EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x Availability

A light at the end of the tunnel?
I spoke to someone at NAB last week about the yet-to-be-officiall-announced EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x. I was told that the lens is now “expected to arrive in the fall of 2013. The design and functionality of the lens are set, Canon is now waiting for the manufacturing process to be finalized so production can begin”.

I got to hold and play with the 200-400 a bit last week, and I must say the weight of it shocked me. It’s going to be pretty close to the EF 600 f/4L IS II. I’m sure everything else about the lens is top notch, as we’re still being told to expect a price north of $10,000 USD.

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*UPDATE* A Bit of EOS 70D Info [CR1-CR2]

UPDATE
Two people have written in to tell me that the April 23, 2013 date is not for the EOS 70D. With it being a week away, I tend to agree.

The next EOS
The next DSLR Canon is going to announce is the EOS 70D, we’re trying to confirm if it will come on April 23, 2013 as previously reported. Below is a spec list put together from various sources that have written in. All of it seems plausible and almost expected.

What to expect from the EOS 70D.

• 18mp Sensor (Same as SL1)
• DIGIC V (no one has said it will get DIGIC 6)
• 6.5fps
• SD Card
• Wifi
• GPS
• 3.2″ Touchscreen LCD (No mention of swivel)
• Magnesium Alloy Construction
• Weathersealed
• Slightly larger than the EOS 60D
• $1199 USD Body Only

We’re told a lens will be announced with the EOS 70D, but we haven’t heen told what it will be.

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Adobe Lightroom 5 Public Beta Available

Free Download
You can download the public beta of Adobe’s Lightroom 5 for free.

Lots new in the area of photo editing, including perspective correction and better healing options. You can use these resources to see everything that’s new in Lightroom 5 Beta.

Download Lightroom 5 Public Beta

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Canon EOS Rebel T5i in Stock at B&H Photo

From B&H Photo
B&H Photo has stock of the Canon EOS T5i with the new EF-S 18-55 IS STM lens. The kit sells for $899 and is available in decent quantity. I have no experience with the camera or the new lens, but I imagine it will carry on the Rebel lineage a bit better than the T4i did.

Canon EOS Rebel T5i w/EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS STM

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Patent: EF 400 f/4 DO IS II

Another DO patent
We haven’t seen a new DO lens in a long time, but the patents haven’t stopped. It looks like Canon is continuing the R&D, I’d love to see it go somewhere.

Interpretation and self-description of the patent literature

• Patent Publication No. 2013-64858
• 2013.4.11 Release Date
• Filing date 2011.9.16

Example 1

• Focal length f = 392.12mm
• Fno. 4.12
• Half angle of ω = 3.16 °
• Image height Y = 21.64mm
• 262.14mm length lens
• BF 69.97mm
• Two fluorite
• Materials and anomalous partial dispersion DOE to use, reduce the chromatic aberration
• Refractive power of the diffractive surface
• Strong, but can reduce the chromatic aberration of the element itself, flare increases
• The weaker, other optical element DOE play a role
• Refractive optical unit
• DOE anomalous partial dispersion and bonding materials
• DOE aspherical surface on the opposite side of the
• Vibration control
• Inner Focus

Source: [EG] | Canon EF 400 f/4 DO IS

*UPDATE* Canon USA Rebates Starting April 14, 2013 [CR3]

*UPDATE*
Below are the links to the rebate programs at B&H Photo.

EOS Rebates Here | Lens & Speedlite Rebates Here 

New Rebates
Canon USA will start a new rebate program on April 14, 2013. Expect more lenses and camera bodies to be on the rebate program this time around. You can also expect big savings on the EOS 5D Mark III.

We’ll post links to the rebate program as soon as they go live around the web. Our price watch pages (at the top right) will also reflect the new pricing as it goes live.

EOS Rebate Program

EF & Speedlite Rebate Program

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Canon EOS M w/22mm f/2 STM $399 New

From BigValueInc
BigValueInc via eBay is selling the Canon EOS M w/22mm f/2 STM kit for $399 brand new. You can still choose which color you’d like, as black, red, silver and white are all available.

