Posts Tagged ‘Nikon’
In a not too shocking announcement, Nikon has announced two new lenses to be added to their line-up of FX-compatible lenses. The Nikkor AF-S 24mm f/1.4G ED prime lens is will surely become a favorite among wedding photographers and other low-light photographers. This lens will now finally offer Nikon photographers a fast, wide-angle, and affordable prime compared to the much fabled Nikkor AF 28mm f/1.4D, at a fraction of the price. Canon has longed had a 24mm f/1.4 (now a version II) in their line-up. This lens, with it’s 9-blade diaphragm, will no doubt be a great performer as the Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED already is. The estimated cost will be around $2,199.95 and won’t be available until late March 2010.
On the other spectrum, Nikon has released a more *affordable* wide-angle zoom, also for FX-format, and billed as a “general photography” lens, the Nikkor AF-S 16-35mm f/4G ED VR will offer some nice wide-angle and zoom in a lighter package than the current Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED and the Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED. Personally I favor fast lenses, but having Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilization is quite nice for this lens and will aid in hand-holding slower shutter speeds, but VR/IS will not stop action. This lens will retail for $1,259.95 and be available in late February 2010.
Both lenses are professional grade quality and will stand-up to repeated rugged use. You can read Nikon’s full press-release here (PDF). You can also find more details at DPReview.com for the 24mm and the 16-35mm, respectively.
Tags: Nikon, photography
Posted in Product Review |
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With the new year, Canon has released a new professional “L” zoom lens, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM. This is a very popular lens among sports, journalist, and wedding photographers for many reasons. I currently own the Version I of this lens and love it. Nikon released their Version II follow-up to their 70-200mm with a few new improvements including a 4-stop VR and better optics. The reviews I’ve seen have been very positive.
So what is Canon offering in their latest 70-200mm? Here’s a simple comparison chart:
| SLR Lens |
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM |
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM |
Winner |
| Year Introduced |
October 20, 2009 |
September 2001 |
Mark II |
| Cost |
$1,849 |
TBD |
- |
| Image Stabilization |
Yes, 4 stops (3th generation) |
Yes, 3 stops (2nd generation) |
Mark II |
| Weight |
1,490g (3.3lbs) |
1,470g (3.2lbs) |
- |
| Max Diameter |
89mm (3.5in) |
86mm (3.4in) |
- |
| Length |
197mm (7.8in) |
197mm (7.8 |
- |
| Groups/Elements |
19/23, 1 fluorite and 5 UD elements |
18/23, 5 UD elements |
Mark II |
| Minimum Focusing Distance |
1.2m (3.9ft) |
1.4m (4.6ft) |
Mark II |
| Filter |
77mm |
77mm |
- |
Clearly Canon has made some very nice changes such as an extra-IS stop (4 vs. 3), the addition of the fluorite element will make this lens as sharp as its little brother the f/4-version, and the minimum focusing distance has been reduced by 8 inches. I’m a bit shocked as I was expecting Canon to incorporate their new Hybrid IS system or at least the 4-generation IS system that is used on the Canon EF 200mm f/2L IS USM lens (5-stop IS!).
I see a lot of nice features, but nothing ground breaking enough that I would upgrade to. If you are in the market for a professional 70-200mm, I would definitely recommend holding out until April and getting the Mark II version. Otherwise, the Mark I version should drop some in price and become a great alternative.
You can also read Canon’s press release here.
Tags: Canon, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, Nikon
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© Coal Miki. Found on Flickr.com.
The Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 is a portable infrared wireless transmitter designed to wirelessly trigger Canon Speedlites. For the most part, it does that well. But unfortunately, there some severe limitations that makes it a waste of money. If you’re in the market to purchase a ST-E2, wait and read this post first before making your purchase, you won’t regret it.
Tags: Canon, Canon 550EX, Canon 580, Canon 580EX II, Canon EOS 7D, Canon Wireless Flash System, CWFS, Nikon, OC-E3, Sto-Fen, SU-800
Posted in Product Review, Tips and Tricks |
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Lighting, when it comes to flash, is a whole different language for photography. You can speak it (on-camera flash) or be fluent in it (off-camera flash) and even then there are varying levels of proficiency. By no means am I an expect or profess to know everything, but rather I’m a lifelong student who wishes to share what I’ve learned so far. For the most part I’ll be focusing on the Canon Wireless Flash system, in other words, triggering your Canon Speedlites using the built-in Canon flash trigger. I’m going to assume that you have a basic, intermediate, or even advanced understanding of off-camera flash, why you are or should be using flash that way and the general concepts of lighting. If not, I suggest that you check out David Hobby, better known in the photography world as Strobist, and his amazing blog on off-camera lighting here. You can start the Lighting 101 lesson here.
