Nikon Germany Announces Drastic Price Increase

digitalkamera.de has a news entry stating that Nikon Germany will apply a scary price increase of up to 30% on lenses, flashes and other accessories, blaming Japan Yen exchange rates against US Dollar and Euro currencies.

Here is the Google-translated version of the original German article here.

The Nikon GmbH, Dusseldorf, has its trading partners in Germany today informed that they are "due to the serious exchange rate changes (which are probably those of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar or Euro) their dealer purchase from 1 Februar 2009. For about 465 Nikon products from the assortment of lenses, flashes and accessories also increased so that the manufacturers suggested retail price of between 2 and drastic 30 percent. On average, the EIA price increases 14 percent. Excluded from the price increase is (initially) cameras and camera kits. (Jan-Gert Hagemeyer)

Olympus E-30 Review at photographyblog

The Olympus E-30 is the new mid-range model in Olympus's E-System DSLR line-up, slotting seamlessly into the gap between the cheaper, entry-level E-520 and the more expensive, professional E-3. The E-30 borrows quite a lot of features from its big brother, including the fast 11-point auto-focus system, shutter speeds of up to 1/8000th second, 1/250th sec maximum flash sync speed, 5fps continuous shooting, built-in image stabiliser which stabilises all lenses, Live View on a multi-angle LCD screen and the Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction system. Key differences include more megapixels (12.3 versus the E3's 10), a smaller and lighter body, slightly larger 2.7 inch LCD screen, smaller viewfinder, addition of Face Detection, and no dust- or weather-sealing on the camera body. The E-30 also has a number of interesting "creative" features up its sleeve, including a range of Art Filter effects which are applied as you take a photo, a Multiple Exposure mode for combining images into one, nine separate aspect ratios, and an integrated pitch and roll Level Gauge which helps to ensure that both your horizons and verticals should always be straight. Olympus have taken a long time to join the mid-range market, but is it a case of too little, too late? Priced at $1300 / £850 body only, can the Olympus E-30 compete with the likes of the Canon EOS 50D, Nikon D90 and Sony A700, and is it a viable alternative to Olympus' own E-3?

Read the full review here.

Sigma UK to Increases Prices February 1st

Sigma UK Press Release:

Sigma increase prices due to the exchange rate.

It’s a very long time since prices in the photo/imaging market increased. Cameras and lenses fell in price until they offered incredibly good value for money. In times of recession it seems counter-intuitive for prices to rise but that’s exactly what is about to happen, mainly due to the currency fluctuations.

In December 2007, the exchange rate between the UK Pound and Japanese Yen was 235. The very weak pound and unusually strong Yen now means that the exchange rate has fallen to below 130 Yen, a devaluation of approximately 40%. Anybody who has recently been on holiday abroad will have noticed that the pound is very weak against the Euro, Dollar and Yen.

Our parent company, the Sigma Corporation, purchases raw materials in Yen and their overheads are therefore inextricably linked to the Yen and so they have been forced, in line with our competitors, to increase our supply price to reflect the exchange rate between the UK pound and the Japanese Yen. Our prices are therefore set to increase on 1st February 2009. Whilst our price increases reflect the international exchange rate movements we have made every effort, wherever possible, to absorb the price rises and minimise extra expense to the customer. Sigma, in line with our competitors, are constantly monitoring the currency market and our prices are directly influenced by exchange rates. We hope that the UK pound makes a recovery against foreign currencies however it is not altogether impossible that further price increases may be forced upon us all.

As retailers strive to beat the price increase deadline, we have seen tremendous growth in sales in January and as a result our warehouse is very low on stock. Whilst the prices of Sigma products will increase on 1st February, it may be possible for customers to purchase from their local retailers at the original prices for a limited period as long as stocks last.

Whilst these price rises are regrettable it is important to note that, as all our competitors are increasing prices to a similar degree, we still retain our reputation for offering top quality products and excellent value for money.

Via photographyblog

SLRGear has a review of the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM telephoto lens, with a verdict that says "The lens performs well, perhaps not up to the level that more recent Canon lenses have, but considering the age of its design it still works extremely well."

The Canon EF 400mm ƒ/5.6L USM was released in 1993, alongside other telephoto primes popular with wildlife and sports photographers. The 400mm ƒ/5.6 is often compared to the more recent 100-400mm ƒ/4.5-5.6L USM IS, the suggestion being that if you are always shooting at the 400mm range, it's better to go with the prime. Our review may help to shed some light on this decision.

The EF lens is compatible with both full-frame and cropped-frame Canon SLR cameras, though on the latter the lens will have an effective field of view of approximately 640mm. The lens features a built-in lens hood, and ships with a well-padded soft case. The lens retails for approximately $1,200.

Read the full review here.

Phase One P65+ Digital Back, the 60.5 Megapixel beast

With noise-free exposures of up to 1 hour and all sorts of extraordinary features, the P65+ is a unique high-end digital back that requires no extra cooling, has good battery life.

Check out details and an introduction video here.