Buy the Canon EOS M w/22mm f/2.8 STM $399

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Review – Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM

Is this your next 35mm lens?
With Canon being slow in replacing their decade old EF 35mm f/1.4L with new technologies, Sigma has stolen a ton of hype from both the Canon & Nikon sides with the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM.

Is this the best 35mm autofocusing lens you can buy for Canon at this time? It just might be. There’s a couple of drawbacks, but for the money, I think you’d be hard pressed not to at least consider this wonderful lens from Sigma.

Says Justin
“The Sigma 35mm f/1.4 is the finest lens I’ve ever used from the company. It has impressed me more than many of Canon’s own primes. Perhaps some of that is a bias because my expectations were slightly lower or I was at least cautiously optimistic about this offering. Either way, I have been thoroughly sold on the lens and have given up my quest for a Canon 35mm f/1.4 L even if Canon does replace their lens soon (which they should).”

Read the entire review here | Buy the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM

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EOS 5D Mark III, EOS-1D X, EOS-1D C Firmware Info [CR1]

Firmware coming soon
Lots of questions about the firmware updates Canon announced a while back. A non official source has updated us on the progress of the software updates for the following 3 cameras.

EOS 5D Mark III
Firmware 1.2.0 (may be 1.2.1 when released) will be on our CF cards by the end of April. Canon USA also confirmed this for me.

EOS-1D X
There is no reported delay on the firmware update for the EOS-1D X. It will arrive in May as previously announced.

EOS-1D C
Another announcement may be coming at the end of April letting us know when we can expect the 25p at 4K update. One of the challenges is encrypting the firmware to combat hacking or reverse engineering of the software inside the camera.

As for the 120fps/720p mode that leaked in a photo a few weeks ago, that feature won’t appear in the final version of the firmware update due to “stability concerns”.

Buy the: EOS 5D Mark III | EOS-1D X | EOS-1D C

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The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K

An EF mount 4K cinema camera
For the second year in a row, the biggest buzz from the show has come from Blackmagic Design (you’re a close second Freefly).

Last year they launched a 2.5K cinema camera that has been plagued with availability issues. People that have got their hands on one seem to genuinely like the camera. Although there are still a lot of people that have been frustrated by their inability to get one.

This year Blackmagic Design launched two new cameras, a compact cinema camera for $995 and the very exciting 4K camera for under $4000. The camera itself has a Super 35 sensor and has a global shutter, which eliminates the rolling shutter frustration.

From Blackmagic Design
“Shoot Ultra HD TV or 4K feature films with the new Blackmagic Production Camera 4K. You get a large Super 35 size sensor with professional global shutter combined with precision EF mount optics, high quality visually lossless compressed CinemaDNG RAW and Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)™ file recording for a complete self contained solution. The built in touchscreen lets you monitor, change settings and enter metadata directly on the camera!”

I spent a half an hour or so with Blackmagic Design along with my friend Mitch from Planet5D. It was a good talk and has changed my view of Blackmagic Design and how successful I think they can be.

First up, the production issues of the first camera. The company feels those are behind them, they’ve learned a lot from the issues. The first camera had issues with sensor production, one of the only a handful of parts inside the camera that Blackmagic Design doesn’t manufacture themselves. For the last year, they have had an abundance of camera bodies without sensors inside them. The new sensor comes from a new supplier and they’ve made sure they are going to be able to meet demand. Blackmagic Design wouldn’t tell us who that manufacturer was at the time of writing this, as they don’t feel it matters to consumers where the sensor comes from. As long as they can produce them, and the camera gives good results, who cares? I agree with that point, but I do appreciate the passion of camera lovers.

That being said, the speculation is the sensor is made by CMOSIS , as it shares some physical similarities to the Leica M sensor. CMOSIS also makes a Super35 sensor that is in the Apertus camera.

The camera will only be available in EF mount, as the distance to the sensor prevents a PL mount version of the camera. The image circle is also too big for Micro 4/3 lenses.

The camera is slated for release in July, so there should be decent stock of them in August if what were told today about product was true.

This may not be the only cinema camera you own, but it’s shaping up to be one a lot of people with add to the kit. At under $4000, it’s almost a no brainer. One may appear in my camera bag, so I can continue to make bad movies, but at 4K resolution!

Thanks for your time Blackmagic Design.

Visit Blackmagic Design | Preorder the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K $3995

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