Gear

With just under a week left for our Blackmagic Cinema Camera giveaway here at Fstoppers, we figured this would be a great opportunity to show you how impressive this camera is in comparison to the Canon 5D Mark III. This video, produced by One River Media, really shows how well the Blackmagic performs in every aspect. With 13 stops of dynamic range along with many of its other features, the difference is quite apparent in this video.

During Photokina, Carl Zeiss announced their plans to create lenses for Sony NEX and Fuji XF mirrorless cameras.

The Canon EOS-3D X has rumored for a long time, there are more new rumors about this big megapixel EOS.
This EOS-3D X will use a 46.1 MP sensor.
Rumors said this Canon EOS-3D will be previewed at PhotoPlus 2012 in New York City between October 24 – October 27, 2012.

In addition to working on several advancements to their product line, Pentax has announced and shown the prototype model of a 360 degree camera allowing the creation of 360 degree panoramas at the simple push of a button.

This past week we have seen a lot of gear come out, including a brand new outdoorsman-style bag in the Lowepro Rover Pro series. We got our hands on both versions of the bag, the 35L and the larger 45L and sent Mike Kelley and Mike Wilkinson off on separate excursions to put the bag to the test. Mike Kelley reviewed the 45L, while Mike Wilkinson reviewed the 35L.

Fuji has a new project under its sleeves: a full-frame mirrorless camera. While we haven't seen anything concrete, the wording from an earlier interview seems to say it all.

BorrowLenses recently published a test they did looking at the sharpness between Canon's latest 24-70mm f/2.8 L II lens and the original, and were pleased to note several distinct reasons you might want to pick up the new one. The new version two has less chromatic aberrations, less vignetting, and is also sharper than the original. Though we are still testing this lens and haven't yet reached a verdict, their test might help you decide one way or the other.

Lexar just announced the industry's first 256GB SD card -- and it's not slow, either. While some might see this as overkill, there are certainly many project-related uses in which one might need to be able to store large amounts of photo or video information without clearing the card in between.

I was planing on eventually buying a D600 but when I saw yesterday that they were "in stock" and ready to ship from Amazon, I bought one. I'm a Prime member so I get free 2 day shipping but for just $3.99 more they gave me over-night shipping. Patrick was over at my place packing for a wedding this weekend when the camera came in and we decided to quickly compare the cameras ISO performance to the D800.

Zeiss has announced the impending release of a new line of full frame DSLR lenses for Canon and Nikon. They will be a family of lenses independent of the current ZE and ZF.2 lenses. At the moment, they are focusing on the development of prime lenses for release in fall of 2013.

As a Nikon user, I remember a time when I envied everything Canon. A few years ago, Canon had the best DSLR video, their cameras were the fastest, and they were the absolute kings of high ISO. Today DxOMark has released their review of the new Nikon D600, and to everyone's surprise it has the 3rd best overall DSLR sensor in the land (beats the D4). More shocking is not a single Canon camera is in the top 10. Has Canon dropped the ball or is DxOMark unbelievably biased?

John Dooley from the Leica Akademie Mayfair demonstrates all of the cool features you knew about, as well as those that you didn't, in this six minute hands-on review with the new M. I have to say that it looks like an incredible piece of craftsmanship and technology, and the amount of power that this small rangefinder packs is really quite something.

You heard right. Hasselblad is working on a new A-mount camera in addition to the new mirrorless camera they just announced. There isn't much information on it yet except for this product schematic and a video! Take a look!

Lensbaby has released a new member to the selective focus family: the Spark. A manual pull focus lens, the Spark joins the Composer, Scout, and Control Freak lenses that have become popular with portrait photographers around the world. So what's special about the Spark? Let's take a look.

Rather playfully, Hasselblad's press release this morning stated "Hasselblad Plans Lunar Launch," which obviously did not make me instantly think "camera." And I don't think any of us would put a real lunar launch out of the realm of possibility for Hasselblad. But the truth is, Hasselblad has revealed plans for a new mirrorless camera called the Lunar that has plans for a 2013 release.

If you have one of these cameras, the update you've been waiting for is out! V2.0 promises faster response time, faster recording to memory cards (doubled!), faster focusing, and then some!