Imaging technology

CCD: Full frame CCD
Lens Factor: 1.0
Resolution: 60.5 mega pixels
Active pixels: 8984 x 6732 pixels
CCD size effective: 53.9 x 40.4 mm
Pixel size: 6 x 6 micron
Image ratio: 4:3
Microlens on CCD: No
Dynamic range: 12.5 f-stops

Storage files
Phase Ones IIQ RAW file format speeds up the image capture and file transfer. Increases the storage capacity by turning the full 16 bit image data into a compact RAW file format. The default IIQ RAW-large format is completely lossless.
llQ small: 40 MB
llQ large: 60MB

Output files
Color depth: 16 bit per color
Image file formats: TIFF-RGB, TIFF-CMYK, JPEG
Color management: RGB, Embedded ICC profile, CMYK

Sensitivity
ISO: 50, 200, 400, 800, 800

Sensor+

Resolution: 15 Mega pixels

Pixel size: 12 x 12 Micron

RAW file compression: IIQ Large: 15MB, IIQ Small 10MB

ISO: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

Camera system
Capture time: up to 1 sec./frame (depending on camera body)
Storage security: Phase One 3S technology - Secure Storage System
Battery type: 7.2 V Lithium Ion 2500mAh
Battery lifetime: 2000 captures
Exposure time: 1/10,000 sec. up to 1 minute
Live preview: Yes
IR filter: Mounted on CCD
Cooling system: Passive cooling and sleeping architecture
Power up time: Less than 2 sec.
Power: 8-33 V DC (from FireWire®)

LCD screen
Size: 2.2"
Resolution: 230,400 pixels
Viewing angle: 160º

Technical & large format camera support
Wide angle: Hasselblad 903 SWC, Horseman SW-D & range of adapters with 35 mm support
4" x 5": Arca Swiss, Cambo 4x5, Rollei Xact, Linhof M679/4x5, Toyo, Sinar, Plaubel, Horseman

Operating conditions
Temperature: 0º to 40ºC (32º to 122ºF)
Humidity: 15 to 80% RH (non-condensing)

Lighting
Supports all photographic lights: Flash, tungsten, daylight, fluorescent, HMI

Canon EF 50mm/F1.8 EF II review

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II is the very cheapest lens in the Canon line-up. In the APS-C DSLR scope the field-of-view resembles a 80mm lens here which qualifies it as an interesting portrait lens besides other purposes such as low-light photography. The lens features a conventional micro motor without full-time manual focusing. The AF speed feels pretty fast - there aren't really many elements to move around here. The lens uses a linear extension system for focusing (similar to extension tubes) so the length of the lens changes according to the focus distance. The front element does not rotate during focusing. The minimal focus distance is 0.45m resulting in a max. magnification of 0.15x (~1:7). Manual focusing feels Ok. The focus ring, positioned at the very front, is very narrow so it's not really convenient.

Image source photozone.de

The optical construction is made of just 6 elements in 5 groups without any special elements (not needed at this focal length). The lens features 5 aperture blades. The filter size is 52mm. At just 130g it is an ultra light-weight lens and with a dimension of 68x41mm it's also extremely compact. The build quality is sufficient to say it positive. The lens barrel is made of plastic down to the mount. All-in-all you feel the price tag here. That said there's little wobbling of the inner tube and unless you abuse it there're no reasons to believe that it'll not last.

Buy a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens for as low as $86 (Amazon price in Jan 09)

Read the full review here.

Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L USM Ultra -wideangle lens review

Read the full article with a great historic background and technical details here.

Prior to availability of Canon FD-mount 24mm wideangles; there were only two Canon fixed focal length ultrawide that has a diagonal view wider than 75° (28mm); while most people would be more familiar with the S-mount 19mm f/3.5 super-wideangle; the CANON S-Mount 25mm f/3.5 Rangefinder Wideangle which was introduced as early as 1956 seemingly was less noticed by majority. Throughout evolution of the Canon S; R; FL-mount era, both of these lenses represented Canon's only ultrawide offering in their respective lens group for photographers who used the Canon photographic system.

This ultra-fast speed Canon elite-class 24mm AUTOFOCUS ultrawide was introduced quite late in the EF lens system. In fact, the 24mm focal length was quite weak in its option as another specialized application option, Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L joined in the lens system 1991. I remembered this USM 24mm ultrawideangle was only introduced about the same time when the Asian financial crisis began to sweep across the continent.

Read other reviews here and here.

The EF 24mm f/1.4L lens offers generally excellent center of field lens sharpness from f/2 on and very acceptable performance at f/1.4 in image center if you need it. Edge performance is probably acceptable for most applications, especially if you can stop the lens down to f/8. This lens significantly outperforms the consumer EF 24mm f/2.8, but at a significantly higher price. The EF 24mm f/1.4L lens is an excellent lens. However, its performance doesn't quite match the stellar performance of the EF 35mm f/1.4L. If corner sharpness is important to you and you have enough light to stop your lens down to f/5.6 or f/8, a quality L-zoom (e.g., EF 17-40mm f/4L) outperforms the L-prime except for slight linear distortion.

Buy the Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L USM Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras