Voigtländer 28 mm f/2.8 ColorSkopar SL II N Comes With EF Mount

Voigtländer added a new lens to its SL II line-up, the 28 mm f/2.8 ColorSkopar SL II N (machine translated). The lens comes with a Canon EF mount too (the other is for Nikon) and has manual focus. The price will be around €550/$673.

Focal length 28 mm
Aperture ratio 1:2,8
Minimum aperture F 22
Lens construction 7 elements in
6 groups
Angle 74.8 °
Diaphragm Blades 9
Shortest Distance setting 0.22 m
Macro area 1:5
Max diameter 63.3 mm Nikon AI-S
70.0 mm Canon EOS
Length 24.5 mm Nikon AI-S
27.0 mm Canon EOS
Weight 180 g Nikon AI-S
Canon EOS 230 g
Filter Size 52 mm
Color black
Connection AI-S (CPU integrated)
Canon EOS
Model 19 650 Nikon AI-S
19 651 Canon EOS
Retail price 529, – € Nikon 
549, – € Canon
Optional Accessories LH sunvisor 28N

Pixma MG4220 And Pixma MG3220 Support Airprint Wireless Printing

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., July 10, 2012 – Canon USA Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today announced that its PIXMA MG4220 ($129.99, click here) and MG3220 (79.99, click here) Wireless All-In-One inkjet printers will support AirPrint wireless printing for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. AirPrint allows users to wirelessly print photos, email, web pages and documents without installing device drivers. AirPrint works with iPhone (3GS and later), iPad and iPod touch devices (3rd generation and later) and requires iOS 4.2 (or later).

Pixma MG4220 technical specifications:

  • Built-in automatic 2-sided printing helps the environment and can cut your paper usage by up to 50%
  • AirPrint enabled! Print wirelessly from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch directly to your MG4220, no drivers needed!
  • My Image Garden software makes organizing and printing your photos fun and easy with great facial recognition, Fun Filters, Calendar Organization, Automatic Layout Suggestions and so much more!
  • Enjoy cloud printing convenience with PIXMA Cloud Link and Google Cloud Print
  • View images from your memory cards right on the built-in 2.5-Inch LCD and print

The compact PIXMA MG4220 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One has features that make it an easy choice for the educated consumer. Built-in Wi-Fi technology allows you to easily print and scan wirelessly virtually anywhere around your house. Built-in AirPrintcompatibility allows you to print right from your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch wirelessly and with virtually no setup! Print gorgeous, borderless photos at home up to 8.5″ x 11″ size with a maximum print color resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi, not to mention the convenience and quality of Canon FINE ink cartridges.

My Image Garden software puts all of your favorite printing features, such as Fun Filter Effects like Fish Eye and Blur Background, Full HD Movie Print and more all into one convenient software application. Plus, My Image Garden adds great photo organization convenience with calendar view and facial recognition. With your memories in one place it is easy to print beautiful, borderless photos to share and enjoy. It’s also your creative coach as the software offers creative templates in various color combinations and patterns for your fun photo projects. My Image Garden also gives you access to CREATIVE PARK PREMIUM where you can download exclusive creative projects and content.

The versatile PIXMA Cloud Link feature allows you to conveniently print pictures from online photo albums such as Canon image Gateway and Google Picasa as well as download web templates and seasonal calendars, all right on your printer. You can also take advantage of Google Cloud Printand send items to be printed from virtually anywhere. With the Canon iEPPapp you can also print and scan JPG and PDF files from compatible iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android devices. On top of all that, you still have built-in Auto Duplex Printing which allows you to automatically print on both sides of the paper and can help reduce paper usage by up to 50%. Also, look for the Canon “Print Your Days” App on Facebook. You can create fun collages to print and share on your timeline.

[Patent] Canon Files Patent For 600mm f/5.6 and 800mm f/5.6

600mm f/5.6 DO
800mm f/5.6 DO

Egami (machine translated) found a patent filed by Canon for a 600mm and a 800mm f/5.6 lens using diffractive optical elements.

