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Press Release:

October 19, Saitama, Japan - Tamron Co., Ltd., announced that the SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II VC LD Aspherical [IF] (Model B005), a fast standard zoom lens featuring Tamron’s proprietary tri-axial Vibration Compensation (VC) mechanism and a fast maximum aperture of F/2.8, has won the Visual Grand Prix 2010 Digital Camera Grand Prix Gold Award. Also, the Tamron SP AF60mm F/2 Di II LD [IF] Macro 1:1 (Model G005), a life-size macro lens realizing a fast maximum aperture of F/2, has won the Visual Grand Prix 2010 Digital Camera Grand Prix Silver Award.

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Press Release:

OBERKOCHEN/Germany, 28.09.2009.
Dusk is falling in Manhattan, and a swarm of commuters on their way home is hurriedly crossing the street toward Grand Central Station. Behind them, the skyscrapers reflect the golden light of the setting sun. To capture this unique atmosphere, photographers need a fast wide-angle lens.

Carl Zeiss is proud to present the Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE, an ultra-wide-angle lens with EF bayonet designed specifically for such tricky shooting moments. It fits all analogue and digital EOS camera models. It is ideal for archi- tectural and landscape photography. Following the recent release of the Distagon T* 3,5/18 ZE, the new Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE is now the second Carl Zeiss wide-angle lens with EF bayonet on the market.

Photographers taking wide-angle shots often encounter image errors at the transition between bright and dark light as a result of lenses breaking the various wavelengths differently. The Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE’s ability to flawlessly correct color errors prevents color fringing and unwanted lack of focus that can result from chromatic aberrations. Thanks to these capabilities, the Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE is ideal for contrast-rich scenes and intense lighting angles. The lens’s floating elements design also guarantees high imaging performance, from close-ups to infinity. Thanks to the Carl Zeiss T* anti-reflex coating and meticulously-crafted lenses, the Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE is not affected by reflections or stray light. Capturing scenes with tough lighting conditions, such as the summer dusk in downtown Manhattan, works every time—even with wide aperture settings.

The Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE will be available in autumn this year for a suggested retail price of EUR 1.549 (including German VAT of 19%).

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Press Release:

The Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the new 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG OS. This telephoto zoom lens incorporates Sigma’s original OS (Optical Stabilizer) function and is housed in a compact construction. The OS function offers the use of shutter speeds approximately 4 stops slower than would otherwise be possible. It makes telephoto shooting easy for many types of photography such as sport and nature. For Sony and Pentax mount, the built-in OS function of this lens can be used even if the camera body is equipped with an anti-shake function. As compensation for camera shake is visible in the view finder, the photographer can easily check for accurate focus and ensure there is no subject movement. The SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass element provides excellent correction for all type of aberrations. The Super Multi-Layer Coating reduces flare and ghosting and provides high contrast images throughout the focal range. The lens has an overall length of 126.5mm (5.0”), maximum diameter of 76.5mm (3.0”) and weight of just 610g. Its compact construction makes it convenient for travel and hand held telephoto photography. This lens’ rounded 9 blade diaphragm creates an attractive blur to the out of focus areas of the photograph. This lens has a minimum focusing distance of 150cm (59.1”) throughout the entire zoom range and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:3.9, making it ideal for close-up photography.

Press Release:

Panasonic also unveiled a new macro lens of world renowned Leica name LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45 mm / F2.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. (35 mm camera equivalent: 90 mm) for another member of the LUMIX G Micro System.
Awaited long from enthusiastic photographers worldwide, the new LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45 mm / F2.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. boasts a superb image quality with minimum distortion, chromatic aberrations as well as ghosts and flares that passes a stringent Leica standard to go beyond their expectations.
The new lens system uses both an aspherical lens and an ED lens in its fourteen lenses in ten groups to realize outstanding compactness, taking advantage of the Micro Four Thirds standard to achieve dramatic downsizing while minimizing distortion and chromatic aberration. Panasonic’s Mega O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) suppresses the blurring that is commonly caused by hand-shake, making it easy to shoot clear shots for sharply focused macro shot or in dimly lit places without using a tripod.
It incorporates inner focus system of three groups of floating structure, which enables excellent resolution and contrast without changing its overall length from full life-size magnification to infinity. The inclusion of stepping motor makes the focusing action smooth and silent for use in both photo and movie recording. The closest focusing distance can be instantly changed to 15 cm or 50 cm (0.5 ft to 1.64 ft) with the switch on the lens barrel according to the shooting opportunity. The LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45 mm / F2.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. lens also excels in portraits, middle-range snapshot, or landscapes in addition to the original full life-size macro shots.
When mounted on the LUMIX G Micro System Camera, the new lens allows use of the advanced contrast AF system, which includes a Face Recognition function, for more convenient, more enjoyable shooting. Seven blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings. The new LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45 mm / F2.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. lens also features a highly reliable metal mount, and uses multi-coated lens elements that minimize ghosts and flare to further enhance its optical performance.

