Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Reviews

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The Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens is a wide-to-tele zoom lens designed for Canon APS-C sized DSLRs like the Canon Rebel XTi and Canon 40D. It has the 35mm focal length equivalent of 28-135mm. It has Canon’s Image Stabilization system, allowing safe hand-holding at speeds up to three stops slower than otherwise possible. A ring-type USM means both fast and silent AF, as well as full-time manual focus when in the AF mode. It also has a non-rotating front element and the lens length does not change during zooming. [Read more…]

 

Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG MACRO HSM

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Sigma has updated their ever popular 70-200mm f/2.8 HSM lens. I’ve got the first-gen DG version and love it. The decreased minimum focusing distance on the macro versions makes it even better. Features include:

  • Improved optical performance with a minimum focusing distance of 100cm/39.4in and maximum magnification of 1:3.5
  • Two SLD and three ELD glass elements provide excellent correction for all types of aberrations
  • Super multi-layer coating reduces flare and ghosting
  • HSM ensures quiet, high speed autofocus with full time manual focusing
  • APO Tele Converter is available [Read more…]

Sigma APO 50-150mm F2.8 II EX DC HSM

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Sigma has announced a new version of the popular 50-150mm f/2.8 HSM lens. This large aperture telephoto zoom lens is designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras with APS-C size sensors and its compact, lightweight body provides freedom of movement and versatility. [Read more…]

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Reviews

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The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens is an ultra wide-angle lens compatible with Canon APS-sized sensor DSLRs, like the Rebel XTi and 40D. The lens is equivalent to a 16-35mm zoom on a 35mm format camera. The consensus among reviewers is that it offers excellent performance and optics. Three aspherical lens elements, plus a Super-UD element, assure image quality. It also has a ring-type USM, which means fast and silent AF along with full-time manual focus. [Read more…]

Canon EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 III

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Canon has released a new iteration of the same old EF 28-90mm lens that’s been around forever. The Canon EF 28-90 f/4-5.6 III combines the same optical and electronics technology as the EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 USM but is equipped with distance metering information. This feature provides compatibility with the E-TTL II flash system which takes the lens distance information into account during autoflash.  (*yawn*)  More info on Canon USA’s product page.

[tags]canon, 28-90mm, lens, eos[/tags]

Sigma 10mm and 4.5mm Lenses Announced

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Sigma has announced a couple of new fisheye lenses – the fast 10mm f/2.8 and the crazy-wide 4.5mm that stands alone with no real competition in the crop-sensor category. A couple of noteworthy points – first, both are DC lenses, which means that they are only for cropped-sensor cameras like the Canon Rebel and 40D series (along with all of Nikons DSLRs). These will not work properly on the Canon 5D, 1D or 1Ds series cameras. [Read more…]

Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS Lens Now Available

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The new Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS is now available at Amazon (w/ free shipping), B&H Photo and (soon) Adorama. For $199, it’s a heck of a deal! If you’re not familiar with this lens, it was introduced along with the Canon 40D this August. I expect that this will become the kit lens in the Canon Rebel XTi replacement due in Jan./Feb. 2008.

More on the EF-S 18-55mm IS lens:

Developed in response to consumer demand for a high-quality yet affordable optically image stabilized lens, the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS standard zoom lens adds a phenomenally flexible lens to the EOS 40D SLR shooter’s imaging arsenal. While it features the wide-angle to mid-range zoom flexibility of its non-IS predecessor, this new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens offers the significant advantage of a true lens-shift image stabilization system that yields up to a full four stops of image-shake correction.

The higher performance provided by Canon’s lens shift IS system (compared with the in-camera sensor shift type offered in some competitive SLRs) includes the ability to optimize the lens performance for specific shooting situations such as low-light, long-zoom or movement while shooting (or virtually any combination of the three). What’s more, the shooter can see the image stabilization effect in the viewfinder. As the image already appears steady, more accurate framing and composition is possible, the AF point can be placed more precisely, and the photographer can concentrate on the optimal shot more comfortably.

Compact and lightweight, the optional EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens is manufactured by Canon specifically for the EOS 40D SLR and any other EOS SLR that takes EF-S lenses including the EOS 30D, EOS 20D, EOS 20Da, EOS Digital Rebel XTi, EOS Digital Rebel XT and the original EOS Digital Rebel camera.

[tags]canon, 18-55mm, is, ef-s, lens, price, availability[/tags]

3 New Olympus Lenses

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Olympus Announces Three New Zuiko Digital Lenses For Quiet, Ultra-Fast Autofocus

High-Performance 2x Teleconverter Doubles Focal Lengths for Twice the Power

CENTER VALLEY, Pa., October 16, 2007 – Launching together with the new Olympus E-3 Digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera, Olympus proudly adds three new ZUIKO DIGITAL™ lenses to its line of 100 percent digital-specific optics. These innovative lenses employ Olympus’ newly-developed Supersonic Wave Drive™ (SWD) technology inside to provide quiet, ultra-fast autofocus (AF) speed, and offer several impressive distinctions, including:

  • New ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 SWD, in combination with the E-3, delivers the fastest autofocus speed in the world;1
  • The ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD focuses twice as fast as the previous ZUIKO DIGITAL lens with that focal length; and
  • The ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-35mm f2.0 SWD joins the existing ZUIKO DIGITAL 35-100mm f2.0 as the brightest fixed aperture lenses in their class. [Read more…]