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Posts Tagged ‘unveil’

Canon to Unveil 3 RF Lenses, but Discontinues 9 EF Lenses

12 Apr

The post Canon to Unveil 3 RF Lenses, but Discontinues 9 EF Lenses appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Canon to unveil 3 RF lenses, but discontinues 9 EF lenses

This past week brought both good news and bad news for Canon fans. 

The good news: Later this month, Canon will unveil three new RF lenses, including two pro-level super-telephotos.

The bad news: Canon has discontinued nine EF lenses, with plans to drop at least four more lenses before 2021 is out. 

Let’s take a closer look.

Canon unveils new RF lenses

According to Canon Rumors, Canon will likely be announcing three RF-mount lenses before April is out:

  • Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro
  • Canon RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM
  • Canon RF 600mm f/4L IS USM

The 400mm f/2.8L and the 600mm f/4L will go a long way toward making Canon’s full-frame mirrorless lineup appealing to professional sports and wildlife shooters, who frequently work with snappy f/2.8 and f/4 super-telephotos. While Canon currently offers a handful of long RF lenses (including the well-reviewed RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM), the narrow maximum apertures are a dealbreaker for serious action and low-light photography. 

The Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro will debut as a mirrorless successor to the popular Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro, an ultra-sharp, close-focusing lens used by macro enthusiasts and professionals alike, plus product photographers and event photographers for key detail shots. Of course, the price remains to be seen (currently, the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L goes for around $ 1300 USD, though when I bought mine – around five years ago – the price was a more tolerable $ 750 USD). But close-up photographers will undoubtedly appreciate the addition of another powerful lens to the list of macro options. 

So if you do wildlife photography, sports photography, or macro photography, keep an eye out for Canon’s announcement later this month.

Canon discontinues a long list of EF lenses

While Canon’s dedication to the new RF lineup is praised by many (myself included), it’s sad to see the flip side: the wasting away of the EF/EF-S lineup. 

Here’s the list of EF and EF-S lenses Canon has discontinued in the last month, as tracked by Canon Rumors:

  • Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM
  • Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM
  • Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM
  • Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
  • Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-f/4.5 USM
  • Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
  • Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM
  • Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM
  • Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM

And according to Canon Rumors, these lenses will also be discontinued in 2021:

  • Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM
  • Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM
  • Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM
  • Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM

While some of these discontinued lenses undoubtedly have RF replacements on the way, others will be forgotten, at least for the foreseeable future. So if any of the above glass interests you, I’d highly recommend you buy while products remain available. 

Now over to you:

How do you feel about Canon’s decision to discontinue these lenses? Did you expect such a fast break with the EF lineup? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Canon to Unveil 3 RF Lenses, but Discontinues 9 EF Lenses appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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RED and Lucid unveil 8K 3D camera that produces 4V holographic video in real time

26 May

Computer vision company Lucid and cinema camera maker RED have partnered to create an 8K 3D camera that can capture 4-view (4V) holographic images and video in real-time. The camera is designed to work with RED’s upcoming holographic Hydrogen One smartphone—both by shooting holographic content that can be viewed on the phone’s 4V screen, and by using the modular phone as a “viewfinder.”

The camera itself (which has yet to be named) will be made by RED, but it will be powered by Lucid’s “real-time 3D Fusion Technology.” This tech generates 3D/4V footage in real-time, promising to turn a processing-intensive task into “an instantaneous point-and-shoot experience.”

The camera looks like any other RED cinema camera… sort of. Except instead of one 8K sensor the camera uses two “perfectly hardware-synced” 4K sensors and a beam splitter to capture and output 8K 4-view footage. That footage can be viewed after the fact or even live using the upcoming RED Hydrogen One smartphone, which will be able to integrate directly into the RED 3D/4V and act as a 3D viewfinder.

It’s important to not that this isn’t just a concept. RED and Lucid had a working prototype shooting scenes at the Hydrogen One launch party on May 19th.

If you see this as a gimmick—and an expensive one at that—you’re probably not alone. But Lucid CEO and Co-Founder Han Jin has faith the world is ready for, and in fact craving, 3D/4V content you can digest without goggles or glasses.

