Forum regular rrcphoto has done some dirty work and found a bunch of Canon USA patents you may be interested in. Since the demise of Egami, these have been harder to come by.

Stacked sensor patents

• http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=09659872
• http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=09654715

Stacked sensor patents for mobile phone use:

• http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=09635291
• http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=09621830

Microlens patent, likely for mirrorless cameras.

• http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=09601534

An SLT patent?

• http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=09599879

Continuous liveview in EVF

• http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=09369633

Linear USM patent.

• http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=09660556

If you speak patentese and can better explain what these are, please sound off in the forum.

We reported back in February that we’ll be seeing an EOS Rebel SL2 some time in 2017. We’re now being told to expect the camera to come in September of this year.

The new king of small DSLRs will apparently be slightly smaller and a bit lighter than the EOS Rebel SL1, which at the time of its launch was the smallest DSLR in the world.

We’re also told to expect a specifications list that is relatively similar to the Canon EOS 77D.

The next DSLR to be announced by Canon will be the EOS 6D Mark II some time in July.

More to come…

In a move that doesn’t happen very often, Canon has pulled firmware version 1.1.1 for the EOS 7D Mark II, although a lot of cameras running v1.1.1 won’t experience the issues that a small group of users may run into.

From Canon Europe:

A communication error has been discovered when using the EOS 7D Mark II running Firmware Version 1.1.1, which version was released on April 27, 2017, in combination with the Wi-Fi Adapter W-E1.

Remote shooting with the Camera Connect App is not possible after connecting the EOS 7D Mark II to a smartphone via the Wi-Fi Adapter W-E1.

This error occurs for cameras that have been updated from Firmware Version 1.0.5 or earlier to Firmware Version 1.1.1

Read more…

DIYPhotography has completed an early review of the brand new Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 OS Contemporary lens. At $799USD, this lens looks to be an absolute steal. If you’re not all that interested in buying the $1999 Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS, this new Sigma may be what you’re looking for.

From DIY Photography:

Bottom line, I like this lens, it has plenty to offer and for it’s intended price point, I think that offering is a good deal. All the operational aspects of the lens met or exceeded my expectations and did so at a weight and size that are surprisingly less than I would have expected. Image quality is solid, with a minimal number of optical issues (quite frankly less than I expected for the range of focal lengths available) are minimal. I do wish it had a tripod mount, as I could see using this on a monopod for sports, when paired with the right body, but that’s not a huge knock, because the weight, size and Optical Stabilization do seem to offset that need some. Read the full review

Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 OS Contemporary $799: B&H Photo | MPEX

UV filters, they’re definitely a topic of much debate and little consensus. However, Roger at Lensrentals.com has written a great article about why you should never put a cheap UV/Clear filter on a good lens.

From Roger at Lensrentals.com:

Yes, I’m sick of filter articles, too. But I come today not to educate you, but to mock others. Because yes, people continue to try to save a few bucks by putting a cheap filter in front of their $1,000 lens. And also because they buy what they think are good filters off of Fleabay or some used place and these filters aren’t what they think. This can particularly happen when you purchase a brand that makes different filters of differing quality.

How bad can it be, you ask? Well, today we’ll show you. Because someone had a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens that had been nice and sharp and then returned it because it suddenly got soft. They were kind enough to return it with their protective filter in place.

So the first thing we did, as we always do, was put the lens on OLAF, which is simply an array of collimated 5-micron pinholes. A good lens should show and an array of small dots or circles. But this lens showed an array of glaring star flare thingies. Read the full article