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.

This is the first photo of Canon’s upcoming 24-70mm f/2.8L II, the followup to an extremely popular and well-regarded lens. It’ll weigh less than the first version (which is nicknamed “The Brick”) and have a 82mm filter thread (up from 77mm), but — to the dismay of Canonites everywhere — won’t have Image Stabilization. No word on availability, but Canon Rumors thinks it’ll be priced between $1,800 and $1,900 when it hits store shelves.

(via digicame-info via Canon Rumors)

Here’s a first look at two lenses Canon has up its sleeve: the new Canon 24mm f/2.8 IS USM and Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM. It looks like Canon is making an effort to bring image stabilization to cheaper and wider prime lenses. Currently the “widest” Canon prime lens with image stabilization is the Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS USM. These would also be the first non-L series prime lenses to offer IS. Price and release date for both are currently unknown.

(via digicame-info via Canon Rumors)

A funny photography-related remix of a well-known Dueling Analogs comic.

(via Dueling Analogs via Reddit)

17-year-old filmmaking student Sacha Powell shot this powerful slow motion film using a $500 Canon 550D/T2i, 50mm f/1.8, 18-55mm kit lens, and Sigma 70-300mm. On the software side he utilized Premiere Pro CS5, After Effects CS5.5, and Twixtor for faux slow motion. Impressive.

(via Fstoppers)

Canon’s president Tsuneji Uchida announced today that he will be stepping down to pave way for a younger management team as the company fell short of expectations for the second straight year. Canon’s stock price dropped 19% last year while Nikon’s grew 4%. The total number of Canon cameras sold dropped 4% last year, likely a result of both a shift away from consumer cameras and the shortages caused by Japan’s earthquake and Thailand’s flooding. However, DSLR sales are going strong:

Although Canon was affected by supply shortages caused by the quake and flooding, efforts to ramp up production and boost sales in response to robust demand resulted in significant increases in year-on-year sales volumes for such digital cameras as the competitively priced EOS Digital Rebel T3i/T2i/T3, along with the EOS 5D Mark II and the new EOS 60D advanced-amateur models.

Another big story in the camera world this past week was the passing of Sigma founder Michihiro Yamaki, who started the company in 1961 at the age of 27 by developing the first rear lens converter. He went on to lead the company for over 50 years, turning it into the largest third-party lens maker in the world. Yamaki passed away on January 18 at the age of 78 after a battle with liver cancer.

(via Amateur Photographer and PopPhoto)

Image credit: Broken filter! by -AX- … off until may!

Photographer Stephen Oachs over at Aperture Academy caused quite a stir yesterday after sharing some photographs he took of a Japanese photographer he spotted in Kenya. The photographer revealed that he was field testing a new Canon 200-400mm with a built-in teleconverter, but what caught Oachs attention was the camera body the man was using — a Canon DSLR that he didn’t recognize. He writes,

You can see it in the photos I took… I see the “Q” button located by the big wheel on the right, which on the 7D is currently located on the top left. The battery grip seems to have a joystick. I also noticed a “Rate” button…hrm, any ideas?

Is this the new 5D Mark III, or maybe the 7D Mark II? This info I was not able to determine.

Here’s a closer look at the camera:

Now compare it to the existing Canon 5D Mark II:

…and the Canon 7D:

What differences do you notice, and which line do you think this new camera is a part of?

A third possibility is that the camera is a merger of the Canon 5D and 7D lines, similar to what Canon did with the 1Ds and 1D lines in the new 1D X. The new camera looks like it has the same 3:2 aspect ratio LCD screen as the 1D X. The rear configuration looks more like the 7D, but at the same time it looks like a full frame camera, and there isn’t a built-in flash.

You can find the rest of the photographs here.

(via Aperture Academy via Canon Rumors)

As a side note, the photographer told Oachs that he thinks that the new 200-400mm will be available sometime in March or April.

Image credit: Photograph by Stephen Oachs

Canon’s latest compact cameras at CES this year have some fancy new facial recognition features that assist in portrait shots. Up to 12 people can be stored in the camera. Simply snap a photo of your friends face, provide the friend’s name (and birthday if you wish), and the camera will recognize your friend from that point forward. In group shots, the camera will give your friends’ faces preferential treatment, making sure that they’re properly in focus and exposed.

Here’s a quick demo of the feature by Digital Trends:

(via Digital Trends)

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.

If you thought the image quality offered by Canon G cameras was good, get this: the G1X has a 1.5-inch sensor that’s 6 times larger than the one in the G12:

The 14.3 megapixel (CMOS) camera features a 28mm lens (4x optical zoom) that opens up to f/2.8, manual controls, 6fps, ISO 12800, RAW capture, a 3-inch swiveling LCD screen, and 1080p HD video recording. Here’s a quick video intro:

The G1X will hit store shelves in February for $800.

(via Canon)

A Swedish hacker and robotics student named Björn Mabrö is claiming that he has successfully developed a custom firmware for the Canon 5D Mark II that adds Apple’s Siri voice assistant to the DSLR. Mabrö claims that the hack allows the camera to respond to 124 different voice commands that control everything from the shutter to changing values in settings.

So far Siri has only been ported to jailbroken iOS devices, so this is probably some kind of joke or hoax. Voice controls on future cameras would certainly be an interesting development though… “Camera, change my ISO to 1600. Shoot, NOW.”

(via @BjornMabro via Quesabesde via TecnoFotografia)

Update: Apparently today is “día de los Santos Inocentes“, the “Day of the Holy Innocents”, and the equivalent of April Fools Day in many countries.

Update: Yup. It was a joke for día de los Santos Inocentes.

Image credits: Photographs by Björn Mabrö