If you are using external auto metering with the Speedlite 600EX-RT then you cannot also use high-speed sync flash.

I ran in to this when shooting using my preferred group mode set-up. I tend to set Speedlites that light the background in External Auto, once the light is at the required level it keeps being consistent since the light to background distance is the same and the reflective quality of the background doesn’t change from shot to shot either. Lights in a different group might be in manual or E-TTL modes, but you cannot have high speed sync – the flash set to external auto cannot do HSS on it’s own or as part of a bigger lighting set-up.

Like all the EOS M system lenses the build quality is impressive, I really think Canon needs to look at the EOS M lenses for the direction to go when designing and building their regular kit lenses. It is a combination of solidity and smoothness that gives the impression these are something special. However EOS M system lenses do command a price premium over regular EF-S kit lenses.

Locked up – keeping a low profile

EF-M 11-22mm showing the lock switch on the top of the lens barrel

First thing I found was that the lens features a lock switch that is used to “compact” the lens for storage and when not in use. This ensures it maintains it’s compact dimensions, but means that there is one more step to “unlock’ the lens before you can shoot with it. Unlocking the lens to allow the zoom to move to it’s regular 11-22mm shooting range and causes the lens to grow in length.

EF-M 11-22mm extended into position ready for photography

As shown above the lens increases in length when unlocked; I’d estimate the lens to be around 25-30mm longer than it’s official 58.2mm in this position. When the lens is zoomed from it’s 11 to 22mm it also changes in length – like many zoom lenses do.

Quality bit of kit?

I was not able to shoot and keep pictures with the lens, but from on the camera LCD screen looks it seems relatively immune to flare and the edges also appeared to be free of chromatic aberration – though it’s much harder to tell that just on the camera LCD. I’ve been told that the quality of the lens compared to the great performing EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens is not something to worry about and that the MTF chart for this new EOS M system wide-angle lens is pretty much a flat line from centre to edge.

Canon has augmented the range of lenses for the EOS M camera with a new 11-22mm wide-angle lens. 11-22mm on the APS-C size crop sensor means it is equivalent to an 18-35mm zoom on a full-frame camera. The new lens gains the accolade of being the first ultra-wide angle lens with an Image Stabilizer unit. The IS in the new lens provides 3-stops of effective shake compensation, if you can handhold the lens at 1/20s the IS would let you handhold right down to glacial 0.4s.

Obvious comparisons with the long-standing, and rather good EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens hold up. You get an Image Stabilizer and a smaller lighter lens with the EF-M version, with a slower maximum aperture. The key will be can it perform as well as the EF-S 10-22mm lens?

EOS M body, would be great to see the new lens on it!

So with all this great technology, and extension of the EOS M system I am left wondering why their press kit doesn’t include a picture of the new lens fitted to an EOS M camera, or a group shot of the camera and the now three EF-M lenses?

Canon UK Press Release:

Widen your horizons – Canon unveils the compact, ultra-wide EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM

Canon today expands its range of EF-M lenses with the introduction of the new EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM. Designed for Canon’s Compact System Camera, the EOS M, this is Canon’s first ultra wide-angle EF lens to feature an Optical Image Stabilizer. Offering a versatile wide-angle zoom range, first-class optical performance, and a new retractable design, the EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM is the perfect addition for EOS M users who wish to capture their passion for landscapes and architecture.

EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM

Shoot the city, shoot the world

Designed to expand the range of creative possibilities and shooting subjects, the EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM has an 11-22mm focal range which provides an incredibly wide field of view. This allows users to capture the environment around them whilst remaining close to the subject – ideal for adding drama and atmosphere to each shot.

 Class-leading optics deliver incredible results

Engineered using the latest optical technologies, the EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM enables users to capture images with incredible levels of detail and quality. Manufactured using Canon’s professional quality standards, the lens uses Super Spectra Coatings designed to minimise ghosting and flare, providing beautiful results with every shot. Images are crisp and clear thanks to Canon’s Optical Image Stabilizer, which works to keep image blur to a minimum by correcting camera shake. A 3-stop shutter speed advantage ensures high quality stills, even when light levels start to fade.

Shooting smooth Full HD movies is easy using the advanced Dynamic IS mode which combats more exaggerated forms of camera shake that occur when shooting video on the move. Canon’s near-silent STM technology also ensures focus noise is supressed during movie capture, so the audience can enjoy crystal clear sound to match the visual quality of the footage captured.

