Sony showed concept models of six new SLR lenses at the PMA show.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News)LAS VEGAS--Sony showed off models of a forthcoming supertelephoto and five other lenses Monday at the Photo Marketing Association trade show, a new sign the electronics giant is holding tight to its ambition to be a major player in the digital SLR market
"Sony is passionate in proving better lens development," said Shigeki Ishizuka, president of Sony's digital imaging business group, at a news conference held here in conjunction with PMA. He said Sony now ranks third in the SLR market.
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The 18-125mm F3.8-5.6 DC OS HSM has Sigma's optical stabilization technology built in to counteract camera shake. It's for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, and Sigma SLRs. The stabilization feature doesn't work on Pentax and Sony cameras, which have that built in.
(Credit: Sigma)LAS VEGAS--Sigma, a third-party maker of lenses for SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras, has expanded the range of Optical Stabilization (OS) lenses, those with a moving lens element that can compensate for camera shake.
Of eight mainstream lenses the Japanese company announced at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here, three new telephoto lenses include OS. (I'm not counting Sigma's 200-500mm f/2.8 super-telephoto behemoth as mainsream.)
The three stabilized lenses are the 18-125mm F3.8-5.6 DC OS HSM, the APO 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM, and the APO 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM.
However, several new 70-200mm telephoto zooms, each with a wide f/2.8 aperture, lack the stabilization feature.
Sigma also announced two lenses for Four Thirds System SLRs, which are sold by Olympus, Panasonic, and Leica. Those are a wide-angle zoom, the 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM, and the telephoto zoom, the APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG MACRO HSM.
Update 1:20 p.m. PST: There's no price or availability information yet on the stabilized lenses, said Sigma spokeswoman Desiree Gaige, but they'll likely arrive sometime this summer. The 50-150mm will cost about $1,350, the 70-200mm models $1,420, and the 10-20mm $730, and those probably will be available in the next couple months, she said.
Here are some photos and details on the other lenses:
The APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG MACRO HSM is for Pentax and Sony SLRs.
(Credit: Sigma)
The APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG MACRO HSM is designed for Four-Thirds system cameras.
(Credit: Sigma)
The APO 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM is an optically stabilized model for Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, and Sigma SLRs. Its close-focus distance is 59 inches.
(Credit: Sigma)
The APO 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM is for Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, and Sigma SLRs. It's got optical stabilization built in.
(Credit: Sigma)
The APO 50-150mm F2.8 II EX DC HSM is for Pentax and Sony SLRs.
(Credit: Sigma)
The 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM is for Four-Thirds cameras from Olympus, Panasonic, or Leica.
(Credit: Sigma)
Sigma's new 70-200mm f/2.8 lens
(Credit: Sigma)Sigma announced two higher-end telephoto lenses this week for digital SLRs with smaller image sensors.
One has a range of 70mm to 200mm and the other 50mm to 150mm, but both have a large f/2.8 aperture for faster shutter speeds in lower-light conditions and a hypersonic motor for quiet focusing. The lenses are designed for Canon, Nikon, and Sigma SLR cameras.
The two lenses highlight the growing sophistication of technology for digital SLRs with sensors smaller than a frame of 35mm film. Though Canon and now Nikon sell full-frame cameras, the vast majority of models sold use less expensive smaller sensors. Using these new lenses on a full-frame camera will result in dark corners, a phenomenon called vignetting.
Sigma's new 50-150mm f/2.8 lens
(Credit: Sigma)The APO 50-150mm F2.8 II EX DC HSM has four super-low dispersion glass elements, a minimum focusing distance of 100cm, or 39.4 inches, and a weight of 780 grams, or 27.5 oz. According to Sigma's Japanese Web site, the lens has a price of 109,600 yen, or about $1,000, and will be available Dec. 22.
The APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG MACRO HSM has two super-low dispersion elements and three extra-low dispersion elements. Its minimum focusing distance is 100cm, its minimum focusing distance 100cm, or 39.4 inches, and its weight 1370 grams, or 48.3 oz. The Japanese site puts its price at 142,900 yen, or about $1,300, with availability on December 22.
