You might have seen the coffee mug that looks like a Canon L Lens, but have you seen this camera lens that looks like a coffee mug?

This strange 150mm coffee cup pinhole lens was created by paradefotos, and actually works (though the photos are pretty blurry).

Unlike the L lens coffee mug, this coffee mug lens isn’t nearly as desirable, and probably won’t become the next “must have” camera item. Funny idea though.

Image credit: Coffee cup pinhole lens by paradefotos and used with permission

Here’s an interesting behind the scenes video that shows the creation of a Canon 500mm f/4.0L IS lens. It’s a neat look at the guts of glass, and an opportunity to see how exactly the various components of a lens are created and put together.

You get to see the entire process, starting with raw materials and ending with the finished, $6,000 lens.

Seeing how fine-tuned many of the steps in the process have to be, it’s no wonder these lenses can end up costing as much as a car.

(via Nerd Vibe)

Sigma announced yesterday that the upcoming 8-16mm f4-5.6 DC HSM, first announced at PMA 2010, will have a retail price of £799.99.

While it’s not an accurate measure of what the lens will cost in the US, at the current exchange rate this is roughly $1,232.

The lens, designed for APS-C (crop) sensors, will be available for Sigma, Nikon, and Canon mounts when the lens is made available at the end of April. It will also be released for Sony and Pentax shortly thereafter.

When used on APS-C sensors, the lens is equivalent to a 12-24mm lens, and is the first zoom lens to offer 8mm without being a fisheye.

The closest to this Nikon and Canon come with their own lenses are the 10–24 mm f/3.5-4.5G and 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, respectively.

In his recent Twitter Q&A session regarding House being filmed with a 5D Mark II, director Greg Yaitanes answered a question about differences of the new setup by saying, “focus was hard with these lenses but more “cine-style” lenses are being made as we speak.” Lo and behold, new cine lenses are being announced!

Carl Zeiss has just announced the first set of prime and zoom lenses designed specifically for HDSLR cameras. The new Compact Prime CP.2 and Lightweight Zoom LWZ.2 lenses have interchangeable mounts and can be used on F (Nikon), EF (Canon), and PL (traditional cine camera) systems.

The primes range in focal length from 18mm to 85mm and can be used on full frame cameras, while the zooms are limited to crop sensor bodies. Here’s an interesting quote from the press release:

The trend of filming in high definition using a digital SLR camera is unstoppable. Moviemaking today is unthinkable without this technique, whether for independent filmmakers, television producers or professional still photographers who wish to expand their services.

Pricing was not unannounced, but the lenses will be available starting June 2010.

According to the Canon Japan website, the company is experiencing a shortage of the EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II USM lens. The company says  demand for the lens, which was announced in January and released recently in the US, was much higher than expected.

The lens is a staple of a pro photographer’s bag, but apparently Canon did not anticipate such a high volume of purchases, especially with its own earlier model, the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM still being sold at most retailers at a competitive price.

But there’s no need to panic; Canon assures that it knows Econ 101 and will be bumping up its production.

(via dpreview)

Looks like the Canon 70-200mm might not be as “collectible” as we all previously thought. Perhaps after seeing how the mugs went viral online, for the next two weeks Canon will be including a collectors mug with any purchase in its Canada eStore over $200 CAD. In the promotion they state that the value of the Canon Lens Collectors Travel Mug is $39.99 CAD. If you’re in Canada and were planning on buying gear anyway, now might be a good time.

Thanks for the tip, jersel!

Update: Justin informs us that you can buy the mug directly for $29.99 CAD from Vistek.

The web has been abuzz the past couple days over the collectible L-lens look-alike coffee mugs Canon was passing out at the Olympics. Everyone is asking whether they’ll be available to the general public.

One of our readers, Chris Wilkinson, has sent in photos of the Canon EF Lens Collector Cup he actually purchased from a local camera store in Canada. He tells us,

I saw the photo via Petapixel’s link to PDNPulse, so I emailed the photo to Carsand Mosher in Truro, Nova Scotia. A store I’ve purchased every piece of photo equipment to date, and they know my obsession with Canon branded promotional items. The subject line was “Just one question” the body was “Can you get this:” and the mug photo in the body of the message.