“This partnership allows us for the first time to deliver the highest-quality 3D capture to our customers, and now they can view the content immediately in 3D/4V without headsets,” says Jin via press release. “At a time when two of the biggest challenges in the industry have been resolution and easy viewing of 3D content, we believe this is the solution everyone has been waiting for.”

We don’t have official pricing and release date information just yet. All Lucid and RED will reveal is that the camera—colloquially called the RED 3D/4V but still officially unnamed—will “be rolled out” in Q4 of 2018. To learn more about Lucid’s tech or this strange new camera, read the full press release below or visit the Lucid website.

Press Release

Lucid Partners with RED to Build 8K 3D/4V Camera for Hydrogen One

Collaboration will result in the first camera to convert full 8K 3D/4-View (4V) holographic images and videos in real time and the capability to dynamically adjust lens distances for the best 3D focus and zoom

Santa Clara, CA – May 22, 2018 — Lucid, the maker of the first VR180 3D camera, LucidCam, announces today it is working with Hollywood camera maker RED to build the next generation prosumer 3D/4-View (4V) camera for 8K video and image capture. The new camera is the first dual camera to give users full 8K video and picture capabilities converting to 4V in real-time while allowing them to shoot like professionals with dynamically adjustable lens distances for the best 3D focus and zoom. By attaching the soon-to-be-released modular holographic phone–RED Hydrogen One–to the camera, users will be able to view 3D/4V content in post and live as if it were the viewfinder.

The new RED camera is powered by Lucid’s real-time 3D Fusion Technology, transforming the time and processing-intensive 3D/4V workflow into an instantaneous point-and-shoot experience users crave. The look and feel of the new camera sticks to RED’s previous designs, but this time it has two perfectly hardware-synced 4K cameras which leverage a beam splitter to capture and convert the output to 8K 4V (.h4v) files. Once the content is created, all the high resolution 3D/4V videos and images can be distributed on YouTube and Facebook as well as through RED’s curated content universe.

“Having RED as a partner allows us to combine the best of both worlds – the highest resolution and quality hardware from RED with the most advanced software, our 3D Fusion Technology,” said Han Jin, CEO and co-founder, Lucid.

The RED and Lucid partnership enables both companies to extend their customer reach. Over the past year, Lucid has shipped and sold thousands of its VR180 3D LucidCams through Amazon and Best Buy as well as direct to consumers online, confirming the market interest and demand for creating and consuming such content. With Lucid’s solid consumer base and RED’s base of independent filmmakers and Hollywood producers, the new camera meets the need of a large, combined audience. The magic of 3D, VR and AR videos and images created by both the LucidCam and the RED 3D/4V camera can be enjoyed on the Hydrogen One without the hassle of wearing headsets.

The unique functions of the Hydrogen One phone in combination with the new 3D camera were showcased with a live 3D/4V preview at RED’s launch party on May 19th. Many people came to experience the holographic display capabilities, which provide a unique ability to let users look around and behind objects through 4-Views, and allow for viewing 3D, VR and AR content without any glasses or goggles. This phone also attaches easily to RED’s new camera and can act as a 3D viewfinder.

“This partnership allows us for the first time to deliver the highest-quality 3D capture to our customers, and now they can view the content immediately in 3D/4V without headsets,” said Jin. “At a time when two of the biggest challenges in the industry have been resolution and easy viewing of 3D content, we believe this is the solution everyone has been waiting for.”

The camera will be rolled out in Q4. Exact pricing is to be announced, as is the name of the camera. It will be sold through RED and its reseller channels.

For more information about Lucid, visit www.lucidcam.com.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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MRMC unveil a smaller, lighter and cheaper version of its Bolt camera robot

02 Mar

Nikon-owned Mark Roberts Motion Control has announced that it will release a new smaller version of its Bolt camera robot in April this year. The original Bolt is claimed to be ‘most advanced high-speed camera robot in the world’, and the so-called Bolt Junior aims to continue that legacy in a package that weighs less than half as much, is more capable of working in confined spaces, and costs less as well.

Offering 6-axis movements, the Bolt JR will have an arm’s reach of 1.2m/3.94ft and will be able to travel at up to 3m/9.8ft per second when running on tracks… all while carrying 12kg of camera equipment. Using the company’s Flair software to control the robot, users will be able to program a series of movements that can be repeated exactly, again and again.

