeplanetnetwork]

Canon EOS 70D Preview and new Dual Pixel CMOS Auto-Focus Tests (dicahub)

Korean site Dicahub (translated) had the chance to test a pre-production model of the [shoplink 14246]Canon EOS 70D[/shoplink]. They provide two videos where they tested the Dual Pixel CMOS AF of the EOS 70D. The video above is interesting: see how the EOS 70D keeps the focus on the subject running towards the camera. The Dual Pixel CMOS AF really works great, it is impressive. Sample shots are also available (click here). They also posted a size comparison between the [shoplink 11240]Canon Rebel SL1[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 14246]Canon EOS 70D[/shoplink]. More video and sample pics after the break.

Click here to open the rest of the article

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Review (Learningcameras)

Sigma 18-35mm preorders available at Amazon (click here).

Learningcameras reviewed Sigma’s biggest achievement (so far): The [shoplink 14551]Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM lens[/shoplink], the first zoom lens for APS-C cameras to deliver constant f/1.8 over the zoom range. I featured many reviews here on CW, all praise the outstanding performance of this lens. Learningcameras review isn’t different. More after the break.

Click here to open the rest of the article