Photos from 'An Evening with Simeon Quarrie'

Press Release: Seize every single moment with the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II

2 February 2016 – Canon today premiers the highly anticipated  EOS-1D X Mark II, its new flagship DSLR engineered to put the ultimate combination of image quality, resolution and speed in the palm of your hand. Crafted to give photographers a competitive edge from the second they shoot, the  EOS-1D X Mark II establishes a new benchmark for speed – shooting 14 frames per second (fps) with full AF/AE tracking and 16 fps in Live View mode – ideal for capturing high-speed subjects, whether in the wild, or at world-class sporting events.

Developed using feedback from the worldwide community of EOS-1D X photographers, the EOS-1D X Mark II features a new 20.2 MP full frame CMOS sensor and new Al Servo AF III+, as well as 4K video capture up to 60p. This blend of power and performance makes the camera an essential companion for virtually all professional specialisms.

Redefining image quality and AF precision

Boasting a wide and versatile ISO range – an incredible 100 to 51200, expandable from 50 up to 409600 – the EOS-1D X Mark II excels in all lighting environments, from the brightest through to near darkness.

Ensuring each shot is captured with unrivalled precision, the camera features an improved 61-point AF system with 41 cross-type AF points, which covers an expanded area and focuses under low light up to -3EV. For the first time, when shooting with selected extenders and telephoto lenses, the new AF system also offers f/8 AF support with all 61 points, giving you the freedom to choose the focus point. Alongside Canon’s popular pro AF technologies – EOS iTR and AF Case settings – the EOS-1D X Mark II also includes new AI Servo AF III+ that improves the tracking sensitivity in scenes where subject movements may occur suddenly, such as animals moving quickly through the wild.

Working in partnership with the AF system is a new 360k RGB+IR metering sensor, providing accurate exposure and improved subject detection. Flicker Detection, as originally introduced in the EOS 7D Mark II, also guarantees consistent results under artificial lights – perfect for indoor sporting events.

Capture every second

Breaking the boundaries of high speed shooting, the EOS-1D X Mark II is able to shoot 14 frames per second with full AF/AE tracking and in RAW, equipping you to capture the exact moment of a sporting event, or an animal catching its prey. For those needing even more, up to 16fps can be shot in Live View mode without AF. With the new CFast 2.0™ card capability, the camera can deliver a burst of unlimited JPEGs or 170 RAW images in continuous high speed shooting.

The EOS-1D X Mark II is the most responsive EOS DSLR to date, thanks in part to the new Dual “DIGIC 6+” processors providing high-speed processing of the vast image data captured by the sensor. The refined mirror construction utilises a new drive mechanism to empower high speed shooting, with minimal mirror vibration or noise.

Pro-standard 4K movie making

Canon’s heritage in 4K movies culminates in the EOS-1D X Mark II, giving film-makers the option of shooting 4K (4096x2160) in a variety of frame rates up to 60fps to the CFast 2.0™ card. It also enables Full HD (1920x1080p) movie shooting at an incredible 120fps, ideal for slow motion scenes. Decisive moments from a 60fps 4K scene can be extracted as a high resolution 8.8MP still, giving you even more control over the exact moment of capture.

Film-makers can enjoy fast and smooth AF in 4K and Full HD shooting thanks to Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology and Movie Servo AF, while the touch panel LCD enables you to quickly select AF points when shooting movies.

Optimum image management and reliability

Professionals have the tools they need to manage their images, ensuring they can easily be transferred to news agencies or outlets in a matter of seconds. Built-in GPS records shooting locations in EXIF data, helping pros keep an accurate record of their shoots. Both Ethernet wired LAN and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 give you the choice of how images are shared – via FTP or direct to computers. Additionally, the new WFT-E8 wireless file transmitter[i] also supports the high-speed standard 802.11ac (5 GHz band).

Epitomising EOS design heritage, the EOS-1D X Mark II features an improved grip and controls, offering enhanced operability that feels natural in the hand, and weather proofing makes it resilient against the elements, ideal for outdoor shoots. The Intelligent Viewfinder II provides approximately 100% field of view, with an electronic overlay of shooting information meaning you never have to move your eye away from the viewfinder.

