Ronkonkoma, NY – May 11, 2018 – Sigma Corporation of America, a leading still photo and cinema lens, camera, flash and accessory manufacturer, today announced that its 70mm F2.8 DG MACRO Art, the first prime macro lens to be adorned with the Art badge, will be available in Canon mount in the end of May for $569.00 USD through authorized US retailers. The Sigma mount model is expected to ship in June. The release of the Sony E-Mount version will be announced later.

The First Macro Lens in the Sigma Global Vision Art Line
Elevating the legendary Sigma 70mm F2.8 EX DG to the Art line, the brand new Sigma 70mm F2.8 DG MACRO Art prioritizes optical performance that defines the Sigma Art line, delivering stunning resolution and incredible clarity, while at the same time offering extremely smooth autofocus performance for a weightier, high-performance lens.

To achieve optimal results at every shooting distance, the lens features an extending, floating, two-group focus mechanism, which minimizes aberration at all focal lengths. In addition, the lens’ optical elements design increases resolution at close shooting distances, allowing for a razor-sharp in-focus area contrasted with a bokeh area free of color streaking.

Other feature highlights include focus-by-wire system featuring newly developed coreless DC motor for comfortable and precise focusing typically required for macro photography; compatibility of the Canon mount lens with the Canon Lens Aberration Correction function; and compatibility with Sigma Electronic Flash Macro EM-140 DG and Sigma Teleconverters.

Full technical specifications can be found on the Sigma website at: https://www.sigmaphoto.com/70mm-f2-8-dg-macro-a.

Sigma 70mm F2.8 DG MACRO Art at B&H Photo

The folks at Yongnuo have posted a Micro Four Thirds camera module with an EF mount for the iPhone on their web site.

There are no specifications as of yet, but DIYPhotography appears to be the first to spot this interesting creation. We’ve seen similar products in the past from the likes of Sony and Olympus, so we’re not sure how successful this attempt is going to be.

Head over to DIYPhotography to read more about the YN43 from Yongnuo.

A Canon Rumors reader has sent us an image from the Apple App Store that seems to suggest this may be a 16.6mp sensor.

Thanks Joylon

Things are going really well for CMOS sensor makers according to IC Insights.

IC Insights reports:

The spread of digital camera applications in vehicles, machine vision, human recognition and security systems, as well as for more powerful camera phones will drive CMOS image sensor sales to an eighth straight record-high level this year with worldwide revenues growing 10% to $13.7 billion, following a 19% surge in 2017.

With the smartphone market maturing, sales growth in CMOS image sensors slowed to 6% in 2016, but strong demand in other imaging applications played a major factor in boosting revenues by 19% to $12.5 billion last year. Sales of CCD and other image sensor technologies fell 2% in 2017 to about $1.6 billion after rising 5% in 2016.

Overall, CMOS image sensors grabbed 89% of total image sensor sales in 2017 compared to 74% in 2012 and 54% in 2007. Unit shipments of CMOS imaging devices represented 81% of total image sensors sold in 2017 compared to 64% in 2012 and 63% in 2007.

In new smartphones, CMOS image sensors are also seeing a new wave of growth with the increase of dual-lens camera systems (using two sensors) for enhanced photography. Cellular camera phones accounted for 62% of CMOS image sensor sales in 2017, but that marketshare is forecast to slip to 45% in 2022. Automotive CMOS image sensors are projected to grow the fastest among major end-use applications through the five-year forecast, rising by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.4% to about 15% of total CMOS image sensor sales in 2022 ($2.8 billion) while camera phone-generated revenues are expected to rise by a CAGR of just 2.2% to $8.6 billion that year.

B&H Photo has stock of the brand new Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI.

Product Highlights

• Auto Intelligent Bounce Head
• Compatible with Canon E-TTL / E-TTL II
• Guide Number: 154′ at ISO 100 and 105mm
• Zoom Range: 24-105mm (14mm with Panel)
• Tilts Upward 120°, +/- 180° Rotation
• AI.B Full-Auto and AI.B Semi-Auto Modes
• Optical Receiver Mode
• LCD Panel
• AF Assist Beam
• Runs on 4x AA Batteries

Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI $399

We’ve been sent what is the first Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III specification breakdown that we’ve seen. We expect to see this camera announced some time in 2018 and Photokina is the obvious time to do it, thought we cannot confirm that’s when it’s coming.

Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III Rumoured Specifications:

• 24.1mp 1″ CMOS sensor
• 10fps
• DIGIC 8
• 24-100mm f/1.8-f/2.8 Lens (4.2x Optical Zoom)
• 3″ Articulating Touchscreen
• 4K Video at 30fps
• 1080p Video at 60fps
• Built in Wi-Fi, NFC & GPS
• Announcement: 2018
• No mention about DPAF for 4K video.

If you check out our Buyer’s Guide, you can see that both the PowerShot G3 X and PowerShot G5 X have been around longer than the PowerShot G7 X Mark II, so we’re not sure what is going on with those two models. We’ve been told that only one “G” series camera is scheduled to be coming in 2018, and we continuously see suggestions that the PowerShot G7 X Mark II will be the next “G” series camera to see a replacement.

The PowerShot G9 X Mark III would likely come in early 2019 ahead of CP+.