To my delight, The reply was “Yes…and I thought of you when I saw those this past Monday. We ordered some, and we have a sample here fresh in the box. They will sell for $29.99 (cad). A few minutes later, another reply came in that they have two samples on hand. I bought both. One for use, one that will remain wrapped for my collection. They arrived in the black gift wrap complete with the red ribbon, perhaps cleverly imitating the red ring. These samples may have been special, or maybe even an add-on from my camera shop. Either way, I can’t see the regular stock wrapped in black paper and a ribbon.

According to my sales rep, they are taking pre-orders for the mugs now, many colleagues of mine have placed pre-orders for the regular stock when (if?) it arrives.

Wow. If these things actually go on sale to the general public for $29.99 CAD (currently about $29.13 USD) I’m sure there going to sell like hotcakes. Here’s a video Chris uploaded showing his mug:

Yup. It’s obviously real.

PDN Reporting the Opposite

Don’t get your hope up TOO much though. PDNPulse is reporting that the mugs may not be available anytime soon:

Despite rumors that the mugs would be offered as free swag to those attending the WPPI Convention in Las Vegas next week, a Canon spokesperson tells us they were created by Canon Canada solely as a giveaway to photographers at last month’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

They also received another photograph of the mug from Josh Weisberg of Microsoft:

24-105mm f4L IS Coffee Cup Giveaway?

DSLR News Shooter is doing a giveaway for a… 24-105 coffee cup? We’re not sure how real this is, but the photographs they have in the post sure look real:

They’re asking that you register on their site with your name and email, and then leave a comment on the post for a chance to win the mug.

How much do you want one of these things? If one of them was being auctioned on eBay, how much would you bid?

If you are upgrading your camera gear, horray for you! That also means you’re probably planning to convert your old camera to cash for new gear or at least to free up room in your camera bag.

Camera bodies are probably the most difficult piece of photo equipment to sell, since new bodies and technology are released very frequently. They lack the longevity of lenses and depreciate over time.

We’ve posted a few previous tips about buying used DSLR gear and buying pro camera gear on a student budget, but now we’ll shift gears to the seller’s standpoint.

1. Think local — really local.

Selling your own camera gear can feel a little like selling an old project car.  It’s easy to become sentimentally attached, and you want to make sure it goes into good hands.

Before posting your gear advertisements anywhere, see if anyone in your immediate social circle is interested in buying. Co-workers or fellow students tend to be a good bet.  When I was working at my college paper, a lot of photo department staff would sell gear to each other, with the comforting reassurance that their equipment would be put to good use. There is also an added level of trust within colleagues, since they already know you and you’ll spend less time having to convince them that what you’re selling is in good condition.

Craigslist, when used with caution, is also a good way to find local buyers. Be wary of scams, though — a lot of falsely interested “buyers” might email you with a strange proposal. I’ve gotten a few generic emails from people interested in “the item,” offer a higher payment via PayPal, and then ask you to ship it to some remote relative in Africa. Yeah, right.

If you do find a real, local buyer on craigslist, do be careful. Propose to meet in a safe, public place during the day, and bring a friend or two along for added security. Cash is always most reliable, as well. It might be a good idea to meet near your bank, so you can safely stow your cash after you’ve made a sale.

2. Advertise the basics.

You don’t need to go into detail about small wear and tear that you notice, or anything beyond the camera’s model and maybe highlight some important technical specifications like megapixels and frames per second.

It is helpful to post a link with more detailed camera specs, either from the manufacturer’s site or dpreview.com, for the buyer’s convenience.

But the bottom line is to cut to the chase and don’t let your advert be hunkered down by unnecessary details.

Just tell them, it’s a Nikon D200. 10 megapixels. 5 fps. Excellent condition. Body specs here.

The less you tell prospective, but serious buyers, the more they might want to respond to your ad with questions. Once you begin a discussion with them, that’s your chance to answer more detailed questions they might have.

3. Don’t include more than you have to in the box.

Naturally, you’ll need to include a battery, charger, and other accessories that came with the camera body, but avoid including interchangeable accessories that you might use in the future.

Michael mentioned in his gear on a student budget post that he made the mistake of including a high-end B&W filter with a lens he sold, but later realized he still needed it.

Hang on to those memory cards and filters.

