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Canon Gives VIXIA Camcorder Line a Freshing Up

VIXIA HF M52

In addition to the new still cameras, Canon’s revamped its camcorder line with six new HD flash-memory camcorder models, three in the M series and and three in the R series. Previously easily thought of as being differentiated by whether there was built-in memory, the two are now separated by sensor size. The M series features a larger 1/3″ CMOS sensor, and the R series a more budget-conscious 1/4.85″ one.

VIXIA HF R32

A big feature for (most) of these new camcorders is social integration. Four of the six models (the HF M52, HF M50, HF R32, and HF R30) have wi-fi and via that can now upload videos directly to popular sites like YouTube or Facebook, or iOS devices with the aid of a free app. They also have DLNA built-in, and as such can share with DLNA-enabled TVs directly (and might also be discoverable by other DLNA devices like Xbox 360s).

Other shared features across the range are 3″ touchpanel controls, 1080p recording, 38 scen settings, smart Auto exposure, new audio setting presets, AVCHD/MP4 formats, and optical image stabilization. After that, models are differentiated based on things like lens, whether they have internal storage or need SDXC/SDHC/SD cards, and whether they have the Wi-Fi/Social options. They break down like this:

Camcorder Zoom Storage Wi-Fi / Social Price (At Launch)
M Series (1/3″ Pro Sensor)
HF M52 10x 32GB Internal Flash Yes $749.99
HF M50 10x 8GB Internal Flash Yes $649.97
HF M500 10x SDXC/SDHC/SD Slot No $549.97
R Series (1/4.85″ Sensor)
HF R32 32x 32GB Internal Flash Yes $549.97
HF R30 32x 8GB Internal Flash Yes $449.97
HF R300 32x SDXC/SDHC/SD No $349.97

Additioally, he M series is now 15% smaller for each model than last year’s, and now boast a minimum illumination of a mere 1.2 lux. The R series is a whopping 21% smaller for each model, but only works to a more conservative 5 lux.

Press release is, as always, after the jump.

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Canon Increases ELPH Line By Two, 520 HS and 110 HS

Canon Powershot ELPH 520 HS

Canon has also today announced two new entries into its stylish ELPH line of compacts, named the ELPH 520 HS and the ELPH 110 HS. The 520 HS is the high-end model, and “resurrects the original PowerShot ELPH design.” IE, it’s once more a box with a lens and a shutter button smacked on. Which I like, it’s a pretty honest, minimalist assessment of what a camera even is these days: a magic box with a lens and a button. In this particular magic box, you’ll find a 10.1 megapixel CMOS sensor with a DIGIC V processor, a 12x 28-336 equiv f3.4-5.6 zoom, ISO up to 3200, a rather nice continuous drive mode up to 6.8 frames per second, 1080p HD movie mode, 3″ LCD, and of course Canon’s advanced “HS” system, combining optical image stabilization with enhanced CMOS low light performance. It comes in four quintessentially point-and-shoot colors (black, silver, red, blue), and will be $299 in March.

The other new ELPH, the 110 HS, is more traditionally styled (and comes in kookier colors, like a dusty pink, olive green, and a teal blue, in  addition to the stables of black, silver, and red). As you might expect from a camera that doesn’t merit a separate press release, the 110 HS shares a lot of similarities to its big brother (like the HS system, 3″ LCD, and ISO up to 3,200, DIGIC V), but differs in that it has a 5x optical zoom covering 24-120mm (f2.7-5.9) and a 16.1 megapixel sensor. Also, the frames per second drop to 5.8, and the price drops to $249.99.

Press release after the jump.

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Canon Expands PowerShot G Line with G1 X Large-Sensor Compact

If money is no object in your quest for good low-light photos, but size is, Canon’s ready to lend a hand with its newest entry in its G line of professional digital compacts, the G1 X. In the modern trend of sticking large sensors into essentially point-and-shoot bodies, the G1 X shoves a 1.5″ CMOS sensor into what’s essentially a nominally larger G12. To save you all some looking for it, that’s a 1.85x crop factor, making this sensor larger than every Four-Thirds/Micro Four-Thirds sensor and the Nikon 1 system, but smaller than Sony’s NEX line and Fuji’s popular X100.

On that 1.85x CMOS sensor you’ll find 14.3 megapixels capable of ISOs 100-12,800 in Program mode, and in front of it you’ll find a 4x optical zoom (28-112mm equiv, f2.8-5.6, minimum f16), and around back there’s a 3″ 922,000 dot tilt-swivel LCD. Otherwise, it’s about what you’d expect from this class of compact. There’s full manual controls, controls wheels, mode dials, and raw support. Oh, and there’s 1080p video, too, just in case you thought for a moment a new camera could dare come out without a video mode (silly you).

The other note here is the price tag. The PowerShot G1 X will debut at $799.99 next month. Yup. $800. For those of you not looking to drop that much on a compact, the G12 is remaining in the line-up at the more conservative $500, but it’ll still have that much, much smaller 1/2.3″ sensor compared to this new G entry. Press release after the jump.

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Canon announces big video plans!