In order to get the full benefit out of this series of posts, you must use Canon and also use Canon Speedlites. For those who use Nikon and Nikon Speedlights, go buy Joe McNally’s The Hot Shoe Diaries
or attend one of his workshops. You guys are fortunate, you have Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System), which is phenomenal. For the rest of us who are already using PocketWizards, Elinchrom Skyports, Quantum FreeXWire, RadioPoppers, and/or a host of eBay wireless transmitters, let me introduce you to the world of E-TTL wireless flash and offer reasons of why you should add this to your arsenal of tools.
Tags: Canon 550EX, Canon 580EX, Canon 580EX II, Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM, Canon Professional Network, Canon Wireless Flash System, CLS, CPN, Creative Lighting System, CWFS, David Hobby, Elinchrom, Flex, Joe McNally, L-358, Nikon, OC-E3, PocketWizards, Quantum, RadioPoppers, Sekonic, Skyports, Speedlite, Sto-Fen, Strobist, The Hot Shot Diaries
Posted in Tips and Tricks |
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This past Saturday, the crew got together and did two photo shoots with two amazing models, Jane and Stacey, on Treasure Island. Some of you might recognize Jane, as she was a contestant for Miss Asian American (MAA), winning Miss Photogenic for the 2009 MAA. Stacey on the other hand, has a ballet background that we most definitely will be putting to use in the next photo shoot with her. Treasure Island, named after Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel of the same name, is an artificial island in California that sits in the Bay between San Francisco and Oakland accessed via the Interstate 80 freeway. It is home to some 1,453 residents, and is a popular tourist attraction as you can see sea lions on the shoreline and also get a very nice view of San Francisco along with the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge (Interstate 80).
There are many condemned and decrepit buildings with warning signs of asbestos strewn upon boarded up doors and broken windows making for an urban explorer’s wet dream and, in our case, a great site for urban portraits.
Tags: Bay Bridge, Canon 580EX II, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, CLS, Creative Lighting System, Eric Lee, EzyBox, Golden Gate Bridge, Jane Hwang, Joe McNally, Lastolite, Lastolite EzyBox, Lynn Truong, Nikon, Rendy Lai, Robert Louis Stevenson, San Francisco, Speedlite, Stacey Madamba, The Hot Shoe Diaries, Tibor Duliskovich, Treasure Island, urban explorer
Posted in Photo Shoots, Portraits, Tips and Tricks |
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For the photographers, this video will give you a great laugh! Joey Lawrence (or JoeyL) is the 19-year old photographer wonder-kid who did the Twilight movie posters. You can read his interview with David Hobby (Strobist) here and the MTV interview here.
But check out this hilarious video he made:
Tags: Canon, David Hobby, Joey Lawrence, Nikon, Pentax, Strobist, Twilight, YouTube
Posted in General News |
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Nikon, not content to just sit on it laurels, has released a highly anticipated follow-up to their hugely successfully and game changing professional digital SLR, the Nikon D3, with the Nikon D3s, a faster newer and higher ISO capable digital SLR and the first professional digital SLR with video.
Tags: Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EOS 7D, Nikon, Nikon D3, Nikon D3s
Posted in General News, Product Review |
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Tags: Anne Cahill, Canon, CLS, Creative Lighting System, Elinchrom, EzyBox, Honl, Jake Peterson, Joe McNally, Kelby Training, Moose Peterson, Nikon, Scott Kelby, Skylite, The Hot Shoe Diaries, The Moment It Clicks
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In exciting photography news, Nikon has released their high resolution professional dSLR, the D3x after months of speculation and following “a leak” (you can also read a D3x and 1Ds Mark III comparison with that same link). This new Nikon competes with Canon’s EOS 1Ds Mark III and Sony’s Alpha A900.
Some notable features of the D3x are: 24.5 megapixel FX-format CMOS sensor with the 51-point auto focus system (same auto focus as the D300, D700, and D3), ISO sensitivity of 100 to 1600 with 50, 3200, and 6400 as options, new EXPEED image processor, and 5 fps in FX-format and 7 fps in DX-format. Most other features remain the same as the D3 such as the 3.0 inch 922,000 pixel LCD and the body design.
Nikon’s MSRP is $7,999, the price of the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III when released. A lot of people, including myself, was hoping Nikon would price the D3x at a much lower price point such as ~$5,000 because $8,000 is a bit high for a 35mm dSLR. When the D3x actually ships, hopefully the price will come down as the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III can be had for ~$5,000 or less now (used). One thing that I’ve always liked about Nikon dSLRs is the high-speed crop mode. The D3x is capable of 5 frames-per-second (considering that it is moving A LOT of data, that is very impressive) in the full-frame FX-format, but when you need faster frame rates, you can activate a high-speed crop mode which allows you to go to 7 frames-per-second at a reduced resolution of 10 megapixels. This is also a similar feature of the D3, 9 frames-per-second in FX-format and 11 frames-per-second but with only 6 megapixel.
You can read more at:
Tags: Canon, Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III, Nikon, Nikon D3, Nikon D3x
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or attend one of his workshops. You guys are fortunate, you have Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System), which is phenomenal. For the rest of us who are already using 
and 
(got my personal copy signed by him), when I saw he would be teaching an all day workshop on lighting (