telephoto

Admit it: Whenever you see someone using their iPad as a camera, you giggle. Maybe even snicker. That two-handed grip and big ol' viewfinder screen, that's just comedy. Especially when something like this happens.

On the other hand, the iPad 3, iPad 4, and iPad Mini all have a respectable 5-megapixel sensor, an IR filter, face detection, and some other solid digital-photography features. All that's missing is a zoom lens. (The iPads do offer digital zoom, of course, but that's to be avoided at all costs. It ruins photos.)

Enter Photojojo, the outfit known for making smartphone … Read more

When photo enthusiasts entering the digital SLR market ask me whether they should go for Canon or Nikon, one of the points I often raise is Canon's appealing choice of high-end but not top-end lenses.

Well, Nikon just undermined that potential selling point. At the Photo Plus Expo show today, it announced its AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR, a telephoto zoom lens that provides a competitive answer to Canon's superb EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM.

Let's be clear here. These are still professional-grade lenses, and they aren't cheap. Canon's costs about $1,… Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- A year and a half ago, Canon announced it was working on a 200-400mm telephoto zoom lens with a built-in 1.4X extender. But since then, there's been nary a peep.

Well, there's a peep now, Canon shooters jealous of Nikon's 200-400mm will be pleased to know.

The plan is to release it this year, said Mike Owen, communications manager for Canon's professional imaging department in Europe. He spoke at a Canon press conference yesterday at the Photokina show here.

But Owen was quick to add a caveat: "We're anticipating that, … Read more

Tamron announced today it's brought vibration compensation to two full-frame lenses, the 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD telephoto and the SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD macro.

Both of the lenses will ship by the end of the year for Canon, Nikon, and Sony cameras, Tamron said just ahead of the Photokina 2012 show, a major camera event held every two years in Germany. The company didn't disclose prices.

Vibration compensation -- known as vibration reduction at Nikon and image stabilization at Canon -- shifts a lens element to counteract camera shake. It can … Read more

Nikon will add an 800mm f5.6 supertelephoto to its product line, closing a competitive gap with its longtime rival Canon.

Nikon didn't announce when the lens will ship or how much it will cost, but you can bet it'll be expensive. Canon's Canon EF 800mm f/5.6 L IS USM costs more than $13,000.

But for some photographers, notably those who shoot wildlife and especially bird images, supertelephoto lenses are worth the price. And now that videographers are buying SLRs, some new purse strings may be loosening.

Nikon plans to show the lens off … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany--Canon, adapting to the high-end video revolution its SLRs are helping to fuel, plans changes to its cameras and lenses to make them friendlier in cinema hands.

The company already announced that two of the company's newest lenses, Canon's updated professional 300mm and 400mm F2.8 models, are equipped with a mechanism to permit smooth, steady, motorized focus changes. And at the Photokina show here, the company said further adaptations are coming. Specifically, the camera maker is working on an ability to set specific focus points the lens can move between.

That sort of feature is suited to the cinematographer crowd. Today, even with the new lenses, they must physically mark two focus points and manually change focus until they reach their desired spot.

However, the feature will require updated camera bodies to work, said Mike Burnhill, a Canon Europe representative here. … Read more

Just after Canon announced second-generation 300mm and 400mm telephoto lenses for its SLRs, the Japanese camera maker also said Friday that it will show prototypes of revamped supertelephoto lenses with 500mm and 600mm focal lengths.

The two prototypes, officially called the EF500mm f/4L IS II USM and EF600mm f/4L IS II USM, are second-generation successors to the current products introduced in July and September 1999, respectively. They'll be on display at the Photokina show in Cologne, Germany, later in September, at which the spotlight shines brightly on high-end gear.

Canon was characteristically reserved about the prototypes, saying release dates and specifications haven't been decided, but the company appears to be applying the similar revisions that it brought to the 300mm and 400mm lenses: better image stabilization, better image quality, and lighter weight.

"The EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM and EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM are being developed as L (Luxury)-series lenses equipped with a high-performance image stabilization system," Canon said. "Employing fluorite and other special optical materials to correct for a variety of aberrations, the lenses aim to realize high-resolution, high-contrast imaging performance in a lighter-weight body design." … Read more

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. … Read more

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. … Read more