Canon's upcoming 200mm f/2.0 lens
(Credit: Canon)SLR leader Canon announced Monday it's developing two high-end image-stabilized telephoto lenses, the EF 200mm f/2L IS USM and the EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM.
The company is showing prototypes of the lenses at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York, but didn't release any price and availability information. Both are "L"-grade lenses, higher-priced models designed with better optics, weatherproofing and durability.
The 800mm lens surpasses the focal length of Canon's current biggest lens, the EF 600mm F/4 IS USM. It was developed in response to requests by sports and news photographers, Canon said. And though you might covet such a behemoth, think carefully: it's sure to be bigger, heavier and more expensive than the 600mm model, which measures 18 inches long, weighs 11.8 pounds and costs $7,200.
Canon's upcoming 800mm f/5.6 lens
(Credit: Canon)The 200mm model employs a relatively wide f/2.0 aperture, which lets in more light to aid shooting in dimmer conditions such as weddings or indoor sporting events. News of its development could come as good news to fans of Canon's discontinued 200mm f/1.8 lens, which was brighter but lacked image stabilization.
For those of you who want to decode Canon's lens-naming nomenclature, "EF" means the lens will work on full-frame camera bodies such as the EOS 5D or imminent 1Ds Mark III; "USM" means it has an ultrasonic motor for quiet and faster focusing; and "IS" means image stabilization can counteract some camera shake, particularly useful in telephoto lenses.
Olympus announced a $400 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens Tuesday for digital SLR camera owners who like to do more than just squint at distant wildlife.
Olympus' 70-300mm zoom lens will ship in September.
(Credit: Olympus)Because of the properties of the Four Thirds system lens mount and image sensor Olympus helped develop, the lens behaves somewhat like a 140-600mm lens on a traditional film SLR (single-lens reflex) camera. It also means the lens will work on SLRs from Panasonic and Leica, which build Four Thirds cameras.
The Zuiko ED 70-300mm supertelephoto lens, whose aperture ranges from F/4.0 to F/5.6, will be available in September, Olympus said. The company's digital SLR lenses have a built-in processor as well as accompanying firmware that communicates with the camera's processor to help compensate for lens problems such as vignetting, in which the corners of an image are darker than the center, or barrel and pincushion distortion, in which parallel lines bow outward and inward, respectively.
The lens uses three extra-low dispersion glass elements to minimize chromatic aberration problems resulting from different colors traveling through the lens optics on different paths.
Unlike SLR leaders Nikon and Canon, Olympus builds image stabilization technology into its camera bodies as a way to compensate for camera shake. That means it doesn't need to be built into each lens, but Canon and Nikon argue that lens-based image stabilization works better, particularly on telephoto lenses.
Sigma's massive 200-500mm zoom
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET Networks)Squeezing all three into the same lens is tough, but Tokyo-based lens maker Sigma has done just that with a model with a 200-500mm zoom range. It's got a wide aperture, F/2.8, for taking higher-speed shots.
But there's a catch: the lens weighs 40 kilograms, or about 88 pounds.
The company is showing off a prototype here at the Photo Marketing Association trade show.
The mammoth lens, about three feet long, is a prototype but will go on sale, said Yousuke Yamazaki, a mechanical designer for Sigma. The lens has two motors, one for zoom and one for focusing. It also has a digital display that indicates the focal distance setting.
(Credit:
Brando)
As we've noted frequently in the past, ill-advised tampering can make some technological experiments go terribly awry. But sometimes, the need for certain functions supersedes all in the evolution of the handset.
That, at least, is how we view the mobile phone telescope from Brando. In fact, Shiny Shiny (a closet birder--who knew?) even admits to lusting after this gadget "possibly more than I've ever wanted anything in my life." Wow.
With such strong convictions, we find it difficult to fault this latest genetic permutation--even if it does make a perfectly decent phone look like the cellular equivalent of a platypus.
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