Canon Press Release

TOKYO, January 19, 2006 — Canon Inc. today announced the achievement of a new lens-production milestone as production of the company’s EF lenses passed the 30-million mark.

Production of interchangeable EF lenses for Canon EOS-series AF (autofocus) SLR cameras began in 1987 at the company’s Utsunomiya Plant. Canon produced its 10-millionth EF lens in August 1995, its 20-millionth in February 2001 and, a mere five years later, has now reached the 30-million plateau. This achievement reflects users’ high level of satisfaction with the performance and quality realized by EF lenses, as well as the service offered through Canon’s marketing operations.

Carl Zeiss have announced a new range of lenses for the Nikon F mount, after weeks of teaser campaigns on their website, and numerous leaks elsewhere on the web. First up is the Planar T* 1,4/50 ZF lens, followed by the Planar T* 1,4/85 ZF, both to be released in “Spring 2006”. The Planar T* 1.4/50 ZF will cost 499.00 EUR and the Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF 999.00 EUR (excluding VAT). Several more Zeiss ZF lenses will be introduced during 2006.

Carl Zeiss AG Press Release

Carl Zeiss AG of Oberkochen, Germany is about to introduce ZF, a new range of interchangeable lenses for Nikon SLR cameras, both analog and digital. ZF lenses bring the highly acclaimed Carl Zeiss image quality to the Nikon SLR camera system, which has been the preferred equipment of millions of professional and ambitious amateur photographers for decades. ZF lenses can also be used on the Sinar m professional digital camera and a multitude of industrial video cameras.

ZF lenses provide Nikon F-mount cameras with the creative potential and phototechnical performance available so far only in the Contax system. In addition, ZF lenses incorporate new technical advances from the ZEISS Ultra Prime®, Master Prime® and DigiPrime® lenses for motion picture cameras. Results have been seen in feature films like “Lord of the Rings”, “Alexander”, “King Arthur”, “Air Force One”, “Collateral”, “King Kong” and many commercials and music clips.

Sigma UK Press Release

The Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of the new 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO lens.

The lens is ideally suited for a wide variety of subjects and is designed specifically for digital SLR cameras featuring APS-C size image sensor.

The new Sigma 17-70mm is a large aperture standard zoom lens designed specially for digital SLR cameras.

- Minimum focusing distance of 20cm,with an impressive maximum magnification of 1:2.3. at all focal lengths.
- New design and multi layer lens coating reduce flare and ghosting.
- Aspherical and SLD lenses offer excellent correction for various aberrations.
- Large aperture of F2.8 at the wide angle setting.

Photo.net have reviewed the Tamron AF55-200mm F/4-5.6 Di II MACRO LD lens. The Tamron 55-200mm lens is designed for digital SLR cameras with APS sized (24mm x 16mm) sensors.

“The Tamron AF 55-200mm Di II LD Macro is clearly aimed at a narrow - but significant - market segment. That’s the people who have bought a DSLR with an included 18-55mm “kit lens” and now find that they’d like something longer than 55mm. Now some people won’t blink at paying hundreds of dollars (if not thousands…) for fast, “L” series glass, and some won’t mind carrying lenses which are significantly larger and heavier than the Tamron AF 55-200mm Di II LD Macro. However there’s certainly a good number of new DSLR owners who will be looking for something small, light and fairly inexpensive, and the Tamron AF 55-200mm Di II LD Macro fits that bill.”

Website: Photo.net - Tamron 55-200mm Lens Review

Sigma have issued a service notice about an exposure problem which arises when using some of their lenses with the new Nikon D200 digital SLR camera.

Sigma Notice

Notice to end-users using Sigma’s Nikon fitting lenses with D200 camera

To our valued customers,

Combination of new Nikon 200 digital SLR camera with our following products can cause improper exposure. To overcome this we will be supplying a free upgrade to our customers. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused to our customers.

Sigma have announced an auto-focus problem when their HSM equipped lenses are used with the new Nikon D200.

Sigma Service Notice

Notice to end-users using Sigma’s HSM equipped lens with Nikon D200 camera

To our valued customers,

AF function of our HSM equipped lenses do not operate when “AF operation button” on the back of the body of Nikon “D200” digital SLR camera (recently introduced to the market by Nikon) is used. This problem is caused due to a firmware “bug” of our HSM equipped lenses.

We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause our customers who own D200 camera and we are committed to making this situation right. In this respect, we will start updating firmware of these lenses free of charge today.

Sigma Press Release

28-300mm F3.5-6.3 DG MACRO for Pentax mount is available

This digitally optimized lens covers all the focal lengths from 28mm wide angle to 300mm telephoto with 10.7:1 high zoom ratio as well as macro capability.