EOS-1D X Mark II Key Features:

·         Capture subjects with exceptional image quality

·         Deliver sharp images with incredible AF precision

·         Ultra high-speed and reliable performance for capturing every moment

·         Advanced 4K movie shooting brings your stories to life

·         High-speed image output and management

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[i] Optional accessory, sold separately 

Review: EF 11-24mm f/4 L USM by Ruben Buhagiar

 

It is with great pleasure that I was asked by Nakita from Avantech to try out the new lens from Canon which everyone is talking about. The Canon 11-24mm f/4L lens. Yes, you heard right…11mm!!! WOW! This is the world’s widest angle rectilinear lens. This is an ultra-wide lens, wider than a fish-eye lens (Canon’s fish eye is 15mm and is a lens I proudly own), but as opposed to the fish-eye lenses, these lenses have corrected the barrel or pincushion distortion inherited by the fish-eye lenses.

So, one can imagine the advantage to landscape photography this lens brings. And it certainly did not let me down.

 Moreover this lens comes forward with full frame 35mm sensor coverage, so it would have been a travesty if it was put on anything other than a full frame body. It was here tested on a 5D MkIII body.

The angle of view is a full 126° - and the elimination of the curvilinear effect is by means of the 3 front aspherical elements. Physically the lens looks special, with its outer domed element and all.

Attach it to the camera and the effect is immediate. You can get very very close to a subject and it’s all there. In fact, the advantage with this lens is that you increase the depth of the composition and that in fact very close objects become very important compositional elements. The perspective, the angle of view and the absolute sharpness of it all is unique and bewildering. There is nothing like it. In fact, I would suggest that one should wear scene-complementary shoes when using this lens – or dare I say, scene-complementary pants too!

Naturally, this applies to a full-frame sensor, but the advantage is immediately noticeable. However, once the initial excitement dies down, one really still has to think about how best to take advantage of this advantage, as a challenge remains. As with all rectilinear lenses, but especially with this at 11mm, it is not easy or straight-forward to create compelling compositions at these wide angles. Therefore this lens will immediately add another dimension or thought process to your photography, and failure to master this will result more often than not as mere snapshots. With ultra-wide lens it is therefore absolutely necessary to have an interesting foreground matched with a complimentary background.

 Let’s not forget that this is a zoom lens. It is easy to get carried away with its 11mm, but at its 24mm setting, it is not that extreme and therefore it makes the lens very useable and not a one-off speciality. I dare say that this versatility will drive one to use these new extremes more often and therefore I do expect some new styles to be developed.

So, this is a great lens for landscape photography. Horizons remain as flat as you hope them to be and a lot of time would be saved in correcting lines etc.  The sharpness is also incredible, and I will elaborate more on this a bit further on. It is also tremendous for architecture. Interiors are just never the same again. It is tremendous also in dramatizing the subject / action. All this comes at a very useable constant (over its focal lengths)  maximum aperature of f/4. With a lens like this, f/4 is sharp and really a wider maximum aperature will not diminish the sharpness by that far. So it is very useable in an event, and it gives perhaps another outlook.

I tried it out on another love of mine – street photography. I reckoned that with that inherit sharpness it will make my image-making easier. However no. It is just too bulky and too noticeable for street photography, and while street photography lends itself to wide lenses, this is just too wide. My trusty 50mm f/1.4 or 35mm f/1.4 L is the better choice here.

One disadvantage though, especially for landscape photography….with the bulbous front end, it is impossible to screw on or make use, in any way, of any filters. Neutral density and polarizers are important in landscapes, so one needs to then resort to exposure bracketing and other post-processing techniques to counter act this effect. In truth, Canon as created a slot just at the bayonet side of the lens, but this involves special filters, which are not so readily available.

At 24mm 

At 11mm

But even at f/4 the detail in the corners of the image are amazing. I must admit that possibly I must have never touched a sharper lens. The achievement is greater when one considers that this is not a prime lens either. A good lens must be able to resolve enough detail while having reasonable amount of contrast to distinguish those details. This lens does not disappoint. It’s in the resolution that it excels. This lens is able to resolve fine details, with no or hardly noticeable chromatic aberration. This is what’s great as, unlike its acutance, these details cannot be acquired by post-processing.

