Black Friday 2017: Venus Optics Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D at $899 (reg. $949)

Laowa 12mm f/2.8
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At a glance:

  • EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/2.8 to f/22
  • Three Extra-Low Dispersion Elements
  • Two Aspherical Elements
  • Rectilinear Design, Low Distortion
  • Frog Eye Dust & Water-Repellent Coating
  • Manual Focus Design
  • Floating Optical Design
  • Built-In Petal-Shape Lens Hood

Another Black Friday 2017 discount went live today. The Venus Optics Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D got $50 off and now sells for $899 at Adorama and B&H Photo. “Zero-D” stays for zero distortion, that’s what this lens promises to deliver at 12mm on a full-frame DSLR. According to reviews (see two video reviews below), the Venus Optics Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D holds up to the expectations.

Our select Black Friday 2017 deals are listed here.

Amazon EU and Amazon US Black Friday pages are already up and running and first deals are online. Have a look: Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon ES and Amazon IT.

B&H Photo has a Black Friday 2017 page   –   Adorama has a Black Friday 2017 page   –   Canon USA has a Black Friday 2017 page

All B&H Photo’s Canon deals for Black Friday are listed here   –   All Adorama Canon deals for Black Friday are listed here.

You may also be interested in these Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and EOS 6D Mark II bundle deals by Adorama and similar bundle deals at B&H Photo.

If you’re hunting deals it’s a good idea to regularly check the page of your interest.

Black Friday 2017: Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 35mm f/0.95 Mark II lens for EOS M at $479 (reg. $599)

Speedmaster 35mm F/0.95
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Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 35mm f/0.95 Mark II at a glance:

  • Canon EF-M Mount/APS-C Format
  • 56mm (35mm Equivalent)
  • Aperture Range: f/0.95 to f/16
  • One Extra-Low Dispersion Element
  • Two Extra-High Refractive Index Elements
  • One High Refractive Index Element
  • Manual Focus Design
  • De-Clicked Aperture Ring
  • Depth of Field and Distance Scales
  • Nine-Blade Diaphragm

One of the more exotic lenses for Canon’s EOS M system, the Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 35mm f/0.95 Mark II got a substantial discount for Black Friday 2017. The Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 35mm f/0.95 Mark II is on sale at $479 at B&H Photo , and it’s $599 elsewhere. Below your see a video of what is the fastest lens available for the EOS M system.

Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 35mm f/0.95 Mark II
Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 35mm f/0.95 Mark II

Our select Black Friday 2017 deals are listed here.

Amazon EU and Amazon US Black Friday pages are already up and running and first deals are online. Have a look: Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon ES and Amazon IT.

B&H Photo has a Black Friday 2017 page   –   Adorama has a Black Friday 2017 page   –   Canon USA has a Black Friday 2017 page

All B&H Photo’s Canon deals for Black Friday are listed here   –   All Adorama Canon deals for Black Friday are listed here.

You may also be interested in these Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and EOS 6D Mark II bundle deals by Adorama and similar bundle deals at B&H Photo.

If you’re hunting deals it’s a good idea to regularly check the page of your interest.

Mitakon Zhongyi 35mm F/0.95 Overview after the break.

Click here to open the rest of the article

A Master at Work: Don McCullin in Kolkata

Don McCullin
Sir Don McCullin (Image from Wikipedia)

One of the greatest living photographers, war photography legend, and the man who always has been an inspiration for me (not just in photography), Sir Don McCullin, has been portrayed in a new documentary, McCullin in Kolkata.

In this article at Canon Europe, film director Clive Booth, cinematographer Chris Clarke and Sir Don McCullin’s manager, Mark George, tell the behind-the-scenes story of how they made the documentary film, McCullin in Kolkata.

Don McCullin has been filmed discussing his photography many times during his long career, but rarely has he been shown shooting in the field. So when plans were mooted for making a documentary showing him in action, with the world’s most renowned photojournalist keen on the concept, they knew they had a rare opportunity that would make the photographic world sit up and take note. The questions was, where did Don want to turn his lens…

“We initially planned to film Don in Lebanon, but ISIS moved into the area and it was too dangerous,” says Mark. “We considered filming him photographing Roman buildings in Turkey, but his name has been made shooting people, so we really needed to show him doing that.

“Then Don said, ‘If you want people, we should go to Kolkata. It’s the most unbelievable city in the world.’ When Don tells you that, you know you’re on safe ground.”

Well, yes, Kolkata, a city I visited two times, is for sure on of he most unbelievable cities in the world. But then: this applies to most of India. Btw, Sir Don McCullin used a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in Kolkata.

Be sure o have a look at the video below. Don McCullin is not your ordinary photographer. This man is what legends are made of.

