Archive for: macro

A New Zoom Macro Coming? [CR1]

From the land of weird
I received an email today outlining a new macro lens that Canon has in the pipeline and could be released in the next year.

It will be a 1:1 zoom macro, with an aperture of f/4 and IS. No mention of the focal length for the lens. I’m reminded of the now discontinued Nikkor 70-170mm f/4.5-5.6D as a zoom 1:1 macro we’ve seen in the past. A replacement to the 180 f/3.5L perhaps?

A huge grain of salt with this one.

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Patent: Supertelephoto DO Lenses With Macro Features

400mm, 600mm and 800mm DO Lenses
Patents have shown up showing new DO optical formulas with 2:1, 1:1 and 1:4 macro functions.

Adding macro functionality to super telephoto lenses would be a pretty cool feature. It’s also good to see DO patents continue to show up, it’d be nice to see new DO lenses.

Read the patent here

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New Tilt-Shifts in 2013? [CR1]

New Tilt-Shift lenses in 2013?
The 45mm and 90mm tilt-shifts have been on the replacement cycle for a while now, probably since the day after the 17mm and latest 24mm tilt-shifts were announced a few years ago.

Apparently we’re going to see a new 45mm and 90mm tilt-shift announced in 2013. Both of the lenses will receive the “L” treatment and the updated movement mechanisms. I would like to see the lock knobs built a bit better, I found them to be unreliable in the rental world and they are quite an expensive repair.

Also coming in 2013?  A new “specialist lens”. I’m not completely sure what would be considered a specialist lens, although a new macro would probably fit the bill.

Source: [NL]

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Sigma 180mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Announced

Off to Sigma
The first place I wanted to head to was Sigma and checkout the new Sigma 180 f/2.8 OS Macro lens. It’s the first 180mm f/2.8 macro lens ever produced. Sigma hasn’t yet issued an official press release on the lens. The other lenses announced by Sigma were for the mirrorless market.

The new macro lens intro | Sigma 200-500 f/2.8 & my wife.

First Impressions
It’s an impressive size for a macro lens. It’s larger than the Canon 180 f/3.5L by a fair margin. Especially in width. The front element is quite impressive and it weighs accordingly. The tripod collar seems extremely solid and the switches on the side are of decent quality. The fit and finish on the lens is about what you’d expect from Sigma. This is another lens that no longer has the spray on hair coating of Sigma lenses in the past.

The lens didn’t have a lens hood on, so I have no idea how much that would extend the size of this large macro lens. I’ve yet to use a macro lens that isn’t sharp, and by appearance alone, this will probably continue the trend. I only hope Sigma has used quality parts inside the lens and quality control is up to par at launch.

The Sigma 180mm f/2.8 OS Macro & 5D Classic

Availability & Pricing?
The official word I received from the representatives at the Sigma booth was the price was unknown and it would begin shipping in March.

I asked about more Sigma lenses in the pipeline and received the usual “no comment” and a smile.

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New 65 f/2.8 & 180 f/3.5 Macro Patents

65 f/2.8 Macro

Patent Publication No. 2011-191743

• 2011.9.29 Release Date
• Filing date 2010.2.16

Example 8

• Focal length f = 65.00mm
• Fno 2.90 – 3.05 – 3.96
• Half angle of 18.41 °
• Image height 21.64
• 145.08mm Length Lens
• Back Focus 38.20 – 47.63 – 37.80mm
• Positive and negative lens group of positive and negative 4
• Inner Focus + Rear Focus
• Group 2, Group 3, Group 4 to move the focus method

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