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Release: 5 Megapixels Photo Samples Shot with New iPhone4

Posted by Constantin Chirila on Jun 9, 2010 in News, Releases

For all of you iPhone lovers, (or future lovers after you see this)  here are some samples of photographs shot by the new iPhone 4. Here are some re-sized photos, but if you want to take a look at full version check out the official page.

My first impression was “Wow!”, taking into account that  this is a camera-phone. What do you guys think of the quality of the camera and how it compares to existing phones?

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Rumor: New 50mm f/1.4 USM Canon Lens

Posted by Constantin Chirila on Apr 1, 2010 in Camera Gear, Rumor

Canon Lenst 50mm f/1.4 USM
A rumor is around that Canon is testing a new lens, which is  a 50mm lens with an aperture of 1.4.  This is an improvement of the actual 50mm f/1.4 lens. It seams that will make it a bit more reliable buy upgrading the build of the lens (this lens is famous to be a bit unreliable, so this improvement is a good news).  Also it will have an optical upgrade and will have an USM (Ultra Sonic Motor).

Since all the improvements we will have to expect at a high price.

Also there is no specification in the release date.

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New Canon 70-200 mm f/2.8 L IS II to be Released

Posted by Constantin Chirila on Jul 30, 2009 in Camera Gear, Releases

There are certain pretty true reports around that Canon UK is letting the release of a new 70-200 mm f/2.8L IS II slide to the public. It seams that this will be available somewhere in September. Maybe this will have the new Hybrid Image Stabilizer, that Canon is bragging about.

Canon UK is having a show on October 27th and 28th to show all the new stuff.

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Canon announces new improved Hybrid Image Stabilizer

Posted by Constantin Chirila on Jul 23, 2009 in Camera Gear, News

Recently I read a press release in which Canon announced an improved and newly-developed image stabilization technology called Hybrid Image Stabilizer. Canon company claims the technology is the world’s first to compensate for both angle and shift movement during the exposure, resulting improved stability in macro photography in particular.

And here’s the press release:

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., July 22, 2009 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, announced today the development of Hybrid Image Stabilizer (IS), the world’s first* optical image stabilization technology that compensates for both angle camera shake and shift camera shake. The technology will be featured in interchangeable single lens reflex (SLR) camera lens planned for commercial release before the end of 2009.

Several different preventative methods and corrective procedures have been introduced to compensate for errors caused by camera shake, which occurs when a camera moves while its shutter is open and its image sensor is exposed to light.

Canon began researching methods to compensate for camera shake in the 1980s, and in 1995 launched the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, the world’s first interchangeable SLR camera lens to feature a mechanism that compensates for optical camera shake. Since then, the company has continued to produce a variety of interchangeable lenses with image stabilization capabilities, and boasts a total of 21 such lenses in its current product lineup.

Canon’s newly developed Hybrid IS technology optimally compensates for angle and shift camera shake. Sudden changes in camera angle can significantly affect images taken during standard shooting, whereas shift-based shaking, which occurs when a camera moves parallel to the imaging scene, is more pronounced in macro photography and other close-range shooting.

The new Hybrid IS technology incorporates an angular velocity sensor that detects the extent of angle-based shaking and is found in all previous Canon optical image stabilizer mechanisms, as well as a new acceleration sensor that determines the amount of shift-based camera shake. Hybrid IS also employs a newly developed algorithm that synthesizes information from the two sensors to make optimal adjustments, thereby dramatically enhancing the effects of image stabilization during shooting, including macro shooting, which had proven difficult for conventional image stabilization technologies.

Canon is actively engaged in ongoing research and development of interchangeable SLR camera lenses incorporating Hybrid IS technology, and is aiming for the early commercialization and inclusion of the lenses in a wide range of products.

Canon Digital Learning Center
Online visitors and Web surfers are encouraged to browse the Canon Digital Learning Center and take advantage of the various educational resources that Canon has to offer for novices and advanced photographers alike. The Canon Digital Learning Center provides a schedule for a wide variety of Live Learning classes across the country with renowned photographers as well as online resources and tips. The site also features online tutorials for beginners and professionals to learn their way around a digital SLR camera and inkjet printer and unlock the full creative control of digital photography. To learn more about each program and register please visit: www.usa.canon.com/canonlivelearning

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked third overall in the U.S. in 2008†, with global revenues of US $45 billion, is listed as number seven in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies 2008 list, and is on the 2008 BusinessWeek list of “Top 100 Brands.” At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – - “all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future” – - Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company’s RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/RSS.

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Spider Camera Holster: Inventive Way to Hold your DSLR with NO Back Pain

Posted by Constantin Chirila on Jun 5, 2009 in News

Spider Holster Camera  (Photo Skills)So what exactly Spider Camera Holster do? Well, it’s a belt clip with a “spider pin” adapter that can be screwed into your camera (where you screw your camera to your tripod). In my honest opinion, this is genius, because moves the weight of the camera from your neck to you neck. Many times i find myself wandering for hours with my camera hanging on my neck, be it a wedding or just walking through the city taking random shots. This is getting tiring and at the end of the day I often find myself with a pain in my neck, or my back. So as soon as it’s released I will definitely buy it and try it to see if it gives the security I need for my camera, because the system looks kind of unsafe for the camera. But, i can also put the neck strap on my shoulder so in case the holster fails at least I have a second thing to count on to hold my camera from crushing to the ground.