  • Patent Publication No. 2012-123152
    • 2012.6.28 Release Date
    • 2010.12.8 filing date
  • Example 1
    • Focal length f = 584.99mm
    • Fno. 5.80
    • Half angle of 2.12 deg.
    • Image height 21.64mm
    • Length 360.03mm
    • BF 94.84mm
    • 17 pieces in 10 groups Lens Construction
    • 3 UD glass sheet
    • One fluorite
    • A surface diffraction plane
  • Example 3
    • Focal length f = 779.00mm
    • Fno. 5.80
    • Half angle of 1.59 deg.
    • Image height 21.64mm
    • Length 462.02mm
    • BF 120.29mm
    • 17 pieces in 10 groups Lens Construction
    • 2 UD glass sheet
    • Two fluorite
    • A surface diffraction plane
  • Low dispersion material with anomalous partial dispersion
    • To be effective in the correction of chromatic aberration
    • Specific gravity is large (heavy)
      • 3.18 fluorite
      • FK01 3.63
      • The specific gravity of small anomalous partial dispersion glass material
        • FK5 2.46
        • BK7 2.52
    • Surface may be damaged easily
    • FK01 is fragile due to temperature changes and large diameter
  • Diffractive optical element (DOE)
    • To be effective in the correction of chromatic aberration
    • Is generated by unwanted light flare and ghosting
  • Canon’s patented
    • Become positive from negative to DOE
    • DOE to place the position is hard to unwanted light incident

[Deal] Powershot G1 X Price Drops To $729

B&H has the Canon Powershot G1 X on sale for $729 (click here), that’s $70 off from the regular price. Limited quantity available. The G1 X is Canon’s first attempt in the mirrorless market. While not having interchangeable lenses, the G1 X sports a near APS-C sized sensor with 4:3 ratio. Moreover, this camera comes with a fixed yet amazingly performing lens. More specs:

  • 14.3MP 1.5″ CMOS Sensor
  • 3.0″ Vari-Angle LCD Screen
  • 28mm Wide Lens with 4x Optical Zoom
  • DIGIC 5 Image Processor
  • Hybrid Image Stabilizer
  • Optical Viewfinder
  • Up to 12,800 ISO
  • 1080p Full HD Video
  • High Dynamic Range Scene Mode
  • Manual & Numerous Other Shooting Modes

[Rumor] Canon Mirrorless System Camera Rumor – Quick Update

Canon mirrorless camera concept by D. Riesenberg

While the hints for a Canon announcement on July 23, regarding the awaited mirrorless system camera, are getting stronger by the day, there are also more and more related rumor-bits surfacing here and there. Some of the rumors I got, coming from a source I trust, are saying that Canon’s upcoming mirrorless system camera

  • has a new type of mount and that Canon will provide an adapter for EF lenses (that was already considered to be most probable, nothing really new here)
  • features an APS-C sized sensor and not the sensor of the PowerShot G1 X (most of us thought it would have this sensor) – This is a new rumoured spec of Canon’s mirrorless camera, and – I guess – a very welcome one (if true)

Any news, thoughts, speculations…?

[Review] Just Another Rebel? The T4i/650D As A Technology Sandbox

I have to say that I feel I am neglecting the Rebel T4i (EOS 650D in EU, Kiss X6i in JP). I am not part of the “just another Rebel” party, nor do I have an elitist approach to photographic gear. Nevertheless, I didn’t dedicate too much time to the latest Rebel (so far). That’s a shame, because Canon’s last iteration of the Rebel series (the xxxD series in EU) has a lot of advanced and cue-giving tech inside. So much that it should make us curios what it is about. I reported time ago that Canon may sandboxing and testing the technology (i.e. the touchscreen) that could possibly be used for its upcoming mirrorless system camera (expected for July 23). Now, there are more hints that the Rebel T4i/650D sports features and functionalities that would be more than just useful on a mirrorless camera.

Le me start saying that the T4i/650D is Canon’s first DSLR having full-time auto-focus in video mode. To accomplish this, you can use different focusing approaches, such as the contrast-detect method (used in previous Canon DSLR, slow and imprecise) or phase detection sensors in the camera (causes a blackout during live view, when the mirror flips down). But there is a third way to get auto-focus through phase detection: mixing phase detection sensors with pixels on the sensor itself. That’s what the folks at chipworks discovered when they tore down a T4i/650D. The cool thing is that such a technical solution would make up for a fast and reliable AF on a mirrorless camera. The technology is not new and was seen on Nikon’s Aptina sensor sported on the V1 and on the Fuji F300EXR. Differently from Nikon, which uses regular lines to implement the phase detection sensors, Canon uses an irregular pixel pattern. This is not totally new, as Canon two years ago published a patent for such a technology.

What are your thoughts?

Canon patent for phase detection AF

[via photographybay, chipworks]