 

 

This fact led me to enquire further in the Canon website in order to examine the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) of the lens as declaired by the manufacturer, and compare it with other lenses. The 11-24mm is impressively sharp right in the sensor at all focal lengths and aperature setting of f/4. As seen in the chart, the corner performance is in fact a MATCH for centre performance.  The drop-off is minimal and better than the centre performances of other lenses. Very impressive.

 

I did try out another of my styles – that of shooting against the light, expecting considerable flare. But no, to my surprise even this was minimal, thanks in no little way, I later got to know, to the special lens coatings which are amongst the newest technologies  in lenses today.

Which brings to the price. At above €3000, this is not an inexpensive lens. It is 2.5 times the price of the 16-35mm f/4 L IS lens, itself a marvelous lens. Yes it is weather sealed, it is a L lens and it is a rectilinear lens and rectilinear lenses cost. But at what it offers….it might just be worth it…

But the truth of the matter is….do I want one? The answer to that is…MOST DEFINITELY. The world seems a lesser place without it.

Ruben Buhagiar

A few photos from 'Come and See'

Canon's CS100 Connect Station - an easy way to back up your photos on the go

Transfer your latest adventures with just one tap of your NFC camera or upload images easily and directly from SD or CF cards, phone, tablet or memory card. Then enjoy them in Full HD on your TV and share them with friends online.

Simply touch your NFC camera to transfer photos and movies

Enjoy photos and movies from your different devices in one place

Share images to social media, the cloud or another Connect Station

Effortlessly transfer your favourite moments – from cameras and smart devices  

Acting as a central hub for up to 1TB of content in the home, the Connect Station CS100 makes worrying about which memory card or device your images are stored on a thing of the past. All your photos and movies can be easily imported from NFC-enabled Canon cameras and camcorders[1] with a single touch. 

Your favourite content can also be transferred to the Connect Station CS100 from a range of devices. Occasions captured on other cameras can be imported through a USB wired connection[1], or directly from a memory card[2]. Spontaneous moments shot on smartphones or tablets can be transmitted using Wi-Fi, via a web browser, making it easier than ever before to bring together all your images or videos.

Enjoy and manage your images on the big screen 
Once stored, the Connect Station CS100 is the perfect way to relive your special moments – from holidays to weddings – with your friends and family at home. The Connect Station CS100 can connect to large screen TVs via HDMI, allowing you to display and enjoy your images and movies in stunning Full HD resolution, the way they deserve to be viewed.  For more casual viewing, you can also wirelessly view albums on your smartphone, tablet or computer via a web browser. 

The Connect Station CS100 also makes it easy to organise your image libraries via your TV – using the dedicated infrared remote control you can view content in date order or create themed albums. 

Built for sharing  
Friends and family can also be kept up to date with your latest adventures. Using CANON iMAGE GATEWAY, your Connect Station CS100 lets you easily share your images and movies to a range of social media sites – as well as to irista, Canon’s cloud-based image management platform – for everyone to enjoy wherever they are. Albums can also be sent in full resolution to other Connect Station CS100s, allowing you to share with friends and families around the world, so they can enjoy and print at a later date. You can even print stored images, without the need for a PC, using a connected PictBridge via Wireless LAN compatible printer. 

The Connect Station CS100 is available in 11 languages[3].

Connect Station CS100 key benefits:
- Simply touch your NFC camera[4] to transfer photos and movies 
- Enjoy photos and movies from your different devices in one place
- Share images to social media[5], the cloud or another Connect Station  
- Print straight from your Connect Station  to your wireless printer[6]  
- Transfer to and from memory cards[7] or connect your  camera[1] via USB 

[1]  Connected using PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol). Compatible with Canon cameras and camcorders released in 2010 and later 
[2]  Images stored in a folder compliant with the DCIM or AVCHD folder structure are imported. 
[3]  Japanese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese (Portugal) 
[4]  This function is intended for Canon cameras and camcorders featuring an NFC function supporting the Connect Station CS100 
[5]  Some features require a CANON iMAGE GATEWAY account. CANON iMAGE GATEWAY may not be supported in some countries or regions. Please visit www.canon-europe.com/cig for more information 
[6]  PictBridge via wireless LAN compatible printer 
[7]  Enjoy photos and movies from your different devices in one place

Available on order from Avantech Ltd.  Call us on 214888800 for more information

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