Specifications

Press Release:

A Compact and Lightweight Pancake with Outstanding Brightness

Panasonic unveiled a new pancake interchangeable lens called the LUMIX G 20 mm / F1.7 ASPH. (35 mm camera equivalent: 40 mm) as a new member of the LUMIX G Micro System. The new LUMIX G 20 mm / F1.7 ASPH. features a dramatic compactness and light weight despite its F1.7 brightness allowing a beautiful soft focus for photos to be even more impressive.

Comprising of seven lenses in five groups, the new lens system uses two aspherical lenses most effectively to minimize both distortion and chromatic aberrations, achieving super high resolution corner to corner. The versatile 20 mm of focal distance (Equivalent to 40 mm on a 35 mm film camera) is suitable for wide variety of occasions from daily snapshots including sceneries like sunsets and dimly lit indoor shots to the deliberately creative shots taking advantage of its beautiful soft focus. When mounted on the LUMIX G Micro System Cameras, the LUMIX G 20 mm / F1.7 ASPH. allows use of the advanced contrast AF system, which includes a Face Recognition function, for more convenient, more enjoyable shooting.
Seven blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings. The new LUMIX G 20 mm / F1.7 ASPH. lens also features a highly reliable metal mount, and uses multi-coated lens elements that minimize ghosts and flare to further enhance its optical performance.

Specifications

Press Release:

Groundbreaking high-speed, high-definition f/2.8 standard zoom features Tamron’s Vibration Compensation (VC) image stabilization mechanism

September 1, 2009, Saitama, Japan— Tamron Co., Ltd. announced the release of the SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II (*1) VC LD Aspherical [IF] (Model B005NII), a high speed f/2.8 wide-to-moderate-telephoto zoom lens designed exclusively for Nikon-mount digital SLR cameras with smaller sensors. Featuring Tamron’s proprietary tri-axial Vibration Compensation (VC) mechanism that minimizes the effects of handheld camera shake, the lens will be available starting on September 17, 2009 in Japan. Tamron plans to introduce the lens in a Canon mount version shortly after the new Nikon mount version with built-in motor hits the market.

The new SP 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II VC covers the very popular 17-50mm focal length range (equivalent to 26-78mm in the full-frame 35mm format making it extremely versatile. Its wide aperture and outstanding performance provide practical advantages in low-light shooting and aesthetic image control, thereby enriching the user’s range of creative expression. The new lens delivers impressive sharpness and striking contrast over its entire focal-length and aperture range, and at its maximum aperture of f/2.8 it produces beautiful images enhanced by shallow depth of-field, and smooth, natural transitions in out-of-focus areas of the image (i.e. excellent bokeh.) The new lens is equipped with Tamron’s proprietary Vibration Compensation (VC) image stabilization mechanism, which controls the effects of camera shake in three planes. VC provides more opportunities for sharp hand-held photography at the slow shutter speeds needed when shooting in low-light conditions (e.g. night or indoor scenes) dramatically enhancing the user’s level of photographic freedom.

Press Release:

Introducing the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, and EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lenses

Lake Success, N.Y., September 1, 2009 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, continues its advancement of EOS lens technology with the introduction of three new EF and EF-S lenses – EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM and the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, lenses. The new EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens is the world’s first camera lens featuring Canon’s new Hybrid Image Stabilization (Hybrid IS) technology*, compensating for both angle camera shake and shift camera shake, up to four shutter speed steps. The EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens is compatible with all EOS cameras, while the EF-S 15-85mm and EF-S 18-135mm zoom lenses are designed specifically for Canon digital cameras that are compatible with EF-S lenses.

EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens

The EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens could very well be the essential multipurpose lens for every camera bag due to its ability to capture sharp close-up images of small objects as well as beautiful portrait-length telephoto shots. The incorporation of Canon’s new Hybrid IS in this L-series macro lens allows it to compensate more effectively for camera shake during close-up shooting and marks a significant improvement for professionals and advanced amateurs utilizing macro photography for portrait, nature or wedding shoots.
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Press Release:

AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Fast Telephoto Zoom Lens Utilizing Nano Crystal Coat

TOKYO — Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the upcoming release of the new fast telephoto zoom lens AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II for use with digital- and film-SLR cameras. A number of unique Nikon technologies have been adopted for this lens, including the use of seven ED glass elements, Nano Crystal Coat, a vibration reduction (VR II) system that provides camera shake compensation equivalent to increases in shutter speed by four steps, and a Silent Wave Motor (SWM).
This fast telephoto zoom lens provides the excellent performance and superior image quality demanded by professional and advanced amateur photographers.
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Press Release:

Mr. Morio Ono, of Tamron Co., Ltd., announced that the company will launch a life-size macro lens for APS-C size format SP AF60mm F/2 Di II LD [IF] MACRO 1:1 (Model G005NII) for Nikon (with Built-In AF Motor).

Date of Launch (in Japan): July 30, 2009   (more…)

Press Release:

We are pleased to announce the newest addition to Lensbaby’s product family, the MUSE PL. Filmmakers are now able to take advantage of the same Lensbaby Optic Swap System that has been available to SLR users since September of 2008. We asked some of our favorite photographers and videographers to create short Lensbaby Muse motion pictures. Corky Miller, Lisa Smith and Mike Kobal rose to the challenge with cool, quirky, movies that propel Lensbabyography to a new level.

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