From the Microscope to the Moon Landing – The Story Of Zeiss

zeiss

Something not Canon related. The story of legendary company Zeiss. From their beginning to the present day.

DW Documentary posted a neat 25 minutes video where they tell the story of Zeiss.

175 years ago, the young mechanic Carl Zeiss opened a small workshop for precision mechanics and optics. These humble beginnings in the German city of Jena were the foundation of the Zeiss technology company, which today operates worldwide.

The production of glass with game-changing optical properties was one of the developments that helped Carl Zeiss create a company that valued scientific research highly, while never forgetting science’s social impact.

Zeiss microscopes have been used by more than 30 Nobel Prize winners. To this day, these instruments offer unrivaled image resolution, with lenses that can display structures one thousand times smaller than a human hair. Light microscopes allow living cells to be examined with extreme gentleness and speed, as well.

The Zeiss company was involved in the moon landing in 1969, and thus helped redefine the limits of what humans are capable of. Images of the historic event were captured using Zeiss camera lenses developed specially for space. These lenses were key to the later development of photolithography, which plays a decisive role in the production of microchips. Developments in extreme ultraviolet lithography led to Zeiss winning the German Future Prize together with the Fraunhofer Institute and the Trumpf company.

To learn more about Zeiss have a look at Wikipedia.

[via PetaPixel]

Canon Patent: Super Small 28-70mm f/2.8 & 28-60mm f/2.8 Lenses For RF Mount

canon patent

A new and rather interesting Canon patent application. Very compact zoom lenses with large aperture.

Canon patent application 2022091621 (Japan) discusses optical formulas for two small and compact zoom lenses with large aperture:

  • 28-70mm f/2.8
  • 28-60mm f/2.8

From the patent literature:

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a zoom lens having a short total length and a small size but having high optical performance, and an image pickup apparatus having the same.

In recent years, with the increasing functionality of image pickup devices, there is a demand for a compact and lightweight zoom lens having a large aperture ratio. As a zoom lens that satisfies this requirement, a negative lead type zoom lens in which a lens group having a negative refractive power is arranged on the object side is known (see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

In the zoom lens of Patent Document 1, the refractive power of the first lens group is strengthened, and the movement locus of the first lens group during zooming becomes a substantially reciprocating locus, so that the total length of the zoom lens at the telephoto end can be increased. become longer. In addition, the back focus is long, and it is difficult to shorten the total length of the zoom lens. Further, the thickness of the first lens group becomes large due to the aberration correction in the first lens group, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of miniaturization and weight reduction.

In the zoom lens of Patent Document 2, the refractive power of the first lens group is strong in order to obtain a zoom magnification, and the configuration of the subsequent group is a four-group configuration up to the fourth lens group. If a larger aperture ratio is aimed at, it will not be possible to suppress various aberrations and zoom fluctuations of aberrations in the telephoto region, and it will be difficult to satisfy good optical performance over the entire zoom range.

An object of the present invention is to provide a zoom lens having a short overall length, a small size, and high optical performance, and an image pickup apparatus having the same.

In the zoom lens of each embodiment, in order to ensure good optical performance even at a close object distance, two or more lens groups among the lens groups arranged on the image side of the first lens group L1 are focused. It is preferable to have a so-called floating configuration in which the lens moves at the time.

Example 1

  • Focal length: 28.84-67.90
  • F value: 2.91
  • Half angle of view: 32.68-17.67
  • Image height: 18.50-21.64
  • Overall length: 138.40-105.42
  • Back focus: 10.97-21.12

Example 2

  • Focal length: 28.84-60
  • F value: 2.91
  • Half angle of view: 32.68-19.83
  • Image height: 18.50-21.64
  • Overall length: 132.38-106.85
  • Back focus: 13.47-23.82

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

[via asobinet]

Hot Deal: Sigma 28mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART Lens for Canon EF – $539.95 (reg. $799)

Sigma 28mm f/1.4 Art deal

Great deal at Adorama. For limited time only, save 32% on the excellent Sigma 28mm F/1.4 DG HSM ART dropping from $799.00 to $539.95.

At a glance:

  • EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/1.4 to f/16
  • Two FLD Elements, Three SLD Elements
  • Three Aspherical Elements
  • Super Multi-Layer Coating
  • Hyper Sonic AF Motor, Manual Override
  • Weather-Sealed, Protective Front Coating
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
  • Compatible with Sigma USB Dock

Get the Sigma 28mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART Lens for Canon EF for just $539.95. Compare at $799.

More selected deals:

Click here to open the rest of the article

Canon EOS R7 Review – 5 Key Features for Wildlife Photography

canon eos r7 review

And yet another Canon EOS R7 review. This one comes with an eye on wildlife photography.

At a glance:

  • 32.5MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF II
  • 4K60 10-Bit Video, HDR-PQ & C-Log 3
  • 30 fps E. Shutter, 15 fps Mech. Shutter
  • 2.36m-Dot OLED EVF
  • 1.6m-Dot Vari-Angle Touchscreen LCD
  • Sensor-Shift 5-Axis Image Stabilization
  • Dual UHS-II Memory Card Slots
  • Multi-Function Shoe, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Duade Paton posted his Canon EOS R7 review, and lists what he thinks are 5 key features for wildlife photography:

I pre-ordered the Canon R7 and look at the 5 Key features for wildlife photography and why I think it is excellent value.

More Canon EOS R7 information, hands-on reviews and more is listed here.

Canon EOS R7: [shoplist 69416]

Click here to open the rest of the article

Canon EOS R7 Review (photographing birds of prey)

canon eos r7 review canon firmware updates

A new Canon EOS R7 review. It’s not stated but I am confident it is a pre-production model of the EOS R7.

At a glance:

  • 32.5MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF II
  • 4K60 10-Bit Video, HDR-PQ & C-Log 3
  • 30 fps E. Shutter, 15 fps Mech. Shutter
  • 2.36m-Dot OLED EVF
  • 1.6m-Dot Vari-Angle Touchscreen LCD
  • Sensor-Shift 5-Axis Image Stabilization
  • Dual UHS-II Memory Card Slots
  • Multi-Function Shoe, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Coming from Wilkinson Cameras, the 11 minutes Canon EOS R7 review below gives a good overview of Canon’s first EOS R camera with an APS-C imaging sensor.

[the reviewer] puts the EOS R7 through its paces, in its ideal habitat; photographing birds of prey. See the results and find out all about this impressive successor to the EOS 7D DSLR series. The EOS R7 is Canon’s flagship APS-C EOS R mirrorless camera. It packs precision AF, state-of-the-art image stabilisation and incredible speed into a next-generation mirrorless EOS R series body. The result is a true hybrid camera: able to tell stories with still and moving images. With you on every step of your creative journey.

Enjoy the video review.

More Canon EOS R7 information, hands-on reviews and more is listed here.

Canon EOS R7: [shoplist 69416]

Click here to open the rest of the article