Browsing some websites and forums this morning I noticed a lot of discussion about the new Canon 60D and how it compares with the 7D. I can understand this, at first glance it might seem like the 60D has made the 7D somewhat obsolete but that really is not the case. A closer look at the specs reveals a camera that more carefully fits into the “advanced amateur” category than previous XXD line cameras because of course the 7D did not exist when the 50D was released. The camera that is best for you will depend partly on your budget (there is a $400 price difference) but also partly on your intended shooting medium. Video or photos ? This question is a new one that has to be considered with all of today’s cameras, as if we needed more right?! Many potential buyers will want to shoot both but I would wager most have a preference for one or the other. There is also the consideration that these days there are plenty of film makers who are looking to add HDSLRs to their shooting and often they do not care for the photo features. Continue reading »
Today is a pretty huge day for Canon shooters with the announcement of the new 60D and 4 new lenses as well as new teleconverters and information on even more lenses to come in the future! I have posted detailed information and my thoughts on all these announcements but as there were so many I am doing a summary here for those who just want to bare minimum info. If you want to read the full posts then scroll down or click the links! Whew! Big day and also new traffic record for my website so thanks to all those that logged in to check out these exciting new products.
Update 3: Adorama has the 60d up for order now here
Update 2: Amazon has the 60D up for pre-order here
Update: B&H will keep you informed when all of these new items become available for purchase
Ca
non 60D – Full article here.
Main points of interest: 18MP sensor, 3″ swivel screen, full video functions of the 7d and a nice looking ergonomic re-design.
Available in September for approx. $1099 (new battery grip BG-E9 $270)
Canon EF 70-300 f4-5.6 L IS – Full article here
Main points of interest: Small size (143mm) and weighs in at just a tiny bit over 1KG. 4-stop image stabilization, full weather sealing and minimum focusing distance of 1.2m
Available in October for approx. $1500
Canon EF 8-15 f4 L 
- Zoom Fisheye – Full article here
Main points of interest: First lens of its kind, circular fisheye on a full frame and ability to be a full frame 180 degree fisheye on all crop factors.
Available in January for approx $1400
Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L IS II - Full article here
Main points of interest: Weight reduced by 8%. New 4-stop IS. power focus mode for smooth focus racking during movie shooting. Multiple feet available for tripod/monopod attachment, built in collar.
Available in December for approx $7000
Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS II – Full article here
Main points of interest: Weight reduced by an enormous 28%!! Otherwise mush the same as the 300mm. New 4-stop IS. power focus mode for smooth focus racking during movie shooting. Multiple feet available for tripod/monopod attachment.
Available in December for approx $11,000
Canon 1.4x TC III and 2x TC III – Full article here
Main points of interest: Well not much really… they are designed to pair perfectly with the new big white tele lenses and predictably they apparently offer hugely improved contrast and sharpness.
Available in December for approx. $500 each
Canon EF 500mm f4 L IS II and 600mm F4 L IS II are in development – Full article here
Main point of interest: Sort of a half announcement. Canon confirms the 500 and 600 will see an upgrade next year to include all of the new features of the new 300 and 400. It will be really interesting to see if they can shave off 25% + weight of either of those 2 lenses ! That would be incredible.
Availability sometime next year and price TBA ( but it will be huge!)
Canon has also announced that they will be making updates to the current 500mm and 600 mm lens designs following in the footsteps of the new 300mm and 400mm announced today. Little more information was given except that they will be available next year, and on display at Photokina in October. For me the really big news in these updates is the weight reduction. All the “big whites” already produce incredible images so it would be hard to improve on them in that respect. The 28% reduction in weight of the 400mm 2.8 though is an amazing achievement. If they could do that to the 600mm then it would be very interesting. Many wildlife and nature people choose the 500mm instead of the 600mm becauase the later is so much heavier. If they could bring the new 600mm in line with the current 500mm then it would be some food for thought! And then the 500mm… how low can they go!? On top of this they have extended a new look to the lenses which began last year with the 800mm f5.6. Personally I think they look great, not that it makes you take better photos but hey I keep my 300mm 2.8 on my desk to look at as a paperweight too. Don’t you ? 
