Canon suggests “think first, shoot later” (video)

Neat video by Canon Australia. The nice thing here is that Canon doesn’t push you to shoot at everything with your camera. Instead, they suggest you put your camera down and start thinking about what you want to frame.

The most important tool for any photographer is the mind. To prove this we invited 6 photographers to a cemetery to capture “eternal life” in a single image…without a camera.
‘Mindframe’ is one of six experiments from The Lab, designed to shift creative thinking behind the lens. Want to be part of future The Lab experiments? Register your interest here: http://bit.ly/1MrOBh8

Canon PowerShot G5 X review (DPReview)

Powershot G5 X
View Post

DPReview posted their exhaustive review about the new Canon PowerShot G5 X, featuring a large 1 inch sensor.

From the conclusion:

The Canon PowerShot G5 X is a stylish, well-built enthusiast compact that in most situations is a pleasure to use. We especially enjoyed its longer-than-average lens, large electronic viewfinder, fully articulating touchscreen LCD, built-in Auto ND filter and numerous customizable control dials. While not best-in-class, Canon’s Wi-Fi implementation is still very good. The G5 X produces photos and Full HD videos that are comparable to its peers (read: the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 series) in most situations. Read the review…

Canon PowerShot G5 X core specs:

  • 20.2MP 1″ High-Sensitivity CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 6 Image Processor
  • 4.2x Optical Zoom f/1.8-2.8 Lens
  • 24-100mm (35mm Equivalent)
  • 2.36m-Dot Electronic Viewfinder
  • 3.0″ 1.04m-Dot Multi-Angle Touchscreen
  • Full HD 1080p Video Recording at 60 fps
  • Built-In Wi-Fi Connectivity with NFC
  • ISO 12800 & 5.9 fps Continuous Shooting
  • Manual Control Dials, Star Shooting Mode

Canon PowerShot G5 X B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

powershot g5 x

Canon Patent for CN-E 70-200mm f/2.8 Lens (super 35mm, Cinema EOS)

CN-E 70-200mm f/2.8

Canon filed a patent for a CN-E 70-200mm f/2.8 Cinema lens for super 35mm sensors, i.e. for Canon’s Cinema EOS products. If this patent hits the market it will be a T2.8 lens. However, a patent does not necessarily mean such a lens will hit the market any time soon. New Canon Cinema EOS products are expected for NAB 2016.

  • Patent Publication No. 2015-230449
    • Published 2015.12.21
    • Filing date 2014.6.6
  • Example 1
    • Zoom ratio 2.86
    • Focal length 70.00 118.30 200.00
    • F-number 2.80 2.80 2.80
    • Half angle (in degrees) 12.52 7.49 4.45
    • Image height 15.55 15.55 15.55
    • Overall length of the lens 277.01 277.01 277.01
    • BF 44.72 44.72 44.72
[via Egami]

Tokina unveils AT-X 14-20 F2 PRO DX lens for APS-C DSLRs

AT-X 14-20 F2 PRO DX
View Post

Tokina announced the Tokina AT-X 14-20 F2 PRO DX lens. For an overview (machine translated) I suggest you head over to DicaHub. Canon mount version will be available in February 2016, price in US and EU not yet disclosed, likely below $900

Tokina AT-X 14-20 F2 PRO DX

AT-X 14-20 F2 PRO DX

More information:

Band Pro Unveils New Line of IB/E Macro Lenses

IB/E Macro

Band Pro announced three new IB/E macro lenses. The lenses cover a full-frame sensor and come with three focal lengths: 100mm, 150mm, and 180mm.

As my friends at DicaHub (translated) points out, the lenses support PL mount, but have “adjustable flange focal distance”, which appears to mean that they will have interchangeable lens mounts. Canon EF and other mount types should hence be supported.

Press release:

Band Pro Unveils New Line of IB/E Macro Lenses

IB/E President, Klaus Eckerl and Band Pro President & CEO, Amnon Band unveiled a new line of professional APO Macro FF lenses at Band Pro’s One World Open House event on December 10th, 2015.

The new macro lenses were designed to address the industry-wide movement toward larger format sensors (including RED Weapon 6K and 8K, Sony A7, and ARRI ALEXA 65 cameras).  These larger sensors deliver a convincing film-look and interesting bokeh due to their very shallow depth of field, and require lenses that can cover their larger camera sensor sizes.

The new APO Macro FF lens family consists of 3 focal lengths: 100mm, 150mm, and 180mm.  The lenses feature full frame (24mm x 36mm) coverage, 1:1 magnification, consistent T-stop T2.9, as well as robust and durable cine mechanics.  Based in Germany, IB/E is a globally respected optics manufacturer known for cutting edge expanders, adapters, and lenses, including the new Arri 65 lenses.

APO Macro FF lenses will be available Summer 2016.

IB/E Macro

Amnon noted at the event: “Today’s announcement is a continuation of what Band Pro has always done.  From the early days of Zeiss DigiPrimes, to our involvement with the Leica Summilux-C project, to the new IB/E Macro FF lenses, Band Pro has always lead the way for embracing new technologies.”

To preorder the new APO Macro FF lens set, or for more information, please contact Band Pro at 1-888-BAND-PRO or by emailing [email protected] .

[via Band Pro via DicaHub]

Interview with Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki

mobile01 posted a video (in English) with an interesting interview with Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma. Our friends at Mirrorless Rumors not only spotted the interview but they did also a great work to sum it up for us.

1) Company philosphy:
“We’re still a private company, not a listed company. Epically we are still family owned. So we don’t need to maximized turnover, sells and profits. Public company have to do that to keep their stock price high. But in our case, our goal is just to continue the business and protect the employees. And that is very important. So we gave up to grow rapidly. We decided to stay in Japan, and to explore what can be done here. And that’s one reason why we change our main business form volume zone to mid-high end product.”

2) The best selling lenses (in volume) are:
1. 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS
2. 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM
3. 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG MACRO

3) The lenses creating more “value” (I guess he means earnings) are:
1. Contemporary/Sports 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM
2.  35mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART
3.  50mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART

4) DP camera sales:
“dp0 sells more than our expectation. So I’m happy! dp2 is the highest by far. Over 50% than other three models. ”

5) In a recent Mobile01 poll the users biggest wish was for Sigma to make FE lenses:
He recognizes that he gets the same request from other countries (Editor’s note: Mobile01 is located in Taiwan). And he adds later that “Everything is possible” (when asked if he would make Sony FE lenses)

6) About Sony and Foveon:
“To us, it is very clear that Sony will be the major player in the photo industry. Because they have sensor technology. In order to differentiate the products. the sensor and lens are the most important. Other things can be shared by other companies. I think in the photo industry who has a good technology of making good sensor and lens could survive. That is why we acquired the Foveon company and try to retain the technology to us. ”

7) About Taiwan market:
“Taiwan’s market respond to new products very quickly. Way faster than USA, China, even Japan. Taiwan is one have quickest response country in the world. Once we release a new product, Taiwanese will jump into new product or technology. And also they care about the quality very much, even more than price. I think it’s a very sophisticated market. ”

8) Why not make a medium format Foveon camera?
“One of my dream is to make our camera to produce such high quality image. Medium format is my personal interest. But so far we have not work on it. First of all, In order to make a medium format camera, we need to re-develop a whole series from the beginning. We have to develop the sensor, camera body, lens…etc. It’s a very long procedure. And unfortunately, the market size of the medium format look quite small, even for Sigma. So that’s why we did not enter the market.“

[via mobile01 via Mirrorless Rumors]