Photography Gear News

The Canon EOS 5D series is arguably one of the most recognizable camera lines of the digital age and the Mark IV is designed to appeal to the same wide range of enthusiasts and professionals. Nearly identical-looking to its predecessor, it receives substantial upgrades under the hood, including: a higher-resolution sensor with Dual Pixel autofocus, 4K video capture, an upgraded AF system, a touchscreen, improved weather-sealing, built-in Wi-Fi/NFC, an interval timer and GPS. All this adds up to a camera that fits into Canon's product line nicely as the all-around full-frame option.

It is built around a new 30.4MP CMOS sensor and uses the Digic 6+ processor. The AF system is from the flagship 1D X Mark II and contains 61 AF points (41 of which are cross-type) with up to 24% expanded vertical coverage compared with the system in the Mark III. The center point is sensitive to -3EV in One Shot (AF-S) mode (in Live View the sensor is sensitive to -4EV with a fast lens).

4K video capture is a welcome addition to this camera and users can record in either 24 or 30p, albeit with a 1.64x crop. All footage is captured as Motion JPEG. Additionally, the camera allows for 4K Frame Grabs, effectively giving users 30 fps stills shooting with (Dual Pixel) AF. We've seen that the camera suffers from some rolling shutter, but it may still have some merit for capturing the decisive moment when 7fps just isn't enough.

While developing the IV, Canon says it sought feedback from 5D-series users and found that dynamic range, resolution, AF precision and AF speed were the four most important areas improvements were requested. On paper, the Mark IV seems to address these aspects nicely.

The Canon company started 2012 with three launches of lenses. They announced introducing a new journalistic zoom, the EF 24–70 mm f/2.8L USM II and two fixed-focus lenses: the EF 24 mm f/2.8 IS USM and the EF 28 mm f/2.8 IS USM. Not so long ago we published the test of the 2.8/24 model, now we invite you to read the test of its 28 mm focal length brother.

20mm prime lenses aren't overly popular anymore these days - most people prefer ultra-wide zoom lenses or prime lenses with an even more extreme focal length. However, consider me to be a relic. I think that 20mm is actually a sweet spot in this focal length class. It is extreme enough to create a WOW effect yet not over the top thus avoiding an overly distorted view.
Anyway, the Canon lineup is the most extensive around so it doesn't come as a surprise that they also provide a prime lens here although it has not been updated for ages. The Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM has been released back in 1992 so it's one of the oldest members of the EF family by now.

The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L (I) was a bit of a nightmare for us here at photozone. We experienced centering defects in several tested samples and up to a degree where we almost considered it to be enough. Now the new Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L II has entered the market and according to the Canon press release things look a little more promising in this respect: "The mechanical structure of the lens has been improved to offer enhanced zoom durability and greater shake and shock resistance within the lens barrel". Good and I can positively report that the tested sample had a decent centering quality this time.
The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L II is certainly one of the more mainstream professional grade lenses in the Canon line up and it surely continues the sales success story of its predecessor. On full format DSLRs it's a fast standard zoom lens covering everything from moderate ultra-wide angles up to short tele settings. Unfortunately Canon felt the need to increase the price substantially with a current street price beyond 2100EUR. As such it is the most expensive standard zoom lens among the conventional DSLR manufacturers.

Before I get into the 1DX, there are a few things I need to point out. First, there will be no comparisons with any other manufacturers cameras because it’s a pointless and boring exercise. Professionals may change systems if they perceive a commercial advantage but few amateurs ever do. Comparing models and saying "mine is better than yours” is something for the playground that we should have all grown out of. It should not matter what camera I use, it’s about the photography that I produce and the techniques that I teach. Never again will I say anything negative about another manufacturer’s camera system, it’s not how a professional behaves and it doesn’t help anyone. The manufacturers don’t do it and we, as photographers, should not do it. Not one bit. Ok, now that’s off my chest I feel a lot better, let’s get on with it!

Of course currently I am a Nikon photographer, you all know that, so this was a very interesting test for me to do. I gave the 1DX a much harder test than I did the D4 too, I just felt like I had to do it! First test, could it stand the full weight of the honed and perfectly chiselled (ho ho ho) Rouse body....

Canon is the only major Japanese camera manufacturer who has been shy of entering the mirrorless market (as of the time of this review). So far their reps always argued that it is possible to design smallish APS-C DSLRs that are also able to compete on the size and weight side. Probably also in order to support this (rather desperate marketing-)statement they've just announced a pancake lens - the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM. In fact it is the first of its kind (by Canon) ever since the EOS system was introduced back in 1987. In the global scope Canon is a late follower though. Such lenses are immensely popular in the mirrorless camera segment but they are also a center product in the Pentax K lineup. So small is beautiful these days ... and now also in Canon land.
The EF 40mm f/2.8 STM has another feature which is new to the Canon EOS system - rather than taking advantage of a conventional micro-motor or USM AF, Canon has introduced a stepping AF motor (STM). It is meant to provide a smoother auto-focusing experience in movie or Live-View mode. However, the camera has to be optimized to take advantage of this and as of now only the EOS 650D qualifies.

