Tag: canon

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Firmware Firmware Updates Site News

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Firmware 2.0.3 released

In case you missed it, the upgraded firmware for the Canon EOS–5D Mark II that was announced recently was made available yesterday. Version 2.0.3 of the firmware has been in development for a few months now and adds a 24p (24 frames per second) option for a more film–like output. The 30fps version has been tweaked to conform to industry standards, which is actually 29.97fps.

Audio recording is now at 48KHz, up from 44.1KHz, along with the option to manually adjust the recording level.

Here’s the download page for firmware v2.0.3, but be sure to check the upgrade instructions (PDF) beforehand.

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Bodies Reviews

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV reviews

Reviews of Canon’s top end EOS–1D Mark IV are now slowly making its way to the web. Now with ISO 102400 and an improved autofocus system, the 1D Mark IV aims to take the top spot among sports shooters, hoping to take away some of the Nikon D3 and D3S glory that their competitor has been enjoying.

Unfortunately, the supposedly improved autofocus performance still has a lot of room for improvement, as robgalbraith.com’s review would prove. To be exact, comparing the 1D Mark IV to the D3S:

To sum up, our experience with the D3S’ AF system is that it’s trustworthy and dependable enough for us to be confident using it for peak action sports. Not perfect: it needs to be a bit faster off the line, in addition to the other quibbles we’ve mentioned. But it does work as needed most of the time, which is in stark contrast to the experience of the EOS-1D Mark IV in the last month.

There goes Canon’s hope of finally sorting out a lingering complaint on the 1D series. If you’d recall, these issues dates back to the 1D Mark II, which was released quite a few years ago. Many pro shooters would say that the 1D series haven’t been as reliable as its Nikon counterpart when it comes to autofocus performance.

DPReview.com has also just released a review of the same camera, giving the 1D Mark IV its “Gold Award“, perhaps a new rating/ranking system that supersedes its Recommended/Highly Recommended/Etc. system.

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Bodies

Canon EOS-550D/T2i

Less than a year after Canon announced their first consumer digital SLR that shoots HD video, they’ve just announced the update to the 500D aptly called the Canon EOS–550D. The 550D, also known as the T2i in the North American market, takes a lot from Canon’s most recent pro–level APS–C SLR, the Canon EOS–7D.

The 550D has a similar 18–megapixel sensor with an ISO range of 100 to 6400. More importantly, this new camera shoots 1080P HD video at selectable frames per second settings: 30, 25, and 24 fps. 720P is also available with additional 50 and 60 fps settings. Simply said, the 550D is going to be the best consumer DSLR for video shooting. I’m sure this will be widely used by videographers looking to upgrade to a DSLR–based workflow.

Here’s DPReview’s coverage of the Canon EOS–550D.

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Asides

Nikon versus Canon, the video. =)

Nikon versus Canon, the video. =)

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Bodies Product Announcements

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Not to be outdone by its competitors, Canon has taken the curtains off its next top–level camera, the Canon EOS–1D Mark IV. Now with sensitivity going up to ISO 102400 when utilizing the extended range, we finally have a camera that can see more than the naked eye.

The new 1D has a 16–megapixel APS–H sensor with the same 1.3x crop, now going up to 10 frames per second when burst shooting. Aside from all the other top end Canon technologies, this baby shoots 1080P HD video just like the 5D Mark II. Paired with its extreme ISO range, the 1D Mark IV might just be the next video camera every indie filmmaker wants. Too bad Vincent Laforet’s movie shot with the 1D Mark IV “Nocturne” had to be taken down for now on Canon’s request.

I’m just wondering how the 1Ds version of this would turn out to be.

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Site News

Perya: An Awesome Canon EOS–7D Sample Video

Wondering how good the new Canon EOS–7D will do with HD video? A bunch of awesome Filipino videographers shows us:

Beautiful, wasn’t it? These guys use the 5D Mark II for their wedding work regularly, but comparing their everyday output with this, something’s telling me the Canon 7D might just steal some money from the full–frame 5d Mark II.

