After images started leaking last night, Canon today officially announced three new lenses for the EF lineup: the 24-70mm f/2.8L II, 24mm f/2.8 IS, and 28mm f/2.8 IS. Compared to the first version, the new 24-70mm weighs 100 grams less (it’s 850g), costs $1,000 more, still doesn’t offer IS, uses 82mm filters (instead of 77mm), extends at the telephoto end (instead of the wide end like the previous version), features a zoom lock, and connects with the hood at the extension. As we noted yesterday, the 24mm and 28mm are the first non-L series EF prime lenses — and the first wide angle ones — to have image stabilization built in. The IS provides four stops of stabilization.

The 24-70mm will be available starting on April 17th with a price tag of $2,300, while the 24mm and 28mm will be available in June with price tags of $850 and $800, respectively.

The months of rumors and speculation are finally over: Nikon has announced its long-awaited D800 FX-format DSLR. As was revealed back in October 2011, the camera offers a staggering 36.3-megapixels — the world’s highest in a 35mm DSLR. Other specs include an ISO range of 100-6400 (expandable to 25,600), 91k RGB 3D color metering, a speedy 51-point AF system, a 3.2-inch LCD screen, 4fps continuous shooting (5fps for DX shots), 1080/30p HD video recording, and… in-camera two-shot HDR.
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Pentax officially announced its new K-01 mirrorless camera today after leaked photos emerged yesterday. The system features the world’s thinnest interchangeable lens: a 40mm lens that’s just 1cm thick. The body, on the other hand, isn’t exactly the sleekest camera we’ve seen. It’s designed by “acclaimed and influential” designer Marc Newson, who hadn’t designed a camera before this one (he spends much of his time designing airplanes). The camera features a 16.28MP sensor, an ISO range of 100-25600, 1080p video recording at 30/25/24fps, and an aluminum body available in yellow, black, and white. The system starts shipping next month, with the body priced at $750, the lens priced at $250, and the combo priced at $900.
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Pretty much everything we wanted to know about the Fujifilm X-Pro1 was leaked over the weekend, but now the camera finally transitioned from the world of rumors into official reality. Fujifilm unveiled the X-Pro1 at CES today, and confirmed the leaked specs. They also announced plans to release 9 additional lenses within the next three years. Sadly, the usefulness of the official announcement ends there — there was no word on how much things will cost when they become available late February (the price will be announced later this month).

Update: The price of the camera, based on a briefly-online Amazon product listing, is rumored to be $1,700 for the body only.

Unlike Nikon, which jumped headfirst into the interchangeable lens mirrorless game last year, Canon appears to be content with simply upping the sensor size in its existing compact cameras. Today the company announces the G1X, a new camera into the G-series line that offers a sensor large enough to compete with existing mirrorless camera systems.
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After nearly a year of rumors, speculation, and leaks, Nikon has finally announced its new flagship D4 DSLR. The specs were already leaked, but here they are: 16.2MP, ISO that expands to 204,800, 10fps stills (11 if AE and AF locked), 51 AF points, a new full frame sensor, 1080/30p video recording, a 91K pixel meter (up from 1,005 pixels in the D3S), backlit controls, a 3.2-inch LCD with an ambient light sensor, a 0.12s startup time, and dual card slots (CF+XQD). It’ll cost $6,000 when it hits store shelves in late February.
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Hope you guys had a good holiday season. Welcome to 2012! As is our tradition, here’s our annual “state of the blog” post, in which we’ll briefly share on how this blog grew in the past year and where it is now.
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Fujifilm officially unveiled the XS-1 today after details and photos of the camera first appeared last month. Unlike the X100 and X10, the XS-1 isn’t a rangefinger-esque mirrorless camera but is instead a beastly bridge camera. The camera packs the same 12-megapixel 2/3-inch sensor as the X10, and features a 26x zoom lens that’s the 35mm equivalent of a 24-624mm lens. As if that range wasn’t enough, they also decided to include a macro mode that allows the camera to focus from just 1cm away.
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Canon’s historic announcement is here, and as most people predicted, it’s geared towards filmmaking rather than photography. The company just unveiled its new C300 cinema camera in an effort to break into a Hollywood digital filmmaking scene that’s dominated by the Arri Alexa and the RED EPIC. While it’s not particularly powerful in any specific category, the new camera comes in EOS or PL lens mounts, shoots 1080p video with a 4K sensor, has dual CF card slots, and offers high quality footage in a relatively small form factor.
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GoPro has unveiled the HD Hero2, the followup to the highly popular HD Hero from 2009 that has been adopted by daredevils around the world. The new camera is similar in design but offers major upgrades: more angles of view (90°, 127°, and 170°), 11-megapixel still photos (up from 5MP) at 10fps, a helpful LCD display instead of a single character code system, a mini-HDMI port, and a faster sensor that allows for faster frame rates (e.g. 960p at 48fps, up from 30).

The Hero2 is available in three different kits (outdoor, motorsports, and surf) for $300, and the price of the old Hero has been reduced to $200.