Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Cyber Week Continues with Deals on Tokina Lenses, Benro Tripod & More

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Amazon is pushing well past Cyber Monday with a whole week of deals on a variety of products.  Just browsing through today’s “Lightning Deals” – it’s serving up deals on the Tokina 16.5-135mm lens in Canon and Nikon mounts (starting at 9:20AM ET), a Benro tripod and monopod, with more to be revealed throughout the day.

If you aren’t familiar with Lightning Deals, they are limited availability products that are reduced in price (sometimes significantly) for only a short period of time (usually 1-4 hours if the stock lasts that long).  You can check them out on Amazon’s Cyber Week page and you’ll get a feel for how the deal system works.

 

Camera and Lens Rebates Roundup

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Canon 60D Rebate

There have been several photo-related rebate promotions announced recently.  Below a quick roundup of all the current rebates from Canon, Nikon, Olympus and the rest courtesy of B&H Photo.

Canon Double Instant Rebate Promotion – ends January 8

Canon 60D Instant Rebate – ends November 24

Nikon DSLR and Lens Kits Instant Rebates – ends November 20

Nikon S4000 $30 Instant Savings – ends November 20

Tamron Lens Rebates – ends November 31

SanDisk Memory Card Rebates – ends January 1

Olympus E-PL1 and Lens Instant Rebates – ends January 1

Canon DSLR & Printer Rebates – ends December 31

Neoprene Lens Guard Protects Lenses from Mishaps and Drops

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Camera accessory manufacturer, DeluxGear, has created a thick neoprene Lens Guard that fits over the ends of lenses that helps protect from drops and other mishaps.

“The Lens Guard can be used with or without filters or lens caps. It is available for both the lens front and rear in three sizes that will fit a wide range of lenses from 2.5” to 4” in diameter. A built in tether connects the Lens Guard to your lens, camera strap or camera body.”

A single Lens Guard runs $14.99, and a two-pack is $24.99.

More details in the press release below. [Read more…]

Firmware Friday: Olympus Lenses, Panasonic Micro 4/3, Nikon P90 [Day Late Edition]

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Camera Firmware Update

Below you will find this week’s firmware updates.  Hit the manufacturer website links for more details and download instructions for the firmware.

Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f/2.8-4 SWD version 1.2 – “Improved sequential shooting speed with the E-5 cameras.” [Olympus Website]

Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 14-35mm f/2 SWD version 1.1 – “Improved sequential shooting speed with the E-5 cameras.Effective with other Four Thirds cameras also.” [Olympus Website]

Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD version 1.1 – “Improved sequential shooting speed with the E-5 cameras.Effective with other Four Thirds cameras also.” [Olympus Website]

Panasonic G2 firmware version 1.1 – “Compatibility with the new interchangeable 3D lens LUMIX G 12.5mm” [coming November]

Panasonic 14-140mm lens version 1.3 – “Improved AF performance in speed is available. Reduced start-up time.” [coming later this month]

Nikon Coolpix P90 version 1.1 – “An issue that, in some rare cases, prevented the accurate recording of images captured without interruption in single shooting mode with manual focus and Distortion control enabled has been resolved.” [Nikon Website]

Hasselblad HC 50mm-II and HC Macro 120mm-II Lenses

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Hasselblad announced a pair of new lenses for its H4D system earlier this week at Photokina 2010.  The new HC 50mm-II and HC Macro 120mm-II lenses are the latest in the H4D family and offer a new optical design to take advantage of the 50MP and 60MP sensors found in the top-of-the-line H4D cameras.

More details in the press release below. [Read more…]

Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro

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Earlier this week, Sigma announced a 150mm f/2.8 Macro lens with its great HSM AF motor inside.  The new macro lens offers a 1:1 magnification ratio, along with a 9-blade circular diaphragm.

While Sigma showed off the new lens at Photokina 2010, it has not released further details concerning its price or availability.  For the sake of reference, the current 150mm f/2.8 Macro lens is available in Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Nikon mounts and carries a street price of around $730.

More details in the press release below. [Read more…]

Canon Announces 4 New L-Series Lenses

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Along with the Canon 60D, four new L-Series lenses and two new teleconverters have been announced today.

  • Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM
  • Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM
  • Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM
  • Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
  • Canon Extender EF 1.4x III
  • Canon Extender EF 2x III

Additional details and images for each of the lenses are in the press release below. [Read more…]

4 New Nikon Lenses: 55-300mm VR – 28-300mm VR – 24-120mm VR – 85mm f/1.4

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Nikon has announced the following 4 new lenses:

  1. AF-S DX 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR – B&H Photo / Amazon
  2. AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR – B&H Photo / Amazon
  3. AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR – B&H Photo / Amazon
  4. AF-S 85mm f/1.4G – B&H Photo / Amazon

All of these new lenses should be available in September 2010.  More details on each lens below. [Read more…]