600mm f4 L IS II
500mm f4 L IS II
On top of all the other exciting things they released today, Canon has also been busy working on new updates to the big white lenses. This time round the 300mm f2.8 and 400mm f2.8 have seen the update, but we are told that the 500mm and 600mm are also being worked on. Given the 
already stunning image quality from these lenses I doubt we will see much improvement in that area but regardless, the lenses have received the full array of Canon’s coating technology and the addition of 4-stop IS. On top of this Canon have also worked to get the weight down on these lenses, shaving 150g off the 300 and an enormous 1.5KG off the weight of the 400mm! The 28% reduction in weight of the 400mm is particularly impressive and I think it will invite a whole new type of shooter to use it. Interestingly they have also been thinking about the movie makers out there with the introduction of a new Power Focus mode. This allows a movie maker to rack focus by using the ring at the front of the lens previously designed for preset focus. There is also an option as to what type of foot you have on the lens collar, a long foot for tripod mounting or a shorter foot for monopod use. Rounding off the improvements is the inclusion of an internal collar on the 300mm (previously already present on the 400mm), a connection point for kensington security cables and a new IS mode that implements the IS just at the point of shooting, allowing the photographer to not see the effects of IS through the viewfinder while panning between multiple subjects.
The new 300mm is to ship in December 2010 at an expected street price of of US$7000 in the U.S. The 400mm will be about $11,000 (!!) B&H will keep you informed when all of these new items become available for purchase
MTF Chart for the new 400mm f2.8 L IS II
Today Canon has upgraded their ever popular XXD line, replacing the 50D with the 60D. The specs indicate that this is a little more of an upgrade than the previous ones in this particular lineup so this is a big announcement for Canon. First off here are the important specs, with particularly interesting ones in bold: ( NB the 60d is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com here)
- 18MP APS-C sensor
- 96% viewfinder
- ISO range 100-6400 (Hi:12800)
- 1/250 x-sync
- Movie mode 1080p – 30/25/24 fps & 720p 50/60
- SD Card (sdxc/hc)
- 3″ flip out, rotating screen
- 14 bit
- 5.3fps
- Digic V processor
- 9AF Points (all cross type)
- 63 zone metering
- Manual audio controls with wind filter on the microphone.
- Wireless flash control
- Dedicated movie button
- Comprehensive ergonomic re-design
- New BG-E9 battery grip
- Same batteries as 5dII and 7d
- New filter modes including toy camera mode and miniature mode
- Ability to tag and rate images within the camera
- 58 JPEG burst
On top of the 60d announcement and the other lens updates Canon has today introduced a second brand new L lens to their lineup alongside the 8-15 f4 L. There exists a non-L 70-300 and also a 70-300 DO lens but this is the first L version of the lens. The non-L lens was a good seller but the DO version was not due to a high price for the diffractive technology and also poor sharpness. The new lens features Canon’s latest 4-stop image stabilization as well as
The lens has also been designed to come in at a price point that allows many more people to take advantage of it. A focal range of 70-300 is quite large and makes this a very versatile lens. Ideal for people who want to perhaps travel with only a couple of lenses. If the image quality is good enough then I can see travel photographers using this alongside a 24-70mm lens. On a full frame camera that really would be all that you would need. This will also make a great lens for the DSLR video shooting crowd. Particularly those who already have some nice wide aperture primes less than 70mm, and need a long reach zoom for the odd occasion. Using the engineering plastic that was seen on the 100mm f2.8 L IS Macro lens Canon have kept the weight of the lens down too ( just a touch over 1kg). It doesn’t quite compete against the 28-300 range of the new FX Nikon lens announced last week in terms of focal range, but its still an interesting product that I hope to be trying out as soon as they hit the shelves. To keep things lightweight for my backcountry skiing photos I use the 70-200 f4 L IS but I would definitely like to compare this new 70-300 with that. The extra 100mm range would be very nice!
It is expected to be available towards the end of October for about $1,500. Adorama has the lens up for order now and they won’t charge your card until it ships so you can get in line! And also B&H will keep you informed when all of these new items become available for purchase
More info after the jump!