So the wait is almost over.  Last night, Canon announced their new Canon Cinema EOS system.

What started out as a magnificent accident with the amazing Canon 5D Mark II is developing into two types of movie cameras.  The first is the EOS C300 series.  One will have a Canon EF mount and the other will have a PL mount.  This will give the RED cameras a run for the money.  This 4K capable camera will be completely modular in design, so you can customize it to whatever your needs require.  It will boast a Super 35 equivalent 8.3 MP CMOS sensor with an active image size of 24.6 x 13.8mm.  It uses the XF codec that Canon pro camcorders have been using for the last few years, with 50MB/sec files, so editing won’t be a hassle.  Pretty cool!

 

C300 side view

 

The other big announcement was a little vague right now, but more suited to our customers here at Roberts.  It is a Canon 4K DSLR.  Basically it’s a 5DMK II on a massive dose of steroids!  It will have the familiar DSLR feel with the new Cinema engine.  Here is what Canon says about it exactly:

Equipped with a 35 mm full-frame CMOS sensor and supporting the recording of 4K video* (at a frame rate of 24P, with Motion-JPEG compression), the next-generation digital SLR camera currently under development will enable exceptional image quality for the creation of innovative and expressive images. Additional details, including the product name, specifications and scheduled launch date, have yet to be decided.  Here is a picture of it:

Canon 4K DSLR

So now, the waiting game begins.  At least we know something is coming.  I guess like the announcement of the 1D X, they let you know what’s coming with enough time to save those pennies!

Of course, these new cameras wouldn’t be complete without some new glass to go along with all of it.  Here is a listing of what is coming in PL and EF mount:

EF Cinema Lenses CN-E14.5-60mm T2.6 L S EF mount
CN-E14.5-60mm T2.6 L SP PL mount
CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 L S EF mount
CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 L SP PL mount
CN-E24mm T1.5 L F EF mount
CN-E50mm T1.3 L F EF mount
CN-E85mm T1.3 L F EF mount


Canon Merges EOS-1D and EOS-1Ds Lines Into New EOS-1D X

In case you haven’t heard, Canon finally announced a new pro body this morning (though, for release in March of next year, so, it’s a bit of an advance warning, here). This new body, dubbed the EOS 1D X (seriously, what is up with camera manufacturers and adding an “X” to lines?) merges the long running twins of the sports-oriented EOS-1D and studio-oriented Eos-1Ds lines into one body, which seeks to tackle both markets.

So, what’s to see here? Let’s start with the easy specs: it’s packing an 18 megapixel full-frame sensor (no more APS-H here, sorry everyone who liked the traditional 1.3x crop factor), 3 processors (2 new DIGIC 5+ processors for the imaging pipe, and a dedicated DGIC IV from the last generation for just your AF and metering), ISO  from 100-51,200 (50 – 204,800 expanded), a new 61-point AF system, a roughly 100,000 pixel all-new metering system, 12 fps continous shooting with full-time AF (14 with AF lock at the first frame and JPG), and a new, longer 400,000 cycle shutter life.

There’s all the to-be-expected digital video here, and you’re looking at full 1080 with either intra- or interframe compression, and 24p, 25p, or 30p frame rates. Shooting 720 or SD will be done at your choice of 50p or 60p. You got manual audio correction and a built-in windscreen to help you, as well as mic-in for even better sound.

For you studio folks, there’s now a built-in gigabit ethernet jack for piping those photos out. For you field folk, there’s a new dedicated wireless transmitter dubbed the WFT-E6A, and a dedicated GPS module dubbed the GP-E1 (neither of which are included, obviously, we’re just talking available accessories here.)

Since this camera replaces two bodies, we get a fancy specs table here to help you see how they all stack up:

Specs EOS-1D Mark IV EOS-1Ds Mark III EOS-1D X
Crop Size 1.3x (APS-H) 1x (Full Frame) 1x (Full Frame)
Megapixels 16 21 18
ISO Range (Native) 100-12,800 100-1,600 100-51,200
Processors 2 – Dual DIGIC IV 2 – Dual DIGIC III 3 – Dual DIGIC 5+, 1 DIGIC IV
AF Points 45 (39 cross) 19 (all cross) 61 (up to 41 cross, depending on f-stop)
Frames-Per-Second 10 5 12
HD Video 1080/720 None 1080/720
Shutter Life 300,000 300,000 400,000

The EOS-1D X will be available next March for an estimated price of $6,800. It is available for preorder on our site now here. If you’re interested in reading more on the new features, including the new AF module, hit the jump for more photos and the full press release.

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Canon Also Announces PowerShot SX40 HS

In addition to that S100, Canon announced an update to the SX30 IS today as well, coming in the form of the SX40 HS (HS indicating that in addition to the IS, it now has the low-light optimized CMOS sensor and imaging system inside). This model is the last remnant of their stoop-shouldered bridge camera line, which was once much more popular when the price gap between point-and-shoots and DSLRs was much greater than it now is.