Also feel free to watch the presentation video:

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Release: Pentax K-7, an amazing camera.

Posted by Constantin Chirila on Jun 3, 2009 in Releases

Pentax K-7 ( by Photo Skills .com)Not being used to Pentax releasing innovative cameras, when I first saw the news, I didn’t paid to much attention. But today, from pure curiosity, I watched the presentation of Pentax K-7 DSLR camera, and I am simply stunned of all the cool feature it has, at a very affordable price, 1300$.

That being said i would like to point out some very cool features:

  • first and foremost it’s the improved high dynamic range that allows the camera to capture more details in darker area of a photograph
  • another feature first seen in a DSLR camera, it’s the ability to produce a HDR image in camera from 3 different exposures.
  • 77 metering sensors improves the ability of the camera to automatically set the correct exposure of the photograph
  • ability to embed copyright information into the EXIF of all the photograph, feature seen only in pro DSLRs like Canon 1Ds Mark III or Nikon D3
  • improved weather sealing on the body of magnesium/steel alloy with steel sub-structure
  • ability to correct chromatic aberrations and lens distortions in camera.
  • live view with contrast and face detection focusing
  • improved vibration reduction with Sensor-shift system
  • ability to scan the image sensor and exactly points out where you have dust on your sensor, and ability that can help a lot when manually cleaning your sensor
  • video capture as the rest of the cameras from this generation
  • dedicated RAW button that allows easy switching between RAW and JPG file formats without wasting time changing it in the menu settings
  • allows you to custom change the name of the images
  • another useful feature is the dedicated white balance sensor
  • and last, but not least cool feature is, THE SIZE, having a very small size compared to Nikon or Canon.

Bottom line is that, they pulled out a cool camera, that I would love to have it in my equipment arsenal. These were only the features that appealed to me, but if you wish to read more about it’s specifications you can go to http://www.pentaximaging.com/slr/K-7/.

Also you can watch the introduction video:

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Release: New 50mm f/1.4 II USM Canon Lens By 25th of March

Posted by Constantin Chirila on Mar 12, 2009 in Releases

50 mm f/1.4 USM ( Photo Skills .com )There will be a couple of announcements to be made by 25th of March by Canon. It seams that a new improved lens will be one of them. I don’t what exactly will be improved, but I am guessing a new Ultra Sonic Motor to facilitate a better and faster focusing, and I am guessing that it will be sharper than the previous model.

Also there is a new rumor that on the same day the new Canon TSi/500D will see the daylight. Although the first rumor said that this is going to be released at the PMA ( check this ), but it wasn’t released then. Anyway, we will wait an see.

Ohh and here is a list of specs for those of you who didn’t read the first post about this Canon TSi/500D:

  • 15.1 Megapixels
  • ISO: 100-3200
  • Image procesor: DIGIC IV
  • LCD: 3″ VGA LCD
  • Crop: 1.6x
  • FPS: 3 raw/3jpg
  • AF: 9 Point AF
  • AF: Face Detection
  • LiveView
  • Movie Mode (No AF)

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PMA: Sigma Shows Off with 3 New Lenses

Posted by Constantin Chirila on Mar 4, 2009 in Camera Gear

A couple of days ago, at PMA show, Sigma presented 2 entry level  lenses both with OS (optical stabilization) and one ultra-wide lens.

Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM ( Photo Skills .com)Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM

It seams that Sigma improved the popular ultra-wide lens 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM made for APS-C/DX sensors (Non Full Frame), making the new version with fixed a aperture of  f/3.5 through the focal range. It also has two Super-Low Dispersion and two Extraordinary-Low Dispersion glass elements for the correction of chromatic aberrations. It will be available with mounts for Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Sony and Pentax DSLRs. Hopefully this will at leas as good as it predecessor, we will see some future reviews, I would like an ultra wide lens for my cropped sensor 40D.

Sigma 18-50mm DC OS HSM ( Photo Skills .com)Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8-4.5 DC OS HSM

Sigma also has released a standard zoom lens featuring an optical stabilizer and a wide aperture at it’s shortest focal length. This is also having two Super-Low Dispersion glass elements for the correction of chromatic aberrations.  As the previous lens it has a Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) for fast and silent focusing. Sigma also states that its OS it would work on Sony and Pentax bodies with in-body stabilization systems. This also will be available with mounts for Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Sony and Pentax DSLRs. Bottom line this is a good lens to replace the kit lenses, because this is faster.

Sigma 50-200mm DC OS HSM ( Photo Skills .com )Sigma 50-200mm f/4-5.6 DC OS HSM

Sigma also talked about it’s telephoto zoom lens. This lens has the same image stabilization as the 18-50mm f/2.8-4.5 and also has the Hyper Sonic Motor. Something to note, due to fact that is a low-budget lens, is the fact that it has internal focusing with a non-rotating front  element. Also the lens is treated for correction of chromatic aberrations.

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