Nikon has today announced two new lenses, the AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED and the AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR. Now, those of you used to Nikon’s nomenclature will already know all this, but for those unsure, the AF-S designation in both of those means they’ll auto-focus on any body, and the lack of “DX” anywhere means these are designed for use on FX (and will still work, albeit with crop factor, on DX). They’re both G series lenses and both use ED and aspherical elements and Nikon’s new nano crystal coating to handle optical phenomenons like diffraction, ghosting, etc…
As those of you with a grasp of modern optics and physics might expect, the 24mm f1.4 is rather chunky, basically a 3.5″ cube and weighing in closer to 1.5 lbs. It’s also not a budget prime, and it’ll enter the market at just under $2,200. The 16-35mm f/4, being a slower aperture zoom, slots in as Nikon’s affordable alternative to the 14-24mm f/2.8 (well, sorta, it’s obviously not apples-to-apples), weighing in at $1,260, or approaching 600 bucks cheaper than it’s bigger bro.
So, Canon has announced the production of its 50 millionth EF lens. I was surprised at this—Nikon did celebrate 50 million first, despite Canon being a larger company—until I remembered that Nikon was celebrating the F mount, which they’ve never abandoned, but Canon’s only been running on the EOS/EF mount for some 20ish years, having used the wildly different FD mount before. So, congrats, Canon, on this your newest milestone, and hopefully many more to come.
So, Nikon’s pro zooms, you know the ones– the big, black, AF-S G series lenses with f.2.8 constant apertures that form the backbone of many a working professional’s kit, the 14-24mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm II. Well, we got all of them marked down to sheet, you pay what we pay and nothing more (literally, if you buy online to get our free ground shipping). But, they’re only on the cheap until the 28th, so, uh, hurry.
I bought the special edition 2-disc edition of Robert Rodriguez’ cinematic adaption of Frank Miller’s Sin City when it was released in 2005. Among my favorite features (before even watching it all in Green Screen or Bruce Willis and the Accelerators performing “Gypsy Woman”) is Robert Rodriguez’ 10-minute cooking school, a brilliant tutorial in making Sin City Breakfast Burritos complete with his grandmother’s tortilla recipe. Rodriguez does another cooking school on the Once Upon a Time In Mexico DVD, where he shows you how to make the puerco Johnny Depp enjoys with homicidal intensity.
Now Tamron will broadcast 1-minute tips, tricks, and tutorials each week starting on the 18th of January and running for 12 weeks not on a special edition dvd, but on YouTube.
“In just one minute per week you can learn the basics of successful photography at no cost,” ~John VanSteenberg, Tamron’s Senior Education Manager.
Tamron has indicated the “101″ series will be followed by more advanced courses as the project continues. You can find them at http://www.youtube.com/user/TamronVids
or embedded here:
Just a quick update to yesterday’s confusion over the disparity between the press release and the product page as to whether Canon’s newly announced 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens comes with a hood. Today the product page agrees with yesterday’s press release, and the hood is listed as a supplied accessory. Glad that’s settled. Now go get on our wait list for one.
Canon's newest L offering, mm tasty. But whence this nudity?
Today we get wind of the new Canon 70-200 2.8L IS the version II. Boasting a closer minimum focus distance than its predecessor (1.2m/3.94 ft vs 1.3m / 4.3 ft.) and a purported 4-stops of Optical Image Stabilization against the 3-stop of the version I. Hot diggity it’s exciting, but no word this morning of price.
Canon’s specs table indicates that it doesn’t ship with the new ET-87 lens hood, but their press release says it’ll come with a tripod collar, lens hood, and lens pouch.
Pricing and Availability
The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens is supplied with a detachable tripod collar, a reversible bayonet mount lens hood and a lens pouch. The new lens is scheduled to be delivered to U.S. dealers in April, price to be determined.
Read more about this at Canon’s press release page: here. Get on our waiting list here.
So, Nikon has announced two more optics ending in “II,” a refresh to their 300mm prime and their 2x teleconvertor. Let’s see the press release:
New AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II
Nikon is pleased to announce that a long-trusted, potent and productive tool in the NIKKOR arsenal of professional lenses has been further improved.
The newly-improved AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II Super Telephoto enables spectacular photography, even in the most demanding conditions encountered by pros or passionate enthusiasts. Safeguarding the qualities that have, for decades, made this lens a natural choice for photographers specializing in fast-action sports, live entertainment, nature and wildlife and more, this newest edition of the 300mm f/2.8 NIKKOR features additional performance and handling enhancements.
