I received a new RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS from an authorized dealer today. Tried it out of the box and was astounded by the speed of the AF and the sharpness of the lens. It had firmware 1.0.3.

I then installed the update, 1.0.6. The camera reported the procedure as successful.

Immediately afterwards the AF became sluggish at 70mm on up to almost 200mm, struggling in fact. But at 200mm, complete fail, no acquisition of any target at any distance. Light was good. Targets had contrast and plenty of varied patterns. One target is the statue in our home that I always use to test new lenses, as the face is fairly lifelike.

It did seem that toggling the delimiter while at any focal length, and then zooming to 200mm, triggered the issue consistently. A few times when AF failed at 200mm I could attain focus by varying the distance to subject until AF "woke up" again, but most of the times it just would not begin to function again at 200mm unless I zoomed back to 70mm. Going again to 200mm would cause AF to fail again

Canon CPS talked me through a few trouble shooting steps but felt that none of my camera settings should have had any effect. Fortunately I did have a second R body on hand to make sure it was only the lens having a problem. Identical AF fail on both bodies.

So, to sum up, after updating to 1.0.6, the AF would fail consistently when zooming to 200mm. And AF at all focal lengths struggled. Before the firmware update all was well.

Of course I kick myself for having updated so fast, but the CPS tech said once it's released it's assumed safe.

He did want me to send the camera to Canon, but understood I wanted to get it back to the dealer ASAP.

Now I'm worried about getting another one until hearing more about how the firmware is playing out, or maybe seeing a revision.

We were told recently that Canon would be announcing a new flagship Speedliite ahead of CP+ next month, and this price drop may be evidence that the information is true.
This is the lowest price we’ve ever seen for this Speedlite from an authorized dealer.
Canon Speedlite 600EX II-RT $399 (Reg $579)

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As I pack my bags to head off to lead another workshop in Colombia I thought I'd post one of my favourites from last years trip.

Green-bearded Helmetcrest.

All my 2019 favourites are - HERE

The Only Company in the World to be Ranked in Top Five for 34 Years
MELVILLE, NY, January 15, 2020 – Aligning with its mission of empowering innovations, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is proud to announce that its parent company, Canon Inc., was granted 3,548 patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office and maintained its third-place ranking for patents granted in 2019 according to IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, a leading producer of global patent databases. With this year’s ranking, Canon has become the only company in the world to have ranked in the top five for the number of patents granted for 34 consecutive years. Additionally, Canon has once again ranked first in patents among Japanese companies for the 15th consecutive year.

These patents continue to demonstrate Canon’s contribution to science and technology which are used to develop fundamental technologies designed to drive innovation and support customer and business needs.
“As technology...

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Well here’s a fun optical formula from Canon discovered by Canon News, a Canon RF 135mm f/1.4L USM.  The Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM is an all-time classic, and this would certainly be an amazing offering worth of the new lens mount.
I think there is a higher than normal probability that such a lens design will make it into a consumer product.
Canon RF  135mm f/1.4L USM:

Focal length: 131.00mm
F-Number: 1.41
Half angle of view: 9.38°
Image height: 21.64mm
Total lens length:  182.28mm
BF: 13.87mm

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So what do y'all think of an RF 135mm making it out this year?

I already reported this to ebay, but just a heads up, I just found this auction on ebay. It only has a few hours left. Everything about the title and photo makes it out like you're buying a lens, but then the description says the auction is for the case only, which is admittedly pretty rare, but probably not worth $1000.

I'm guessing the seller made the auction just clear enough that they could claim ignorance when someone gets angry about not getting a lens, and just misleading enough to fool some people.

If anybody on here is bidding on this, you may want to pull out your bid if you think you're buying a rare lens for this price.

Edit: You know ultimately I think maybe this is just a case where ebay filled in all the information/photo for the lens automatically, and the seller wasn't smart enough or didn't care enough to know how to change it to clarify that this is not a lens for sale.

Posted on the Canon Canada site.

