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Canon Hits 50 Million EF Lenses

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.

Oh, and that 50 millionth lens? It was one of the new EF 100mm f 2.8L Macro IS USMs. Just for the record.



Forumbusters: Don’t Hate on AF-S

So, if you own both a computer and a camera, there’s a better than average chance you’ve encountered one of the many online gear forums, where people discuss camera equipment. And, while a lot of useful information can be learned from these forums, they also rival the Mos Eisley cantina for biggest dens of inequity going, and I’ve lurked on them long enough to notice there are several popular fallacies that seem to never go out of style, which is sad because they frequently stand in the way of better customer satisfaction.

So, we’re going to start addressing a few of these as a respected dealer of equipment, with all our insider knowledge and decades and decades of experience with camera equipment over the ages.

And first up is AF-S. AF-S is Nikon’s designation for lenses with an integral ultrasonic motor for focusing, introduced in 1996. Now, if you’re new to equipment, you may not know that auto-focus cameras used to use a body-based focus motor and screw drive system. Nikon’s AF-S comes under fire because starting with the D40, they started leaving a body-based motor out of their cameras, forcing users to buy AF-S lenses if they wanted autofocus. This gets decried a lot as a shameless attempt on Nikon’s part to force new lens sales and cut-off the used market. AF-S gets a lot of hate.

Of course, never mind that Canon switched entirely to in-lens focus motors when it created its EOS system and EF mount in 1987, making it’s entire FD line-up completely unusable with new cameras. Or that Olympus and Sony’s DSLR systems also use only in-lens AF systems. Or that in lens AF systems are faster, quieter, and more accurate. Obviously such technological improvements must be bad, right?

Simple answer: if you’re a new DSLR customer and can afford it, go AF-S. Even though the more expensive bodies still support the body-motor, in-lens focus motors have been the future for the past twenty years. They might cost you more than the old used ones, but they’ll continue to work going forward on all Nikon bodies. Plus, don’t forget that focus motors aren’t all that’s improved in the past twenty years: lens coatings, exotic lens elements like aspherical elements, and even basic lens formulas have all continued improving and the newer AF-S lenses will yield more than just a focus motor for your money.



Electro-Optical System

Canon EOS Badge

Canon EOS Badge

It’s been twenty-two years now since the debut of Canon’s Electro-Optical System. Usually referred to, of course, as EOS, borrowing its name from the Greek goddess of the dawn.And, I have to say, it wasn’t a bad choice of names for the system. EOS was possibly the first entire system to decide to forgo mechanical operations between the lens and the mount (such as screw drive AF, which still leads to occasional problems for Nikon and Pentax users to this day). Since its inception EOS lenses (designed for the new EF mount, which boldly replaced the popular FD mount entirely) have had built-in AF focus motors. For pushing that envelope alone Canon is to be commended, as far as I’m concerned. The EOS system has gone on to be a massive giant in the camera scene, with something like 40 bodies, and gave the world the first “affordable” consumer DSLR in the form of the original Digital Rebel.

Despite changes in optics and motor technology, the distressingly forward-looking decision to switch to an all-electric mount has meant Canon has been able to increase functionallity without altering the mounts, and has lead to them having perhaps the largest and most comprehensive lens line-up on the market (although 22 years of history means the occasional confusion or overlap as better optics replace or slot in beside older ones).

So, this Friday, stop in and check out the current line of EOS products (including many impressive bodies, whose design by the way is influenced by work done in the past by renowned designer Luigi Colani).



More Expo Lead-Up

In its way, my post about the recent Olympus lecture is part of a series of posts I’ll be doing to run us up to the Expo, focusing on little bits of history and development for some of the big names that’ll be approximately ten feet below my current position in a couple weeks.

The Original Nikon F

The Original Nikon F

Next up is the stalwart Nikon. This year marks the 50th anniversary of their legendary F mount. First introduced for the Nikon F SLR (funny how that works out). Apparently the F mount isn’t just one of the longest lived mounts, it’s also got the honor of having had the first perspective control lens for a 35mm camera (and that introduced in 1961, only two years after the introduction of the F system.)

Today, of course, the F mount remains one of the two biggest mounts on the market (competing with next post’s topic, the EOS mount from Canon). And, the most recent wave of lenses for the F mount have certainly been incredibly well-planned and solid efforts (the new pro zooms and perspective controls certainly spring readly to mind.)

So, stop by in a couple weeks, play with 50 years of mount heritage. Our Nikon rep will love seeing you.



Coming Attractions

Tamron 18-270VC imageTamron, long a leader in lens design and technologies announced an astounding 15x range zoom 18-270mm lens in development on July 30th. Yesterday our Tamron lens rep was here at Roberts Imaging with a little more news. The first 18-270 lenses shipping will be for the Nikon DSLR bodies, including the D40 and D60 series bodies. That’s right the AF 18-270mm Di II VC lens will also carry the BIM designation, so it will mount on all Nikon Digital Cameras. (Note: the full frame sensor cameras will not reduce the file size and coverage area as they do Nikon’s DX lenses, and  Tamron does not recommend their use. If used the resulting image will have to be cropped to eliminate vignetting).
Tamron’s Canon EF mount lenses will follow shortly after the Nikon’s and don’t be surprised to see the Sony/Minolta mount soon too.
If you are unfamiliar with the vernacular of the lens world  I will  give you a brief  jargon translation.
DSLR: Digital Single Lens Reflex. A camera with a mirror box and prism for viewing the image through an eyepiece (or now on live view); the mirror pivots (reflexes) out of the way allowing the light path to reach the sensor. AF: Auto Focus; just like it sounds the lens and camera can focus automatically (there is always the option to manually override if desired).
Di II: This is Tamron’s designation for a lens designed to work with the smaller APS-C sized digital sensors, some higher end DSLR’s will have a full size sensor the same dimensions as a 35mm frame of film (you remember film, right?).
VC:  Vibration Compensation; built in stabilization features that help reduce user shake,allowing sharper photos in challenging conditions. Nikon Lenses and Canon lenses offer their own version on some of their lenses VR (Vibration Reduction) is Nikon’s terminology, and IS (Image Stabilizaition) is Canon’s. Remember: vibration reduction, compensation, control or stabilization  reduces but does not always eliminate the need for a camera tripod.
BIM: (Built-In Motor) a motor on-board the lens instead of a mechanical connection to the camera body. Built-In motors are nothing new, Canon Lenses have been equipped with internal motors since the first EOS lenses. Nikon came on board several years ago as well with their AF-S series of lenses. Now Third party lens manufacturers like Tamron, Sigma and Tokina to name just a few are building the more efficient internal motors in some of their offerings too.
With new longer range lenses cropping up all the time the options for the casual photographer are much greater. A lens with a 15x zoom would be an all-in-one solution for a lot of users. We don’t know the delivery dates yet but you can pre-order this lens on-line or you can contact me at 800-726-5544 or cpace@robertsimaging.com.



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