No longer needing to so clearly mimic DSLRs in shape, these ultra-zoom bodies still sort that pseudo-DSLR shape but have gotten much, much tinier in recent years. At the same time, their zoom range has gotten much, much larger, and the SX40 HS packs, by modern standards, a paltry 35x zoom covering a mere 24-840mm equivalent range. Mere.

So, what’s new? Let’s see!

Feature SX30 IS SX40 HS
 Sensor  1/2.3? CCD  1/2.3? CMOS
 Megapixels  14.1  12.1
 ISO  80-1600  100-3200
 Display  2.7″ LCD  2.7″ LCD
 Zoom  35x  35x
 Focal Range (equiv)  24-840mm  24-840mm
Aperture  f2.7 – 5.8  f2.7 – 5.8
 Technology  IS  HS, IS
 Colors  Black  Black

Looks like the addition of the HS system is really the only thing to see here. Which megapixel count was better will depend on your needs, for day-light shooting, the extra 2 megapixels were nice. For low-light, the new 12 count will yield larger and less noisy pixels. It’s marked as it is in the table on a pure number basis, since there’s no hard and fast way to say whether resolution or sensitivity are better, and each person will need them differently.

Press release and additional image after the jump.

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Canon Announces PowerShot S100 High-End Compact

Another day, another camera announcement. This one’s a good one, though: the successor to Canon’s popular S95 compact. For those catching up, the high end S90/95/100 series compacts were introduced to provide an alternative to the G series pro cameras for people who need enhanced imaging quality but not necessarily the bulk and dials of the G series. The result is the very slim, unassuming looking camera you see, with a clever control ring around the lens and an f2 maximum aperture.

New this year is a DIGIC V processor bound to a new CMOS sensor (making it built on their new HS platform despite the lack of indication of this in the name). The lens is up from 3.3x zoom to 5x, but keeps that characteristic f2 maximum aperture. It’ll also be available in silver as well as black now The comparison table looks like this:

 

Feature S95 S100
 Sensor  1/1.7″ CCD  1/1.7″ CMOS
 Megapixels  10.4  12.1
 ISO  80-3200  80-6400
 Display  3″ LCD  3″ LCD
 Zoom  3.3x  5x
 Focal Range (equiv)  28-105mm  24-120mm
Aperture  f2.0 – 4.9  f2.0 – 5.9
 GPS  No  Yes
 Colors  Black  Black, Silver

We’re working on a preorder page for this right now, and it’ll be on our site within the next hour or so. Expected retail price, per the press release, will be $429.99. Speak of a press release, hit the jump for that and to see this baby in silver.

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Canon Announces New PowerShot External Flash. Everyone Ignores It In Favor of Camera Announcements.

Canon announced some stuff today, and most blogs have so far focused on the incremental upgrades to the Canon line in the forms of the ELPH 310, ELPH 510, and SX150. WHat isn’t getting mentioned quite as much is the quiet little note that Canon has curiously decided to bring back the HF-DC external flash unit for their PowerShot cameras, the number at the end incrementing up to a final model number of HF-DC2. Some poking on the internet suggests that the first of these was announced way back in 2005, people.

The Predecessor, the HF-DC1

The Predecessor, the HF-DC1

The basic idea is it’s a small zoom flash that sits either on a bracket next to your camera, or in your hand, or on a tripod, and extends your flash coverage for your point-and-shoot to about 30 feet. The new 2 revision also adds support for focal lengths down to 28mm with an attachment.

OK, now, those cameras. Not a lot to say, other than some help for you to understand Canon’s confusing avant-garde “creativity enabled” upgrade scheme.

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Canon Announces Pixma iP4920 and MG5320 with Photo Filters

Speaking of things with magic filters, Canon has announced two new consumer printers today whose most notable features are that they let you skip Photoshop if all you want is something like toy camera, miniature or fisheye to jazz up your shots. There’s also something that claims to be able to give you softer depth-of-field more like DSLRs. Both models can print to DVDs and CDs directly. The MG5320 is a wireless all-in-one model and the iP4920 just a mere inkjet printer. If you want to read all the sordid details, including how later this fall Canon’s app for Android and Apple will update to let you scan documents and beam them right to your productivity-killer Angry Birds handheld smartphone, hit the jump and slug away through Canon’s press release.

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Canon Announces Version II Of Its Popular EF-S 55-250mm f4.5-5.6 IS

The One on the Right is the New One

So, yesterday Canon got around to releasing the highly anticipated replacement to its popular EF-S 55-250mm f/4.5-5.6 IS telephoto zoom, named, appropriately, the EF-S 55-250mm f4.5-5.6 IS II.

As far as things go, there’s not a whole lot I can tell you about it without getting ahold of a sample. It’s got the same 12 elements in 10 groups, one of which is an UD (ultra dispersion) element to help handle chromatic aberrations and ghosting, it’s got in-lens IS for up to 4 stops of steadiness, and obviously covers the same focal range with the same aperture values. Biggest thing to note is it just looks more professional now, dropping the plasticky silver accents in favor of a cleaner, dappled black barrel with the one silver accent ring.

As you might expect, the first version is going to be phased out over time, and new kits announced from this point onwards will likely use the II as the second lens for two-lens packages.

That is all.




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