Canon EOS M100 review (phone photographers feel very at home, Cameralabs)

eos m100
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The Canon EOS M100 starts at $599:Adorama | B&H Photo | Amazon | Canon Store

At a glance:

  • 24.2MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 7 Image Processor
  • 3.0″ 1.04m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD
  • Full HD 1080p Video Recording at 60 fps
  • Built-In Wi-Fi with NFC, Bluetooth
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF
  • Up to 6.1 fps Shooting and ISO 25600
  • Creative Assist and Self Portrait Mode

I guess there is no recent Canon camera that’s getting so much love from reviewers as the Canon EOS M100 (specifications, and price in your country), the company’s latest entry-level mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and as it appears, a well made one.

Cameralabs reviewed the EOS M100, and their opinion is not different than other (positive) reviews. Delivering DSLR image quality, Dual Pixel AF, and more DSLR-ish features on a very compact and lightweight, and beginner-friendly camera seems to be a winning formula.

From their conclusion:

The Canon EOS M100 is […] designed as a first step up from a smartphone, an introduction to ‘real’ photography […] As such it needs to get the balance right, with nothing too complex or unfamiliar, whilst at the same time providing enough control to enable newbie photographers to develop their skills. It also needs to be able to do the things a phone can do at least as well if not better and, finally, it needs some fun feature modes.

The EOS M100 manages all of those things very well. It’s compact enough to be able to slip it in your pocket and the simple control layout means anyone can pick it up and start using it straight away. The flip-up screen and selfie features combined with great connectivity make it almost as easy to share your photos and videos as if you’d shot them on your phone in the first place. It has good range of effects filters, a time-lapse movie and Hybrid movie mode and the touch screen and well designed interface will make phone photographers feel very at home. Beyond that it offers the same image quality as the more sophisticated EOS M6, the same fast and accurate Dual-pixel AF, 1080p video and respectable 6fps (4fps with Continuous AF) continuous shooting. Read the review…

The review comes with sample photos and usage scenarios. Below two videos from the review. More featured Canon EOS M100 reviews.  You can download the EOS M100 user manual, in case you want to learn more about Canon’s latest MILC.

Canon EOS M100: [shoplist 47242]

Black Friday 2017: More Canon EOS 6D Mark II bundle deals (printer, bag, battery grip, battery, memory card, paper)

EOS 6D Mark II
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B&H Photo has a set of Canon EOS 6D Mark II bundle deals for Black Friday 2017 that are hard to beat if you are comfortable with mail-in rebates. Given what you get as bonus items it may be the best EOS 6D Mark II deal that showed up so far.

All kits include:

  • Canon PIXMA Pro-100 Professional Photo Printer
  • Watson LP-E6N Lithium-Ion Battery Pack (7.2V, 1900mAh)
  • SanDisk 64GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I Memory Card
  • Ruggard Journey 44 DSLR Shoulder Bag (Black)
  • Canon BG-E21 Battery Grip for EOS 6D Mark II
  • Canon SG-201 Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss (13 x 19″, 50 Sheets)

These kits are on Black Friday 2017 sale (instructions for mail-in rebate):

  • Canon EOS 6D Mark II DSLR Camera with EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens and all the items listed above on sale at $1,749 after $350 MIR
  • Canon EOS 6D Mark II DSLR Camera with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM Lens and all the items listed above on sale at $2,249 after $350 MIR
  • Canon EOS 6D Mark II body and all the items listed above on sale at $1,349 after $350 MIR

There is more for you. Receive 13 months of free accidental damage protection from Canon with Canon Care Pak Plus (just register your new gear, ends Jan. 6, 2018).

Our select Black Friday 2017 deals are listed here.

Amazon EU and Amazon US Black Friday pages are up and running and first deals are online. Have a look: Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon ES and Amazon IT.

B&H Photo has a Black Friday 2017 page   –   Adorama has a Black Friday 2017 page   –   Canon USA has a Black Friday 2017 page

All B&H Photo’s Canon deals for Black Friday are listed here   –   All Adorama Canon deals for Black Friday are listed here.

If you’re hunting for deals it’s a good idea to regularly check the page of your interest.

Black Friday 2017: Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC with AE chip – $289 (reg. $399, Amazon US)

Rokinon 14mm F/2.8
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Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC at a glance:

  • Features built-in AE chip for auto metering with Canon DSLR cameras
  • Aperture Range: F/2.8 – F/22
  • Compatible with both full frame and APS-C cameras
  • Minimum Focusing Distance of 10.8 inches. 6 Diaphragm Blades
  • Focus Type : Manual Focus

Amazon US has a good deal on the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC lens on sale at $289. Compare at $399. This version has the AE chip, i.e. it’s still manual focus but the AE chip allows the lens to work with the camera’s focus confirm, auto exposure, auto metering and auto white balance functions.

Amazon EU and Amazon US Black Friday pages are already up and running and first deals are online. Have a look: Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon ES and Amazon IT.

B&H Photo has a Black Friday 2017 page   –   Adorama has a Black Friday 2017 page   –   Canon USA has a Black Friday 2017 page

All B&H Photo’s Canon deals for Black Friday are listed here   –   All Adorama Canon deals for Black Friday are listed here.

If you’re hunting for deals it’s a good idea to regularly check the page of your interest. Deals of special interest (i.e. the best deals) are listed here.