Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS DxOMarked

Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS

DxOMark tested Canon’s new ultra-wide EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM zoom lens.

With a DxOMark score of 22 points the Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM is generally a good performer. It has good peak sharpness, particularly in the center at 16mm from f/4 onwards, reasonable transmission of 4.5Tstops and low vignetting, though it’s still noticeable wide-open, particularly in the extreme corners at 16mm and more generally in the periphery at 35mm. Sharpness varies throughout the zoom range, as you might expect with a zoom but thanks to some curvature of field this lens has a rather complicated optical performance. At 28mm the lens has somewhat soft corners at full aperture, a marked increase in sharpness across the field at f/5.6 and then at f/8 a return to the lower edge performance seen at f/4. Geometry is good though (particularly at 20mm); there’s no difficult to correct moustache type distortion, only some barrel distortion at 16mm and slight pincushion from 24mm.

More at DxOMark.

Canon EF 16-35 f/4 IS price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS

Canon Patent For Super Fast Auto-Focus Using 2 Motors (new STM technology)

Canon Patent

Egami (translated) spotted a patent filed by Canon for a new, faster auto-focus that appears to be the next step in STM lens technology. The AF in the patent is driven by 2 motors, the main STM and an auxiliary DCM motor. This should be useful especially for continuous shooting & focusing in the videographers domain.

Machine translated text:

  • Patent Publication No. 2014-164106
    • Published Date 2014.9.8
    • Filing date 2013.2.25
  • Example 1
    • Moving the aperture one two motors
    • Main motor STM
    • Auxiliary motor DCM
    • And then rotate the first auxiliary motor, to assist the acceleration of the main motor

Super Hot Deals On Canon EOS 70D Kits (Adorama, starting at $799)

EOS 70D

Adorama has excellent EOS 70D deals. All come bundled with a PIXMA PRO-100 photo printer and other accessories. Discounts are consistent and are cashed in via mail-in rebates (info here).

  • EOS 70D body bundle – on sale for $799 after $350 mail-in rebate, includes:
    • Canon EOS 70D Digital SLR Camera Body (Regular $1,199)
    • Canon PIXMA PRO-100 Professional Photo Inkjet Printer (Regular $398)
    • Canon SG-201 Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss, 13×19″, 50 Sheets (Regular $38.41)
    • Slinger Bag, Single Strap Backpack / Shoulder Bag, Black (Regular $59.95)
    • Kodak 32GB Class 10 High Speed SDHC 200x Write, 60x Read (Regular $39.95)
  • EOS 70D with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens – on sale for $999.95 after $350 mail-in rebate, bundle includes:
    • Canon Canon EOS 70D Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens (Regular $1,349)
    • Canon PIXMA PRO-100 Professional Photo Inkjet Printer (Regular $398)
    • Canon SG-201 Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss, 13×19″, 50 Sheets (Regular $38.41)
    • Slinger Bag, Single Strap Backpack / Shoulder Bag, Black (Regular $59.95)
    • Kodak 32GB Class 10 High Speed SDHC 200x Write, 60x Read (Regular $39.95)
  • EOS 70D with EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens – on sale for $1,199 after $350 mail-in rebate, bundle includes:
    • Canon EOS 70D Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens (Regular $1,549)
    • Canon PIXMA PRO-100 Professional Photo Inkjet Printer (Regular $398)
    • Canon SG-201 Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss, 13×19″, 50 Sheets (Regular $38.41)
    • Slinger Bag, Single Strap Backpack / Shoulder Bag, Black (Regular $59.95)
    • Kodak 32GB Class 10 High Speed SDHC 200x Write, 60x Read (Regular $39.95)
    • Green Extreme LP-E6 Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Battery Pack (Regular $34.95)

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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