Leica's step into the medium format business was big -- it was expensive, but I think everyone appreciated a medium format, SLR-style camera not much different from your Nikon or Canon, except for the incredible quality. Today, we have news of the Leica S: the newest iteration of the DSLR line-up that follows the same simple lettering scheme as the Leica M announced earlier, replacing the S2.

Today Leica announced a ton of new toys. One of them was simply called the Leica M. Leica said they took care of all the M9 problems and put everything in one nice package for $6,950, which is the same price as the M9 when it was released. The Leica M is now available to pre-order in black and silver.

We leaked the photos earlier this afternoon, and not an hour later Lowepro officially announced the Rover Pro AW series bags. These two lightweight, technical backpacks are built for active outdoor professional and enthusiasts photographers who need a comfortable and supportive way to hike with heavy loads of equipment over long and varied terrain. Travel Photographer Michael Clark has already taken this horse through its paces and given it a clean bill of health.

In collaboration with Mamiya, PhaseOne updated the 645 SLR line this week with the new 645DF+. The camera features improved autofocusing, overall better reliability, and a battery system that can last for -- get this -- 10,000 photos!

Our sources have cued us in on the impending release of a new Lowepro DSLR travel bag called the Rover Pro AW, and from what we can see this thing looks pretty sweet. We anticipate two different sizes, the 45L and the 35L, which goes in line with what Lowepro has done in the past. It looks to be a mountain-climbing, hiking, and otherwise sporty outdoorsy bag that is tailored for that "rough-and-tumble" photographer.

Here's a little interesting development: Starting immediately, all newly produced interchangeable lenses from Sigma will be designed for and organized into one of three product categories: Contemporary, Art and Sports. Sigma is also launching three new lenses. Haven't seen this from anyone done quite the way Sigma is going at it. So what does it mean?

Now this caught me by surprise: Google has apparently acquired Nik Software, a photo preset tool that is a giant in the industry. What does this mean for Google's goals? Who is to say. What we can say is that Nik likely got a fantastic deal out of the process.

With the video capabilities of DSLRs constantly increasing, we have come to expect a lot from new releases. The Canon 6D doesn't disappoint. Much like the newest Nikon D800 you'll have more creative control over depth of field as well as full manual control over exposure and audio levels. Check this sample footage from the recently announced Canon 6D. Do you think it competes with the Canon 7D or the 5DMK III?

So you saw the 6D and loved it. I don't blame you, there is a lot to love. If you wanted more than your current crop-sensor camera, but couldn't see yourself using the 5D MK III, then maybe the 6D suddenly looked extremely appealing. Well you can get your order in now to make sure you get it on release day and have it in your hands before it sells out.

When the original 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens came out, it quickly became the go-to, do everything lens of choice for almost every Canon photographer I knew. Yes, we all had our prime favorites, but if we needed a workhorse that we could rely upon to do-it-all or only had the space to bring one lens, we grabbed for our 24-70. The original is still considered to be an amazing lens, and it's no wonder that it's one of the toughest lenses to find used on the market. Needless to say, I am excited about the upgraded 24-70mm L II.

Here it is Canon faithful: the Canon 6D! We've been hearing a lot about what this camera could be, the rumored specs, and the possible pricing for the past couple months, and that all became real this morning. The Canon 6D is packed with a whole lot to love, 20.2 megapixel, ISO range from 100-25600, Digic 5+, 11-point AF, and a 3-inch LCD all at a price that we were anticipating yesterday: $2099 USD.

Whoopsie. Looks like Adorama is getting ready and might have put just a little too much out there before launch. They even allowed it to be preordered for a time, Canon Rumors is reporting. It looks like we should see an official announcement tonight, but until then the pricing was leaked, and it's more than we were expecting at $2099 US retail.

Sekonic will have a new meter series for Photokina, including the L-478D and L-478DR. What's new about these? These are the first meters with a beautiful color touch screen. Supposedly, there's never been an easier light meter to use...

Samyang 10mm 1:2.8 ED AS UMC CS is a prototype of the ultra wide-angle prime lens designed for use with cameras fitted with APS-C/DX sensors. Its extremely short focus length and rectilinear imaging system ensure extra wide angle of view amounting to 110 degrees (~107 degree for Canon version). As a result the lens is a comprehensive tool for architecture and landscape shooting. New Samyang 10mm 1:2.8 ED AS UMC CS is similar to the 35mm system lens with 15mm or 16mm focal length in the case of Canon APS-C cameras.