There have been discussions in the usual communities whether a 40mm f/2.8 is really all that attractive. Formally it's neither really a moderate wide-angle nor a standard prime lens. However, it'll surely find many fans e.g. among the street photographers and its coolness factor alone will certainly also make it a success in the market anyway.

This is a wrap-up of my previous comparison between the Nikon D800 and the Canon 5DmkIII, with more of a focus on the raw stills quality.

The (old) Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 is a relic of the earliest days of EOS. This year it celebrated its 25th(!) year in production which is nothing short of amazing for an AF lens. However, 2012 is finally also the year of its successor - the Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 USM IS. As you may notice the focal length and speed remained the same but Canon added a modern USM (Ultrasonic) AF as well as an image stabilizer. While USM is not really a killer argument (the micro-motor AF drive was fast enough after all), the IS certainly widens its usage scope specifically with respect to low light photography. Used on APS-C DSLRs the field-of-view is equivalent to a 45mm full format lens so it's more like a standard/normal lens here rather a wide-angle one. Something like street photography would be an obvious application.

The (old) Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 is a relic of the earliest days of EOS. This year it celebrated its 25th(!) year in production which is nothing short of amazing for an AF lens. However, 2012 is finally also the year of its successor - the Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 USM IS. As you may notice the focal length and speed remained the same but Canon added a modern USM (Ultrasonic) AF as well as an image stabilizer. While USM is not really a killer argument (the micro-motor AF drive was fast enough after all), the IS certainly widens its usage scope specifically with respect to low light photography. As such it is an obvious choice e.g. for street or indoor photography. Given its focal length and speed it certainly faces stiff competition from the zoom lens gang here but some users may prefer to have a smaller and more light-weight option here.

I am a landscape photographer at heart, and I usually shoot exclusively with Canon. Naturally, when I heard the news that they were introducing a new full frame camera - the EOS-1D X, I was intrigued. This was branded to be a their "flagship camera", it was destined to command the ever expanding fleet of Canon SLRs. Would all 18MP of this 1D X be enough for me and other professionals to embrace it and let go of our good ol'gear that we had learned to love?

I decided to put it to the test and explore the pros and cons when comparing the Canon 1D X to the Canon 5D Mark III, and its predecessor the Canon 1D Mark IV...

Is it possible to get 11 photographers into a box and put them in a position where you could never place a photographer? Normally, it would be absolutely impossible. But nothing is impossible when it comes to the Olympic games.

"Medium tele macro lenses are among the most popular prime lenses - they are long and fast enough for decent portrait photography and offer a sufficient working distance during macro sessions compared to shorter macro lenses. Other than that they tend to offer an outstanding image quality and all that for an decent price tag. The popularity among customers is also a reason why we are seeing faster than average product life-cycles. In this review we will have a look at the Sigma AF 105mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM OS macro. Its predecassor was quite successful already and this new version is offering a couple of innovations such as an optical image stabilizer and especially a constant physical length across the focus range. As such it competes with the very comparable Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM L IS. It is about 20% cheaper than its mighty rival but it does not feature a weather sealing like the Canon lens."

"Cityscape shots are a little tricky because it’s tough to get a good overall image focus. In the shot above, I used my Canon 5D Mark III to dial in focus to get the best focus possible before taking the shot. After focusing, the only variable I couldn’t control was the wind, but for a 30 second exposure the result was okay – not great, but okay. (NOTE: The shot you see above is cropped and edited – click the image to see the out of camera original)

Once I have my settings dialed in, I switch to manual focus and use Live View at its maximum zoom to adjust my focus on items in the foreground and background to get the best balance of focus across the entire image. This is the greatest reason to use Live View in my opinion, so it’s automatic anytime I’m doing any shot that will allow me to use it (typically landscape or other static subject work).

For this to work my camera must be on a tripod and my subject must be static. The scene above of Seattle is a great test, so I took a few shots. While I’m not super happy with any of the shots I took due to wind, one of the huge problems I had during this test when comparing the Canon 5D Mark III against the Nikon D800 was the performance of the Live View on the D800.

Simply put, I found the Live View feature on the D800 to be unusable at maximum zoom under low light conditions like these. When I would zoom in with the Canon I’d get great detail and could easily dial in my focus on a detail like the people in top of the Space Needle. However, when I zoomed in with the Nikon all I could see was noise like you’d see on a old analog color TV. It was horrible and unusable..."