canonical

Why that Canon lens costs so much, part II

Last year, Canon posted an interesting video showing the manufacturing process behind the EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens that costs about $5,800. Now a photographer has posted his own site that that illustrates why the comparatively lowly EF-S 17-85MM f4-5.6 IS USM costs about $500.

A FredMiranda forum member named Sam posted some photographic details of his lens disassembly after his model suffered a stuck aperture, the mechanism that regulates how much light goes into the lens. Fittingly, the last photo he took was of an exhibit at a Parisian Arab-Islamic museum that features dozens of … Read more

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark IV: the rumors begin

After just about a year on the market, the rumors have started about a replacement for Canon's flagship EOS-1Ds dSLR. The blog trail, which seems to have started in a forum at photofans.cn but which I read on Photography Bay, speculates that the specifications will include the current sensor, but two Digic 4 processors which will enable a bump to ISO 12,800 and a burst rate of 6.8fps, HD video capture, and a jump to a 69-point AF system.

Though Canon Rumors gives this scuttlebutt its second-lowest credibility rating--"From a 4-legged animal"--as … Read more

Make a Canon dSLR out of wood

Can't afford a high-end Canon dSLR? Well, if you're handy, you can pretend to own one by making this wood model. Found on Canon's Camera Museum site are instructions on how to paste, cut, and shape pieces of balsa wood to make a dSLR model.

Looking at the instructions, it's not an easy task, so don't expect to be able to make one yourself just because you're capable of assembling some papercraft models. If you do make one successfully, this will make a great home decorative piece for showing off how crafty you are. … Read more

Ubuntu misses Stallman's cloud-computing rant

Free Software Foundation President Richard Stallman recently went on a tirade against software as a service (SaaS), suggesting that consumers of SaaS are "putty in the hands of whoever developed that software."

Apparently, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, missed Stallman's memo, because it's advertising for a Salesforce.com developer to help it manage its proprietary (gasp!), SaaS (gasp!) CRM system.

Not that Canonical is alone. Red Hat, Hyperic, MySQL, and other open-source companies also use Salesforce. Are they bad? Are they putty in the hands of Salesforce? Maybe. But they're also companies that need to … Read more

BPAV has the Canon ZR850 High Definition MiniDV Camcorder for $259, after $70 savings.

BPAV has Canon ZR850 High Definition MiniDV Camcorder for $259, after $70 savings. >> Regular price is $329 >> Sale price is $259 >> Savings $70 (21.28%) >> Click here for deal

Cost Central has the Canon BU-10 - Print server - Bluetooth for $66.60, after $13.39 savings.

Cost Central has Canon BU-10 - Print server - Bluetooth for $66.60, after $13.39 savings. >> Regular price is $79.99 >> Sale price is $66.60 >> Savings $13.39 (16.74%) >> Click here for deal

RefurbDepot.com has the Canon PIXMA MP830 Multifunction Color Printer, Copier, Fax, Scanner for $119.95, after $180.04 savings.

RefurbDepot.com has Canon PIXMA MP830 Multifunction Color Printer, Copier, Fax, Scanner for $119.95, after $180.04 savings. >> Regular price is $299.99 >> Sale price is $119.95 >> Savings $180.04 (60.02%) >> Click here for deal

Red Hat is the top Linux kernel contributor, but what about Canonical?

No surprise, but Red Hat remains the top corporate Linux kernel contributor, as reported by SDTimes. As I've reported before, Red Hat is the top Linux contributor by a wide margin, with IBM, the next biggest corporate contributor, coming in nearly seven percentage points behind Red Hat.

Greg Kroah-Hartman, a Novell employee and prominent Linux kernel developer, recently called out Red Hat's contributions (good) but has taken far too much time to criticize Canonical, creator of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, and its apparent dearth of contributions (not-so-good).

Mark Shuttleworth defends Canonical's contributions to Linux, and I … Read more

Canonical chooses convenience in codecs, and rightly so

OStatic provides an excellent analysis of the dilemma facing Canonical and its Ubuntu distribution: to facilitate adoption of proprietary media codecs and, if so, how?

I have (incorrectly) criticized Canonical for including proprietary codecs in Ubuntu before, but others in the open-source world have been far more derogatory about any possible hint of proprietary software making its way into Ubuntu.

While I am sympathetic with the intent of such commentary, OStatic is absolutely correct to suggest that Canonical's decision to set up a for-fee way to add proprietary media codecs to Ubuntu is spot-on:

They could have taken the … Read more