The BCN awards based on 2019 sales in Japan are now out, and Canon has swept the major segments. BCN collects data from a majority of Japanese camera retailers to give a good idea of how things are going for the big manufacturers on their home turf.
Sony has made a big move in interchangeable lenses as they have passed Nikon for #2.
DSLR Cameras

Canon 56.3%
Nikon 41.1%
Ricoh 2.4%

Mirrorless Cameras

Canon 30.9%
Sony 25.9%
Olympus 23.4%

Compact Cameras

Canon 39.3%
Nikon 22.9%
Sony 15.2%

Interchangeable Lenses

Canon 19.9%
Sony 16.9%
Nikon 14.4%

Canon News made some pretty graphs that show how the market has looked over the last 8 years.
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I agree. And maybe Canon does too.

For how much people clamor over the need for dual slot photo recording on cameras, it's bewildering to me that people don't seem to make that much fuss about it when it comes to video. I just sold a Canon C100 that I loved for its ability to dual record, but overall it's just a little bit of an outdated camera from a usability and autofocus standpoint. I'm planning to change over to an external monitor/recorder to use more advanced stills cameras for video. I like the new Blackmagic ones that are about to come out, but the large 7" one, despite having two SD card slots and a USB C connector for external recording, seems to bizarrely have no ability to record two copies of video at once.

How do people deal with the uncertainty of not having a backup copy of their video when recording in a professional setting when there's no chance of doing a re-take?

Adorama has the Tiffen by Davis & Sanford TR654C-36 Traverse 4-Section Carbon Fiber Grounder Tripod with Ball Head as their Deal of the Day for $89 (Reg $129).
Key Features


Type: Still & Video
Material: Made of Carbon Fiber
Tripod Head: Ballhead
Quick Release: Includes QR
Spreader: None
Leg Sections: 4 Leg Sections


Tiffen by Davis & Sanford TR654C-36 Traverse 4-Section Carbon Fiber Grounder Tripod with Ball Head $89 (Reg $129)

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Hi,

It's been a while since i posted here, I stopped photography for 1 year because I go back to high school.

I just finished post processing photos from a trip in Canada in July/August 2018

https://larusejunior.smugmug.com/Trips/North-America/Canada/Canada-2018/

Good viewing

Some samples:

I'm wondering how many of you turn off all the in camera lens corrections? I turned all mine off tonight and hope to shoot tomorrow without them. I might like it better as the vignette is stronger and the field doesn't seem as flat. I have a shoot tomorrow (well, today by now) for a local MUA and might give it a try if I get the chance. My initial plan is to use all vintage MF lenses, but I will just have to see whether or not I can squeeze in some shots with the 50mm and 85mm without the corrections.

I've noticed that the 5D has usually been updated within 5-6 months of the 1D over the past decade. Since the 1DX MARK III just got announced this month, that would put the announcement date somewhere around June/July.

Have there been any rumors to support this yet?

When will Canon refresh the EF 300mm f/4L IS USM?

Canon had a large presence at CES 2020 this year in Las Vegas, and made a big splash with the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III announcement.
Canon also brought a lot of concept cameras to the show and DPReview has posted a gallery of these ideas Canon has. The concepts include a wearable camera,  a single camera with a modular lens setup, a small camera with a 400mm lens,  and their AI intelligent capture camera that we’ve seen before.
There’s no telling when any of these cameras could end up as consumer products.
Check out all of the Canon concept cameras here.

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Adorama has the Tokina 14-20mm f/2.0 AT-X Pro DX as their Deal of the Day for $399 (Reg $568).
Key Features


Fast f/2.0 Zoom lens
Includes aspherical lens element
Lens Mount: Canon EOS
Zoom Focal Length: 14-20mm Lens
Fixed Focal Length: All Zooms Lens
Lens Format: APS-C / DX
Maximum Aperture: f/2
Lens Type: Wide Angle Zoom SLR Lens


Tokina 14-20mm f/2.0 AT-X Pro DX $399 (Reg $568)

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A lot more information came in after the weekend’s posting about potential Canon EOS R Mark II specifications.
A known source has told us that the specifications posted did not match up with the next 2 EOS R cameras that are coming in the first half of 2020.
While the source said they couldn’t say too much at this time specification wise, it was mentioned that Canon will be “stepping it up a gear” when it comes to specifications for the next two EOS R bodies.
More to come…

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Just some pondering. I'm preparing to box up and sell my 5D IV and go totally miRRorless. I've been trying to avoid a big mistake by doing so, but I'm just not doing action and rough-weather photography at this time. (Wildlife has never been my bag, as I'm too impatient to wait for the critters to DO SOMETHING.)

So, naturally, I'm turning a personal decision into an industry existentialist dilemma, and hoping others will discuss what's the point of dSLR's as mirrorless catch up with performance specs.

With the electronics in the current generation of 5D bodies, and the further refinement coming with the 1DXIII, is there any belief that somehow dSLR's are "simpler" or more "reliable" than mirrorless?

Here's my main assertion: We only need a significant (not "revolutionary) improvement in EVF's, a little faster burst rate, and IBIS to see the nostalgic appeal of dSLR's give way to using what works best. I don't care how experienced a photographer, how flawless the technique, if, spec for spec a mirrorless approaches the performance of a dSLR, mirrorless will be chosen.

My reasoning (if that's what you'd be generous enough to call it)? It's simple. With mirrorless, exposure is as much a part of what we see in the viewfinder as composition. This translates into less chimping, less exposure bracketing, and generally more precise and faster results--with a significantly shorter learning curve.

At this point, mirrorless seems to be "winning" with precision AF; however, I understand Canon is putting out something new with the 1DX III, so we'll see. But, again, all other specs being equal, if we can see exposure as we compose, rather than achieve it based on skill, experience, and some guessing and chimping, (unless we like the personal challenge) why not go with what we see?

AFMA is a factor I'm not so sure about. Even with LiveView, I have a few lenses that benefit from a little AFMA tweaking on my 5DIV (which will probably be sold shortly). And now I'm reading that Nikon and Olympus do, in fact, offer AFMA on their mirrorless bodies. If it could happen behind the scenes, reliably and automatically, that would be better. But if the vast majority of lenses do not need AFMA on mirrorless, if it's the exception rather than the rule we see with dSLR's, it's still nice not to put as much time into AFMA.

I've mentioned before that selling the 5DIV feels like abandoning a faithful dog, but lately that dog has been staying at home nearly every time I take the new dog out. What kind of life is that?

Several months ago I got the chance to shoot at a Karaoke bar. I used AWB and the results really sucked with all the mixed lighting. Would I have been better off using Kelvin? Sorry for what seems like a very simple question, but this has never come up for me. I know there are some event/concert shooters here who can point me in the right direction. Thanks again! BTW: I have recently been using Kelvin at regular photo shoots with great results as compared to straight AWB.

Hey Everyone,

So I’ve been thinking about upgrading from my Canon 80D. The EOS R has really stood out to me based off all my research and watching it perform in the areas I would most likely use it in. (Portraits, Landscapes, YouTube Videos & Cinematics).

I’m currently using both a Sigma 35mm 1.4 and a Sigma 20mm 1.4 as well. I’m still finding great deals on the EOS R right now at about $1,350.00 which is an attractive price point.

I’ve been looking at the recent rumors and it appears Canon obviously has something down the pipeline when it comes to new iterations of the EOS R. I’m really wanting to jump into the mirrorless landscape but just wondering if now is the right time to do it with these rumors out.

I’d love to hear some opinions and any input from the community would be helpful. Thanks!

Hi, I'm getting bargain deal of 470EX-AI on amazon india without warranty. But one of the buyer posted following review... can you guys confirm what he have said is correct//wrong?

DOWNER: I wouldn't use this flash for outdoors, fill-in....and other functions. I would go for other flashes like the 430mkII or 600RT or the 580.

I feel that Canon designed the "rotating flash" as a single-type-of-use; which is BOUNCE FLASH.

It's not all that special as a MULTI-PURPOSE FLASH.

For bouncing, it's great, but it goes off track when working in a "multi-coloured-walls" room. It goes crazily wild trying to toss-up between a yellow/blue/ multi-coloured wall, even if the ceiling is all white. Weird behaviour.

I think the Mark II version of this camera will have the necessary corrections.

Conclusion: for now, it's good for white-walled rooms, and that's it.

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