Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
Here’s a look inside how Canon digital cameras are made. From clean rooms for sensor production to 3D modeling of camera design, it’s an interesting watch for those of us who have look at our cameras and wondered how these things came to be.
[via PetaPixel]
A recent patent publication shows Canon has been looking into adding image stabilization to a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. Given the recent announcement of the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens (which still isn’t available), however, this doesn’t bode well for an IS version anytime soon.
Of course, there’s a Tamron lens that fills this void though…
[via Photo Rumors]
As hard as I have tried while shooting out hotel windows in Vegas, I have been unable to kill all the reflections from my room on the windows. Turning off all of the lights in the room won’t do the trick because exterior lighting spills into the room, thus creating reflections of ambient room light…
This smart little LenSkirt tool uses suction cups to attach to the window and has an adjustable opening for various lens sizes. It also folds down quite small for packing in your camera bag.
I haven’t tried one yet, but I may pick one up before my next trip to Vegas. Check out the examples here to see how well they kill ambient room lighting. They’re $49 and available via the LenSkirt website.
Kudos to Mitch over at Planet5D for turning me onto this one.
Nik Software has launched HDR Efex Pro 2 with several updates to the HDR processing program. Nik says that it has improved HDR Efex Pro 2 to be faster, more powerful, deliver more realistic results, and easier to use than ever.
Key new features are listed below. [Read more…]
Earlier this month, Canon issued a product advisory on the Rebel T4i for an error in the firmware. Two days after the issuance of that advisory, Canon issued another product advisory for the Rebel T4i with regard to the presence of zinc bis in the rubber grip.
In short, this substance may cause the rubber grips to turn white and could potentially lead to skin allergies or irritation. The lot affected can be identified by looking at the serial number. If the sixth digit is “1” then your camera could be affected.
Specific details in the full product advisory below. [Read more…]
Canon has updated the manual for the Canon 7D in light of the new feature-packed firmware update that will be available in August. The updated manual is available on Canon’s website.
The Rebel T4i is the first Canon DSLR to feature full-time AF in video mode. The past Canon DSLRs have featured the ability to force an AF confirmation using a slow and clunky contrast-detect method, which was simply unusable during video capture. Another AF confirmation option has been to use the cameras’ phase detection sensors; however, this caused a blackout during live view thanks to the mirror flipping down in front of the image sensor.
The folks over at Chipworks [via Image Sensors World] tore down a Rebel T4i to get a look at the image sensor and reveal phase detection sensors mixed among the pixels. This is something that Canon has been cooking on for a while. (Note this patent application that I discussed back in 2010.)
And while we’ve seen this concept implemented in prior cameras (notably the Fuji F300EXR point and shoot camera and Nikon 1 Series), Canon has gone about it in a technically different way to make it effective for DSLRs. [Read more…]
It’s time for our weekly break from the gear for a few minutes so we can enjoy another round of reader photos from the Photography Bay Flickr Group.
Check out the rest of the photos below. [Read more…]
Nikon’s Recollections section on its website just added the Zoom-Nikkor 1200-1700mm f/5.6-8P IF-ED beast of lens from 1990. The lens was constructed of 18 elements in 13 groups and had a minimum focusing distance of 10 meters. It weighed in at a hefty 35lbs. [Read more…]
Canon has been on a roll lately in the delay of lenses. So it should come as no surprise that the highly anticipated Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens has been delayed until mid-September 2012.
The new 24-70mm f/2.8L lens was announced back in February (and was slated for availability in April 2012) alongside the Canon 24mm and 28mm prime lenses (both of which were slated for a June launch and are now readily available). This delay will put the refreshed 24-70mm lens availability at 7+ months after announcement (assuming Canon doesn’t delay it again).
[via Rob Galbraith]