Of course, a fast f/2.8 maximum aperture allows photographers to work in a wide variety of situations and offers the important ability to shoot at higher action-stopping shutter speeds and to more effectively obscure distracting backgrounds. But simply enabling these functions isn’t nearly enough—a NIKKOR Super Telephoto must provide necessary core functionality, along with genuinely superior image fidelity. Painstaking and experienced engineering, combined with the use of the finest raw materials, fuel “NIKKOR” optical performance. Unmistakable NIKKOR image quality can also be traced to a design that features 3 high-performance ED glass elements to virtually eliminate chromatic aberration and Nikon’s exclusive Nano-Crystal Coat to further reduce image-degrading internal reflections.
Nikon VR II (Vibration Reduction) Image Stabilization
Like all NIKKOR lenses featuring Nikon VR image stabilization, the 300mm f/2.8’s VR II was designed for the specific requirements of its host lens. The VR II incorporated in the new 300mm enables shooting at up to 4 shutter speeds slower than otherwise possible, assuring dramatically sharper images, while the Tripod VR Mode detects and compensates for specific vibrations often encountered with tripod shooting.
AF-S TC-20E III Teleconverter
New AF-S TC-20E III Teleconverter
Nikon Teleconverters, renowned for extraordinary performance, extend the versatility of NIKKOR Super Telephotos and other select NIKKOR lenses. The new 2x AF-S TC-20E III joins the 1.4x AF-S TC-14E II and 1.7x AF-S TC-17E II, offering photographers effective solutions for demanding assignments. The AF-S TC-20E III is the world’s first Teleconverter to feature an aspherical lens that, along with a new optical formula, raises performance to meet the increased imaging demands of FX-format D-SLRs.
So, we have been informed from a reputable but has-to-be-left-anonymous source that the way focal length is measured on a lens is at infinity focus. And, in echoing what Mr. Jason Odell already told us on Facebook and the last post, the closer you focus, the more magnification comes into play and the more variance you’ll get in apparent focal length. So, there we go. The new 70-200mm VR II is definitely 200, and at infinity it should have pretty much the same FOV as it’s predecessor, but the closer to the lens you try and focus the more that new, weaker magnification (not a necessarily a bad thing, remember, because the flip side is the lens reportedly has better edge-to-edge sharpness and falloff control) comes into play.
So, we’re starting to hear some hubbub about Nikon’s long-awaited new 70-200mm VR II having a somewhat different field of view at it’s longer end than its predecessor. A quick-and-dirty test by Jody and Nick seemed to confirm this, although being wildly unscientific (and ugly, boy was it ugly), we can’t say with the certainty we expect DPReview will that it exists and to what extent, but we suspect this’ll be a hot topic among shooters.
So, after a brief bit of head scratching, because while variances in actual versus stated focal lengths are really not uncommon, unexpected, or even bad, this seemed a bit unlikely to be the mere result of the lens being, say, 197mm and not truly 200mm, we did what any reasonable gearheads would do. We looked at the spec sheet. And, sure enough, look here:
On the OLD 70-200mm VR, we find this entry:
Maximum Reproduction RatioAF: 1:6.1 (x0.16), MF: 1/5.6 (x0.18)
And on the NEW VR II?
Maximum Reproduction Ratio0.12
Now, we don’t claim to be engineers. At all. So this is just rationed assuming, and not us proclaiming any gospel truths, but it seems that since the new one has very notably lower magnification than the old one, that this might be playing a factor in why the apparent field of view is different? In theory, a lower magnification should always lead to less of a telephoto effect, allowing more of a scene to fall in the frame, so it makes sense, but we can’t promise you that’s what’s up. Something to think about before lighting up the forums, though.
Canon’s EF-S 15-85mm, its new lens replacing the venerable 17-85mm, has been reviewed over at SLRGear. With its EF-S designation we know that it’s designed specifically for use on Canon’s 1.6x crop bodies (the Rebels, xxD, and now the 7D cameras.) and has an effective field-of-view equivalent to 24-136mm in film terms. Which makes it a pretty usable zoom, covering most to all of the commonly needed focal lengths.
The review mentions very good sharpness, 1 stop or less vignetting, and no more geometric distortion than can is typical of this class of zoom anyway. Combined with being wider and faster than its predecessor, and the “step-up” features like a distance scale, this lens is a safe recommendation for anyone needing to step up from the 18-55mm but who doesn’t need (or can afford) to dip their toes in the L waters.