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Site News

Canon PowerShot S90

Canon PowerShot S90

Most likely sharing a lot with the recently announced Canon PowerShot G11, the Canon PowerShot S90 marks the return of Canon’s S-series compact cameras. Here are the highlights of the S90, many of which are also in the G11:

  • 10 megapixel high sensitivity CCD sensor
  • Dual Anti–Noise System
  • DIGIC 4
  • f/2.0 wide aperture lens (@ widest 28mm setting)
  • Lens Control Ring
  • Up to ISO 3200 and 12800 using the 2.5MP Low Light mode
  • Discrete zoom stops at 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 105mm

It is quite obvious that the S90 is positioned to compete with serious amateur compacts like the Lumix LX3 and Ricoh GR Digital III. The introduction of f/2.0 at the wide end is very much like the LX3, though the focal length is a tad narrower at 28mm. The discrete zoom stops is a feature from Ricoh’s GX–series like the GX200, making the S90 an obvious contender in this market. Note that the 10 megapixel sensor is a downgrade from Canon’s recent models that already hit 14 megapixel a generation ago. I’m almost sure this change is more of an image quality consideration.

At 429 USD it is not that far from the G11’s price range and I’m sure these two models will somehow take away sales from each other. Collectively, it would be interesting to know if they can actually compare to what is presently available and upcoming in this growing advanced enthusiast market.

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Site News

Canon PowerShot G11

Canon PowerShot G11

It’s now officially unveiled: the Canon PowerShot G11. Though you may think that this is simply just an update to Canon top–of–the–line for compact digital cameras, the G11 is said to improve on the G10 in many ways. One curious note though: the G11 has only 10 megapixels.

Not that megapixel count has mattered for the past year or so. The Canon PowerShot G11 utilizes a high-sensitivity CCD sensor that goes up to ISO 3200. Paired with the enhanced DIGIC 4 as well as other new technologies like i–Contrast, this camera should produce images as good or better than the G10 and its competitors. It should, or Canon loses that chunk of the market as its competitors have gained ground in this field. Then again, maybe there’s really no point to the G–series cameras now that it can hardly cope up with MFT compacts like the Olympus E–P1 and the Panasonic Lumix GF1?

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Asides

Canon has just unveiled their Hybrid Ima …

Canon has just unveiled their Hybrid Image Stabilizer technology that eliminates two types of camera shake: tilt and shift. The new system is expected in new lenses later this year.

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Asides

Canon reportedly working on a G–Series …

Canon reportedly working on a G–Series compact point&shoot camera with an APS–C CMOS sensor? A reaction to the Olympus E-P1 perhaps? What do you think?

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Bodies Links

Links: Canon EOS-50D

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Bodies News Product Announcements

Canon EOS-5D Mark II officially announced

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Yes, it’s now confirmed, the Canon EOS-5D Mark II is a real camera! After months (or was it years?) of speculation on how Canon would update the full–frame 5D, it is now finally here. Unfortunately, it’s not even close to the rumored 5D update we wrote about last March.

Highlights of this new camera:

  • New 21.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor with improved EOS Integrated Cleaning System (E.I.C.S.)
  • New Full HD 1080 resolution movie recording
  • 3.9 frames per second continuous shooting
  • High performance DIGIC 4 providing superb image quality
  • Maximum 310 large JPEG images in a single burst with a UDMA card
  • 3.0” VGA (920k dots) Clear View LCD
  • ISO 100-6400 (expansion from 50 up to 25,600)
  • 9 AF points + 6 Assist AF points

Not to be outdone by Nikon’s D90, movie recording is available at HD 1080p, besting the Nikon which maxes out at the not–too–shabby 720p setting. Certainly, most of the changes are evolutionary, except for the new CMOS sensor which stands out, almost doubling the 12–megapixel model it replaces. And with sensitivity expansion reaching ISO 25600, the 5D Mark II will certainly be in the bags of Canon–shooting pros pretty soon.

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Bodies Photo Samples

Canon EOS-50D photo samples

Canon 50D sample @ ISO 12800.

Are you interested how the Canon EOS-50D’s 15 megapixel DIGIC 4–powered imaging capability performs? You’d want to see these just released samples from a pre–production unit, tested at various ISO sensitivities. I’ve posted above a crop of a photo taken at ISO 12800, two stops above the maximum sensitivity of the 40D it replaces. The results are promising indeed and it looks like the 50D will be another must–upgrade for most Canon photographers.