Canon News: EOS 7D Mark II

One of the most anticipated new bodies from Canon is finally here - the EOS 7D Mark II.  It promises to be a popular purchase, especially for wildlife and sports photographers who will benefit from the extra reach of a cropped sensor, and a high frame rate.

Canon 7D Mark II

  
The original 7D took Canon's cropped APS-C framed sensor to new limits, and set a new bar for movie recording.  That was back in 2009, so with competition from Nikon and Canon's own fullframe 6D, it was time for the 7D Mark II to fight-back.

Here are the headline specifications:

• Shoot continuous bursts of images at up to 10 frames per second.
• Shoot at high frame rates and enjoy superb colour reproduction, with dual Digic 6 processors
• Focus on subjects wherever they are, with 65 cross-type AF points spread across the frame.

65 cross-type AF points

• Capture movies at up to 1080p resolution and 60fps frame rate. Mic and headphone sockets for full audio control.
• Produce great quality photos that are packed with fine detail, with the 20.2Mp sensor
• Enjoy smooth continuous focusing when shooting movies and photos in Live View mode.
• Integrated GPS means you can Geotag each photo and movie you shoot with your current location – great for travel photographers.
• 150,000-pixel metering sensor, with IR detection

 

Weather sealing of the Canon 7D Mark II

As the lucky owner of a Canon 5D Mark III, this would make a perfect second body.  in particular, if the continuous AF focusing when shooting movies works well, that would be incredibly useful when capturing wildlife footage.

It's currently retailed in the UK for around £1600 (that's overpriced for the early adopters, and should come down relatively quickly).

More information is available here.

Canon News: Firmware 2.0.9 released for 5D MkII

Canon have released a new version of firmware for its popular EOS 5D MkII DSLR, version 2.0.9.  It fixes/improves the following:

1. Improves writing/reading speeds when using UDMA 7-compatible CF cards.
2. Fixes a phenomenon where the IS function will not work when custom function C.Fn III-2 is set to [5: IS start] and the lens attached does not have an AF stop button. This is because custom function C.Fn III-2 allows users to assign IS start to the AF stop button on the lens
3. Corrects misspellings in the menu screens displayed in Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai languages.

Available to download from here.

Canon News: 5D Mk II Firmware released v2.0.7

Canon have released a minor firmware update for the full-frame 5D Mk II.  It fixes the following:

1. Fixes a phenomenon in which the aperture exhibits abnormal movement when shooting movies in manual exposure mode and Aperture Priority AE (Av mode) using some Canon lenses (such as macro lenses).
2. Fixes a phenomenon in which the exposure level shown in the LCD panel differs from what is shown in the viewfinder when shooting still images in manual exposure mode.
3. Fixes a phenomenon in which the Wireless File Transmitter (WFT-E4 or WFT-E4 II) may not automatically power off when used for FTP transfers.

These phenomenon only occur with the Version 2.0.4 and Version 2.0.3 firmware.

The Version 2.0.7 firmware being released this time is for cameras with firmware up to Version 2.0.4. If the camera's firmware is already Version 2.0.7, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

More instructions available here.

Canon News: EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM II announced

After much rumour and anticipation, it's great to see that Canon have launched a new version of their L-series workhorse - the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM II. Although the current version is considered an excellent, versatile lens, Canon have raised the bar further.
The revised features include:

• Faster autofocus algorithm
• Minimum focus distance reduced to 1.2m
  
• Four-stops of IS (image stabilisation)
  
• A flourite element and 5 UD elements to minimise CA
• Added strength (with only a 20g increase in weight)
• A slightly redeisgned bayonet mount for securing the supplied lens hood
• A wider focussing ring

I currently have the lowest-spec version of the 4 L-series 70-200 lenses (the F/4 non IS version), so I'd love to upgrade one day.

Apparently available in the US from April, in the UK, I'd expect it to retail initially at around £1700, but soon setlle around the £1500 mark. ***UPDATE: 5th Jan - Warehouse Express have it as a pre-order for £2799 !!! And so do Park Cameras***

Press release available here.

Canon News: Firmware updates

Hard for me to get too excited about this post as I don't own any of the equipment, but Canon have launched new firmware, helping with compatibility with wireless controllers:

• 1D Mark III Firmware 1.3.0
• 1Ds Mark III Firmware 1.2.0
• 5D Mark II Firmware 1.2.4
• WFT-E2 and WFT E2A Firmware 2.0.0

Canon News: EOS 5D Mark II - new firmware and wireless conntroller

Canon have taken the unusual step of updating its users with news that they're going to be launching an update to the firmware for the 5D Mark II. It will enable the recording of high definition 1080p video at 24 and 25fps, meaning it's no longer been overtaken by the recently announced 7D. It should be released in the first half of 2010.

Alongside the Mark IV announcement and its wireless transmitter, Canon have also announced a new controller for the 5D Mark II - the WFT-E4 II. Info here.