Designed for performance and style

Incredibly compact and lightweight, the EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM has been designed to fit easily into the smallest of spaces so it can be carried everywhere. A new retractable lens design – a first for the EF lens range – locked in place by a switch, allows users to retract the lens back into the barrel when not in use. This keeps the body slim and compact, reducing the lens length by 13mm. An integrated full time manual focus ring also provides the freedom to make precise adjustments to focus as needed.

Designed to complement the EOS M’s chic styling, the EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM features a graphite silver, metal exterior, while the knurled focus and zoom rings are comfortable in the hand and provide easy operation.

EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM – key features:

• Ultra-wide 11-22mm EF-M zoom lens
• Compact, retractable lens design
• Smooth, quiet STM focusing in movies
• Dynamic IS for steady movies
• 3-stop optical Image Stabilizer
• High image quality
• 0.15m minimum focusing distance
• Manual focus ring

When using the EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM with the EOS M it is recommended that users ensure upgrade to firmware version 2.0.0 or later.

Just recently I was asked by Photoventure.com if I would be interested to do a quick interview for their blog about Canon’s Project1709, a “still in beta” service that provides storage for your photos in the cloud.

The interview is live on Photoventure so why not stop by and see what I think about Project 1709 as it currently stands.

As I was preparing this blog post I’m reminded that it’s 8 months plus since the service was launched at Photokina, and over that time there’s been several iterrations of feature additions and plenty of bug fixes.

Read my other Project 1709 articles

• An interview with me about Canon Project1709 on Photoventure
• Project1709 – Mac Uploader is here
• Project1709 gains Flickr integration
• First look at Canon’s Beta cloud storage system – Project1709
• Canon announces Project 1709 cloud based image management

Living in the Chilterns on the border of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire red kites are birds we see almost every day. Impressive masters of flight they soar around the skies and their piercing screech is a common sound. This weekend me and the kids decided we’d try something different – back garden pictures of the red kites with a remote camera and wide-angle lens.

Wide, but not too wide

Initially we tried a 14mm lens, but it showed way too much of the garden – and the multitude of kids toys that seem to reside in the garden. So I elected to try a 24mm lens, the good old faithful EF 24mm f/1.4L USM (the Mk I version). Prefocus would be the order of the day and apertures in the range of f/8 or f/11. The anticipated landing point of the birds was around one metre from the camera.

Also with the kids trampoline acting as a bit of a restriction to the flight path of the birds I placed the camera low to the grass. I inverted the centre column of the old faithful Manfrotto 055 and then added the 131 DD to let me mount the camera out in the grass out from the centre and so eliminating the tripod legs from the frame. The legs of the tripod were splayed out as wide as they would go to get the camera as low as possible.

I had hoped the birds would come towards the camera and out past it, however one or two had other ideas, and thought that coming in to the scene from behind the camera and exiting over the fence and the neighbour’s shed was a better plan as you can see below.

Look at the size of the shadow on the fence panel – that panel is six foot tall! These are big birds and it’s a pretty small space for them to drop in to.

First shot and a bit of luck

This is actually the first shot of the session – typically. Right after the chicken went out and I retreated in to the house with the remote release there were a lot of shadows of big birds over the garden. In the initial wave several birds tried to feed at the same time from different directions. The lower bird in this frame has flown in over the top of the camera position, and the one above has come in toward the camera at the same time. They will have to sort out the air traffic control

If you look in the blue sky there is another red kite on it’s way in to feed too. In another shot not shown here there are three red kites on their way in to feed. It’s kind of like a Chilterns version of the stacked aeroplanes you can see at Heathrow during busy times.

And then the sun moved and it went darker

The camera was set to aperture priority for all the shots and with the sun on the grass shutter speeds were just about fast enough 1/1600s with ISO 800. However as the sun moved and the light level dropped the camera shutter speed dropped too – these birds are fast and so for the rest I saw plenty of sharp garden and blurred birds. I went from pictures like this – at the limit of acceptable sharpness…

to this kind of result – completely blurred beyond use (apart from being an example of a picture blurred due to subject movement)

It does neatly show that the 24mm focal length was spot on for the wingspan but 1/250s was just not fast enough.

I think that there’s plenty more to experiment with, firstly somewhere with a better background, and then maybe some flash – most likely high speed sync to let me run the camera shutter fast enough too. One thing that i’ll try next time is using manual mode for the exposure to give me the depth of field and shutter speed I need, then let auto ISO do its thing!