The new multi layer lens coating and lens design reduce flare and ghost, which is a common problem with digital cameras and also creates an optimum color balance through the entire zoom range. This lens features two Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass elements and four aspherical lenses for excellent correction of all types of aberration and displays a high level of optical ability. The use of aspherical lenses in the construction of this lens not only corrects aberrations but also produces a very compact and lightweight lens design. The 28-300mm F3.5-6.3 DG MACRO lens has a minimum focusing distance of 50cm at all focal lengths and is equipped with a macro mechanism for close-up photography at 300mm telephoto, allowing a reproduction ratio of 1:3. This design allows for stability and compactness in design as changes in focus are made in an internal lens grouping. This also gives the advantage of a non-rotating front lens assembly, which is of great benefit when using polarizing filter and Petal-type hood. Petal-type hood (LH680-01) is included as a standard accessory.

ePhotoZine have reviewed the new Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens, which is equivalent in focal length to the popular EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM when used on the EOS 20D, EOS 300D and the new EOS 350D digtal SLR cameras.

“One of the problems emerging with Canon’s EF-S series of lenses is that you don’t really know what you are getting in performance terms apart from going by the price differences. They all have the same nomenclature so the EF-S 18-55mm ‘kit’ lens is grouped with the excellent EF-S 10-22mm and no one will argue that that they are not worlds apart. This offering of the EF-S 60mm Macro, like it’s price, falls somewhere in between the two. Distortion has been well handled with a figure of –0.237% indicating a very slight pincushion that is almost undetectable with the Mk 1 eyeball.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens Review

ePhotoZine have reviewed the new Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens, which is equivalent in focal length to the popular EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM when used on the EOS 20D, EOS 300D and the new EOS 350D digtal SLR cameras.

“One of the problems emerging with Canon’s EF-S series of lenses is that you don’t really know what you are getting in performance terms apart from going by the price differences. They all have the same nomenclature so the EF-S 18-55mm ‘kit’ lens is grouped with the excellent EF-S 10-22mm and no one will argue that that they are not worlds apart. This offering of the EF-S 60mm Macro, like it’s price, falls somewhere in between the two. Distortion has been well handled with a figure of –0.237% indicating a very slight pincushion that is almost undetectable with the Mk 1 eyeball.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens Review

Sigma Press Release

10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC for Konica Minolta and Pentax digital SLR cameras.

Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of the new 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC lens for Konica Minolta and Pentax digital SLR cameras. This exclusively designed zoom lens allows enjoyment of super wide-angle photography and it is a very powerful tool for indoor shooting and landscape photography with APS-C size image sensors of digital SLR cameras. It covers a super wide angle of view 109.4 degree to 70.5 degree and has a wide-angle perspective throughout the zoom range. The new multi layer lens coating and lens design reduce flare and ghost, which is a common problem with digital cameras and also creates an optimum color balance through the entire zoom range.

Pentax USA Press Release

Golden, CO. (November 30, 2005)…PENTAX Imaging Company has announced the smc PENTAX DA FISH-EYE 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 ED [IF] lens. Designed exclusively for use with the PENTAX line of digital SLRs, this interchangeable lens offers fish-eye (180° diagonal angle of view at a focal length of 10mm) to super wide-angle performance in a single unit.

Mounted on the PENTAX *ist D series of digital SLRs, the new PENTAX lens will capture fish-eye imagery with a 180 degree angle of view and a focal length of 10mm as well as super wide-angle performance that allows photographer to make use of dramatic angles-of-view resulting from slight changes in focal length.  This super wide-angle capability also will capture images with an expanded perspective including creative deformation of subjects and sharp pan focus that extends throughout the entire frame.

Bob Atkins has reviewed the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens, suitable for the Canon EOS 300D and 20D cameras.

“The Canon EF-S 10-22/3.5-4.5 USM is Canon’s widest lens for Digital SLRs. It has the same field of view on a DSLR with a 1.6x sensor as a 16-35 zoom has on a full frame 35mm camera. The construction of this lens is excellent with no “plastic” feel to it. Focus is very fast using Canon’s ring-type USM motor, which also allows full time manual focusing without having to switch from “autofocus” to “manual” mode. The lens does not change length when zoomed and the filter mount does not rotate, facilitating the use of a polarizer.”

Website: Bob Atkins - Canon EF-S 10-22mm Lens Review

The-Digital-Picture have published a review of the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di AF lens.

” The most notable feature of this lens is the impressive center sharpness it delivers. With good center sharpness at f/2.8, very good center sharpness at f/3.2 and excellent center sharpness at f/4, the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di Lens is weakest in the center at 75mm where it needs an extra stop to be at its best. I make the center designation clear as corner sharpness is a completely different story. The Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di Lens is soft in the corners and my copy is dreadfully soft in the upper left portion of the frame. Corner sharpness improves as the lens is stopped down and zoomed out (toward 75mm). But, some corner softness is still present at 75mm and f/8. Fortunately, users of 1.5x/1.6x FOVCF digital SLR camera bodies will avoid most of this pain. “

Website: The-Digital-Picture - Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di AF Lens Review

ePhotoZine have just published a review of the Tamron SP AF200-500MM F/5-6.3 Di LD (IF) Lens.