The robot arm can control lens settings as well as camera position, and can be used to create sophisticated timelapse sequences or follow camera movements created in animation software Maya. Finally, the company says the Bolt Jr takes only an hour to set up, and because it weighs only 110kg/242.5lbs, it is easy to transport as well.

The robot will go on show for the first time at the NAB exhibition in Las Vegas. For more information, visit the Bolt JR landing page.

Press Release

MRMC Launch Bolt Junior

Mark Roberts Motion Control Develops High-Speed Smaller Compact Version of Famous Bolt Cinebot

With a 50-year legacy developing highly effective camera robotics, Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) have developed Bolt Junior (Bolt JR)

The MRMC Bolt JR has been developed in response to customer need for a smaller, compact, more cost-effective version of the highly regarded high-speed MRMC Bolt Cinebot – the fastest and most advanced motion control rig in the world.

This high-speed, compact 6-axes camera robot arm has been specially developed for film studios, photographic studios and for table-top work where studio space and budget are a key criterion. Being small and lightweight, Bolt JR is also easily maneuverable and transportable.

But make no mistake… Bolt JR may be short on size and stature but packs a mighty punch enabling impressive camera robotic capability. Available in pedestal and on-track versions, the Bolt JR cinebot has an arm reach of 1.2 metres and can move high-speed on-track at over 3m per second with a camera payload up to 12kg.

Camera robots can empower the cameraman, motion control operator and photography director to get the camera exactly where it needs to be for unique tight camera angles, special effects and to capture all the action and drama.

Controlling and programming Bolt JR is quick and straight- forward using the MRMC Flair system. Bolt JR with Flair offers a wide variety of automated functions and precision repeat functions. For complete flexibility, Bolt JR can also automate lighting, trigger synchronised SFX timecodes, rig movement or model movement.

Bolt JR is set to make its appearance this April at the NAB exhibition in Las Vegas where it will be demonstrated to over 100,000 show visitors alongside its big brother Bolt Cinebot. With the launch of Bolt JR, MRMC has launched a new dedicated Bolt JR website providing information, specification, video and product sheet for download. The Bolt JR website can be found at www.mrmoco.com/boltjr

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Pixelstick creators unveil the Colorspike: An incredibly versatile LED lighting strip

06 Oct

The inventors of pixelstick have launched a new Kickstarter campaign to fund their latest creation: a strip of LEDs they’re calling the ‘colorspike.’ Like the pixelstick, it can be controlled via an app to produce a range of effects; unlike the pixelstick, the colorspike panel is more about lighting and color than it is about fun effects or light painting.

At about two feet long, the colorspike consists of a strip of LED lights that the user can program to produce a massive range of different colors and pulsating lighting effects. The results, when used in concert with, say, portrait photography, can be striking:

The idea is that stills and video photographers can use these to add easily controlled color to their shoots, while videographers can also include flashing lights to emulate emergency vehicles, fire, lightning and any interrupted lighting.

The colorspike panels are controlled via a smartphone app that allows colors and effects to be selected from an existing menu or to be custom mixed for the occasion (and saved for later use). Finally, groups of color spikes can be controlled together from the app to create more complex set-ups, and users can determine brightness, color and pulsation patterns via the app or the interface on the panel itself.

For on-location shooting, a battery is supplied that the company claims will last at least 45 minutes; and for those working near a mains power supply, a DC adapter also comes included the kit.

The colorspike is being launched on Kickstarter with a price of $ 270, and kits of four can be had for the discounted price of $ 1,000. The company, Bitbanger, expects delivery to begin in March next year if the target of $ 120,000 is reached—and given they’ve already reached over half of that goal with a full 42 days left in the campaign, chances are good the colorspike will become a reality

For more information on this nifty new lighting accessory, visit the colorspike Kickstarter page or Bitbanger’s website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google and GoPro unveil 16-camera ‘Array’ VR rig

30 May

During the re/code Code Conference earlier this week in California, GoPro’s CEO Nick Woodman detailed a rig the company is working on that will accommodate six Hero4 cameras to record multi-angle footage for virtual reality uses. Google revealed a similar setup at its I/O 2015 conference yesterday, with the primary exception being that it holds 16 GoPro action cameras rather than six. The rig is called Array, and it was made in partnership with GoPro for Google’s new Jump virtual reality platform. Click through to read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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