Gear guide

To make these pictures I used a simple set of gear, and it’s something that could have been shot with just about any DSLR and a standard kit lens in reality.

• Manfrotto 055 tripod
• Manfrotto 131DDB
• Manfrotto 494RC2 ball head
• Canon EOS 5D Mark III
• Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM
• Canon TC-80N3
• Canon ET-1000-N3 extension cord (length 10m)

Hidden in all the noise of lens mugs and millions of lenses Canon also pushed out a bunch of firmware updates for professional EOS-1D cameras in the last few days too.

• EOS-1D X
• EOS-1D Mark IV
• EOS-1Ds Mark III
• EOS-1D Mark III
• WFT-E7(A)

Firmware Version 1.2.4 incorporates the following functional improvements and fixes:

• Improves the speed of the camera’s acquisition of focus when using a Speedlite’s AF-assist beam.
• Reduces the time it takes to display the metering result on the LCD or Viewfinder when the meter has been activated.
• Fixes a phenomenon in which a “Caution 02” message is unnecessarily recorded in the camera status log.
• Fixes a phenomenon in which continuous shooting pauses when using a Speedlite.
• Fixes a phenomenon, when the GP-E1 is attached, in which the GPS device settings are reset to default settings when the camera has been powered off.

Note:

*This phenomenon occurs only with firmware Ver. 1.2.1.

*After changing the GPS device settings, please be sure to power off the camera before removing the battery. This will ensure that the camera’s GPS device settings will be saved.

Helpful Information:

Firmware Version 1.2.4 is for cameras with firmware version 1.2.1 or earlier. If your camera’s firmware is already Version 1.2.4, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

When updating your camera’s firmware, please review the instructions thoroughly before you update the firmware.

The firmware update takes approximately seven minutes.

Download EOS-1D X firmware 1.2.4 (Windows)

Download EOS-1D X firmware 1.2.4 (Mac)

Firmware Version 1.1.3 for the EOS-1D Mark IV camera incorporates the following functional improvements and fix:

• Enables the center AF point to autofocus when the camera is used with the EF 200-400mm F4L USM Extender 1.4X lens and an Extender, whose combined maximum aperture is f/8.
• Fixes a phenomenon in which abnormal images may result when continuous shooting mode is enabled and the image size is set to “RAW” or “RAW+JPEG.

Helpful Information:

Firmware Version 1.1.3 is for cameras with firmware version 1.1.1 or earlier. If your camera’s firmware is already Version 1.1.3, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

When updating your camera’s firmware, please review the instructions thoroughly before you update the firmware.

Download EOS-1D Mark IV  firmware 1.1.3 (Windows)

Download EOS-1D Mark IV  firmware 1.1.3 (Mac)

Firmware Version 1.2.2 for the EOS-1Ds Mark III camera incorporates the following functional improvement:

• Enables the center AF point to autofocus when the camera is used with the EF 200-400mm F4L USM Extender 1.4X lens and an Extender, whose combined maximum aperture is f/8.

Helpful Information:

Firmware Version 1.2.2 is for cameras with firmware version 1.2.0 or earlier. If your camera’s firmware is already Version 1.2.2, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

When updating your camera’s firmware, please review the instructions thoroughly before you update the firmware.

Download EOS-1Ds Mark III  firmware 1.2.2 (Windows)

Download EOS-1Ds Mark III  firmware 1.2.2 (Mac)

Firmware Version 1.3.1 for the EOS-1D Mark III camera incorporates the following functional improvement:

• Enables the center AF point to autofocus when the camera is used with the EF 200-400mm F4L USM Extender 1.4X lens and an Extender, whose combined maximum aperture is f/8.

Helpful Information:

Firmware Version 1.3.1 is for cameras with firmware version 1.3.0 or earlier. If your camera’s firmware is already Version 1.3.1, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

When updating your camera’s firmware, please review the instructions thoroughly before you update the firmware.

Download EOS-1D Mark III  firmware 1.3.1 (Windows)

Download EOS-1D Mark III  firmware 1.3.1 (Mac)

Canon USA has an updated firmware for the WFT-E7(A) too, and it will most likely be suited to the European WFT-E7

Details
Firmware Version 1.0.4 includes the following fixes:

• Fixes the rare issue of an error occurring during the transmission of images via Wireless LAN (FTP).
• The reliability of USB data transfer has been improved between the Canon EOS 5D Mark III running firmware version 1.2.1 and the Canon Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E7A running firmware 1.0.4. For optimal performance be sure to update both devices to the latest firmware version.