“We found this lens light and compact enough to carry around in a standard camera bag, so for a focal length of 500mm, this has to be an advantage, making it available when needed but not necessary to have a separate carrying bag. The optical performance was up to most uses except perhaps top end wildlife or fast action sports. A handy addition to your kit with a usable focal range.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Tamron 200-500mm Lens Review

Sigma Press Release

Compact ultra-telephoto zoom lens, optimized for digital SLR cameras.

2005.11.14 - Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of the new APO 135-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG lens. This compact ultra-telephoto zoom lens is optimized for digital SLR cameras. The new multi layer lens coating and lens design reduce flare and ghost, and also creates an optimum color balance and better picture quality through the entire zoom range. This lens uses one aspherical lens and three SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glasses for excellent correction of various chromatic aberrations. It provides excellent image quality for digital and film SLR cameras. Rear focus system ensures high performance stability and ease of use. Since the front of the lens does not rotate during focusing, a circular polarizing filter can be easily attached and use. A removable tripod collar is included as a standard component.

Sigma Press Release

A new zoom lens for the “KONICA MINOLTA” Digital SLR Camera System.

2005.11.14 - Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of the new 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC for KONICA MINOLTA mount. This high zoom ratio lens is exclusively designed for digital SLR cameras and capable of covering a wide range of focal lengths from wide-angle to telephoto. Two Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass elements and two hybrid aspherical lenses offer the utmost correction for all types of aberrations, and enables this extended range super zoom lens to be housed in a compact and lightweight construction of 70mm (2.8in) diameter, and 77.6mm (3.1in) in length, and weighing just 390g/13.8oz. The new lens coating reduces flare and ghost, which is a common problem of digital cameras and also creates an optimum color balance. This lens has a minimum focusing distance of 45cm (17.7in) at all focal lengths and has maximum magnification of 1:4.4.

The Sigma 170-500mm F5-6.3 APO DG lens is introduced. The Sigma 170-500mm lens features a new multi-layer lens coating and lens design to reduce flare and ghosting. will cost £629.99 and be available in Sigma AF, Canon AF, Nikon AF, Pentax AF and Konica Minolta AF fittings.

Sigma UK Press Release

An ultra-telephoto zoom up to 500mm producing high performance with digital or film SLR cameras.

- The new multi-layer lens coating and lens design reduces flare and ghosting.
- Aspherical lenses and SLD glass provide correction for all types of aberration throughout the entire zoom range.
- Rear focus system ensures fast auto focus.

The Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of the new 170-500mm F5-6.3 DG lens. This compact ultra telephoto zoom lens covers a useful range up to 500mm.

The-Digital-Picture have reviewed the new Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens, which features Canon’s latest 3-stop Image Stabilisation system and replaces the existing EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens.

“Slow focusing was one of the downfalls of the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS USM Lens. Canon states that autofocus has been improved in the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens. But, Ring USM (Ultrasonic Motor) is not part of the package. Improvements in the CPU and AF routines help in the focus performance increase according to Canon. Accuracy is often more important than speed. Good thing as actual performance of the Micro USM shows accuracy to be very good but speed is just OK - not as good as I had hoped. AF motor noise is not bad.”

Website: The-Digital-Picture - Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens Review

The AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens is announced today. The Nikon 18-200mm lens offers a 18-200mm focal range (11.1x zoom) which is equivalent to a 27-300 mm lens in 35mm format. Available at the end of December 2005, the Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens will cost £549.99 / €821.

Nikon UK Press Release

New DX Zoom-Nikkor lens from Nikon features enhanced Vibration Reduction system

Nikon UK is pleased to announce the versatile AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED.

Compact, lightweight and packed with an array of advanced features, the AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor lens offers 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED focal range length and 11.1x zoom coupled with Nikon ED glass, Silent Wave Motor and enhanced Vibration Reduction (VR II).

The VR II feature enables significantly sharper handheld images at slower shutter speeds and in a wider range of lighting conditions than previous models. Equipped with the new lens, users can take pictures at shutter speeds up to four times slower than is possible with a non-VR lens.

The Tamron AF55-200mm F/4-5.6 Di II MACRO LD lens is introduced today. The Tamron 55-200mm lens is designed for digital SLR cameras with APS sized (24mm x 16mm) sensors. Price and availability to be announced.

Tamron USA Press Release

TAMRON INTRODUCES AF55-200MM F/4-5.6 DI II LD MACRO

A Telephoto Zoom Designed for Exclusive Use with Digital SLR Cameras - Available at an Affordable Price

September 20, 2005, Commack, New York—Tamron announced the winter delivery of the AF55-200mm F/4-5.6 Di II MACRO LD (Model A15), a new tele-zoom designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras with smaller-size image sensors* that will be available at an affordable price.

*Di (Digitally integrated)-II lenses are designed for exclusive use on digital cameras with smaller-size imagers. This lens is not designed for use with 35mm film cameras or digital SLR cameras with image sensors larger than 24mm x 16mm.