Among the other Canon announcements today Canon also released details of upgraded versions of their teleconverters. There isn’t a lot to comment on here as there are no major feature updates. They have been re-styled slightly to fit in with then look of the new super teles, and they also have the magical Canon coating on the elements that reduces flare. Between version 1 and version 2 of the teleconverters there was only a very small improvement so it will be interesting to see if there is a bigger step up to version 3. Nikon made some significant improvements with their TCs last year so it would be great to see something similar. One thing that has me curious though, the previous TCs were designed to work with the older big white lenses and these designed for the newer. So will the new ones work as well on the new lenses as the old ? We will have to wait and find out!
They are expected to ship in December for $500 each. B&H will keep you informed when all of these new items become available for purchase
Full Press Release:
London, 26th August 2010 – Canon today unveils two lens extenders designed for its L-series range of new super-telephoto lenses. Designed for photojournalists, nature and sports photographers who need to get close to distant and challenging subjects, the Extender EF 1.4x III and Extender EF 2x III increase the focal length of a lens by a factor of 1.4x and 2x respectively while still delivering superb image quality. To ensure the best possible image quality in all shooting conditions, they also combine enhanced environmental protection, redesigned optics and improved data communication between lens and camera.
Canon has today announced a brand new lens for their EF lineup, the 8-15 f4 L lens. Of all of the rumors I read in the run up to these announcements I think this is the one lens that nobody was expecting. Until this point, the only Canon fisheye was the 15mm f2.8 but this was an old design that pre-dated digital crop sensors and Canon never released a lens that was wide enough to be a full 180mm fisheye on either of their crop sensor formats. This lens aims to address that problem by providing a circular 8mm fisheye at one end, zooming to a 15mm fish at the other end. In between these extremities lies points in the focal length that will provide a full 180 degrees of view on both 1.6 and 1.3 crop cameras and of course at the 15mm end, the same view on a full frame camera as is currently available with the 15mm prime lens. Additionally, going wider than a horizontal 180 view will produce a circular fisheye type image that vignettes in the corners but provides a full circular view. Something which no Canon lens has ever done before. This is a niche look to images, but it can be fun and Sigma has been making lenses that do this for sometime with some success. Cleverly then Canon has, with this lens, answered a lot of requests. Nikon users have long had the brilliant little 10mm fish for their crop cameras and now Canon users have something of their own. In the past few years the Tokina 10-17 had proved to be very popular amongst many people that I know as the only way to get a full 180 degree fisheye view on a 1.3 crop 1 series camera so presumably Canon wanted to address this too.
Continuing with the major camera announcements, Sony is now taking their turn in the spotlight with 4 new cameras and a collection of Sony Alpha lenses. But there is something different about the new A33 and A55 cameras that fit into the lower end of Sony’s camera lineup. Normally I would post all the details but in this instance I’m less interested in the overall release and far more interested in some new technology that Sony introduced. Well , half new technology. Continue reading »
I’m a stills photographer at heart but I really enjoy shooting video too when I can. The problem is though that the Canon DSLRs that I use are not ergonomically designed for video and stability has been an issue since their inception. The video accessory market saw a huge boom in products or “rigs” to help you shoot video with you Canon 5dMKII or 7d. But the problem was that most of them assumed that you only wanted to shoot video. They are large and bulky and often need disassembling into many smaller parts for transportation. Fine if you are just shooting video but if your main aim is still images and you just want to shoot a little bit of video on the side, you need something smaller that can be quickly attached.
Now that the market is saturated with full sized rigs from people like Cinevate and Zacuto, Redrock Micro has finally addressed the lower end of the market and designed some products that would work for photojournalists and still photographers who need just the bare minimum to fit in with their existing kit. Its called the Nano lineup and is based around a new Nano baseplate. The rigs are available in 7 different configurations ranging from just $100 to $600 and of course all the other Redrock accessories can be added to create almost anything you can imagine. They look pretty good to me. The larger rigs and shoulder mounts have never been of much interest to me because I just don’t have room for them in my bag. But something like the Nano rig with a viewfinder could be squeezed into my pack. Hopefully we will see a few reviews on some of these combinations soon. I’m going to try and get hold of one of them myself to try out so stay tuned.
The 7 Nano rigs and new Nano accessories.
* Grippit™
* runningMan™
* LowDown™
* LowDown Deluxe
* Stealth™
* Stealth Grip
* Stealth V (“vee”)
Nano accessories:
Nano baseplate
Nano focus+zoom lever
microHandle Plus (with integrated shoe mount)
2” 15mm carbon fiber rails
2” handlebar rod
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