4. On the other hand, you’ll have a better chance of selling it if you bundle it with a lens.

Though this is a bit of a contradiction to the previous tip, but buyers will be much more interested in purchasing a used body if it comes with a lens.

You probably will not make as much back on the resell, but if the market is dry and people just aren’t interested, a lens can add a great deal of buyer incentive.

However, whether you need to include a lens or not really depends on what kind of camera body you are selling.

If you are selling a professional body, chances are, your buyers will be pros as well, and are likely to have their own lenses. In this case, there’s no need to include a lens.

If you are selling a lower-end DSLR, like a Nikon D40 or a Canon Rebel, prospective buyers are probably newer to photography, and will likely be looking for a bundle kit.

There’s really no need to K.I.T. with your kit lens, especially if you’re selling the body it came with. Ask yourself: are you really likely to attach that plastic 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 on your brand new D3x? Probably not.

Selling kit lenses alone is pretty pointless as well; brand new, they’re worth less than $150.

Instead, include it with the body you’ve got up for sale, and readjust your price. Be sure to check the street value of your bundle on eBay and craigslist.

5. Include your own photos of your gear on your advertisement.

If you provide photos with your advertisement, people are more likely to click on your posting. Additionally, if those photos are noticeably different from the standard manufacturer’s product shots, they can add to a feeling of authenticity and openness on the seller’s side. Also, when you post attractive product photos, the photos can imply your own skill as a photographer, and can give you more clout as a camera seller.

Conclusion

Understand the buyer’s standpoint when selling. Check out Michael’s posts on buying used DSLR gear and buying pro camera gear on a student budget.  Don’t sell yourself short, but be aware that you may need to make some concessions in order to make your gear marketable.

Finally, if you’ve got any additional tips on selling gear, feel free to share it with us!

Some years ago Canon offered a f/1.0 version of its 50mm L lens. They’ve since stopped manufacturing lenses faster than f/1.2, and US-based company Noktor thinks there’s an opportunity for relatively affordable “hyperprime” lenses.

Today, it announced the Noktor HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95, a manual focus lens designed for Micro Four Thirds cameras. The $750 lens will begin shipping on April 15th, but the company is accepting preorders on their website. In addition to Micro Four Thirds, the company has a poll asking which mount it should design lenses for next.

Here’s a photograph shot with the lens showing its low light performance:

One of the problems with having such a large aperture is that the resulting depth-of-field is so shallow. The lens, being more than a stop faster than an f/1.4 lens, could be very difficult to focus correctly for shots were precision is needed. It was one of the complaints people had against the Canon 50mm f/1.0, though that lens was autofocus.

It’s interesting to see another lens company pop up for a specific type of lens, just like Lensbaby and its creative focus lenses.

P.S.: Various sources are saying the lens is almost identical to the Senko 50mm f/0.95 C-mount CCTV lens.

Nikonians rejoice! Nikon has just announced two new lenses: the AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED and the AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR.

The new 16-35mm is huge news for full frame Nikon users, as it is the widest FX-format focal range with VR at 16mm. 16mm without a crop factor is pretty darn wide — that’s a wide angle view of 107°!

Nikon’s 24mm is also nothing to overlook for FX and DX users. It joins Nikons array of prime lenses, but boasts the widest aperture in a wide angle lens.

Photographer Bob Krist had one of the first hands-on shooting with both lenses, and he’s got some photos with the 24mm f/1.4G ED on his site.

Both of the new lenses utilize Nikon’s Silent Wave Motor (so none of that angry-robot whirring like the f/1.8 nifty 50), a Nano Crystal Coat to reduce internal “ghosting” and flaring, and ED glass. (Confused by all the numbers and letters? Here’s a helpful article: Lens names explained.)

But of course, all this fantastic gear comes at a pretty price. Nikon will release the 16-35mm f/4 later this month, with an estimated price of $1259.95. The 24mm f/1.4 will be available late March 2010 for around $2199.95.

Even if you’re not planning on dropping bills on the new lenses, keep an eye out for quality lens resells. The 24mm f/1.4 will likely effectively replace the comparatively cheap but trusty Nikon 24mm f/2.8, and it’s likely that there will be more DX lenses available on the resell market.