Firmware Version 1.0.4 is for Wireless File Transmitters with firmware version 1.0.2. If the Wireless File Transmitter’s firmware is already version 1.0.4, it is not necessary to update the firmware. When updating your Wireless Transmitter’s firmware, please review the instructions thoroughly before you update the firmware.

 Download WFT-E7(A)  firmware 1.0.4

While reading the press info about the 90 million EF lenses production milestone, a thought crossed my mind. What about the lenses that Canon doesn’t count in it’s production total.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada a promotional item was included in the Canon photographers gift pack, an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens mug. Soon Canon offices around the world were swamped with demands to get one of the lens cups.

Like many good ideas, this one had legs… or more like lenses – plenty of them. Whilst I haven’t got one of the original 70-200mm lens cups I’m slowly building a collection of lens based novelties and cups.

My latest is this EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens cup – actually it comes in an EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM look-a-like box. Quite well designed it has a metal heat retaining liner to the mug and the zoom ring operates causing the lens barrel to extend similar to the real EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens.

Here’s the new EF 24-70mm cup, with an odd EF-S 28-135mm f/2.5 L II USM (what ever one of those is). It’s the least accurate of the lenses – clearly an inexpensive clone of the lens cup design. I mean Canon doesn’t do EF-S lenses in L-series, and a 28-135mm zoom with an f/2.5 aperture On the far right is the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM which is actually a really good impersonation of the real thing.

Not all novelties are fake…

The picture right at the top of the post with the clock face in the lens, that’s an actual promotional item prepared by Canon to accompany the launch – many years ago – of the EF 28-70mm USM lens. It uses the same lens body components as the real lens did, but the internal assembly is replaced by a clock. The clock still works – shows what a proper quality novelty can do

So do you have some Canon lens or camera memorabilia or novelties? Tell the story in the comments below.

Canon has a history of marking production milestones with press announcements and today they have hit 90 million lenses. It was only August last year that they broke the 80 million mark, so it’s clear that despite global recession, and less than stellar performance in the latest financial results EOS cameras and their EF lenses are still a huge part of Canon business. I’ll also have to stop telling people that there are typically 60 or so EF lenses in production at any one time, they currently have 80 if you include the Cinema EOS lenses.

Impressive growth; Canon has made as many EF lenses in the last 281 days than they did in the first eight years of the EOS system!

My prediction: 100 Million EF lenses milestone will be reached on 5th March 2014!

Canon Press Release

Canon celebrates production of 90 million EF lenses

United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland 29 May 2013 – Canon today announces the achievement of a new lens manufacturing milestone – the company’s 90-millionth EF-series interchangeable lens. This new milestone follows, just over nine months since Canon announced the production of the 80-millionth lens in August 2012, highlighting the significant demand and continued popularity of the EF lens range.

Canon EF lens line-up May 2013

 Over the past 26 years Canon has been at the forefront of the imaging industry, driving demand with cutting-edge innovation. Production of Canon’s signature interchangeable EF lens series began in 1987 at the Utsunomiya Plant, when the series was first introduced together with the EOS SLR camera system. Since then, the global demand for Canon’s EOS products and lenses has continued to gather pace and in 2011 there was only nine months between the increase from 60 to 70 million units manufactured. In order to meet this demand, Canon scaled up its production with facilities across Taiwan, Malaysia and Japan.

Throughout its history, Canon has continued to drive the imaging industry forward, introducing world firsts¹ such as the Ultrasonic Motor (USM) for use in lenses, Image Stabilizer (IS) technology, a multi-layered diffractive optical (DO) element and Subwavelength Structure Coating (SWC) anti-reflection technology.

EF lenses – consistent precision, complete versatility

In May of this year, Canon announced the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x, a super telephoto zoom lens which is equipped with a 1.4x internal extender and offers a wide, 200-560 mm zoom range. As a result, Canon’s current EF lens line-up comprises of 80 models² including the EF Cinema Lens series for use in cinema and TV production.

Canon will continue to refine its diverse imaging technologies based on its core optical expertise, striving to produce exceptional and reliable lenses and cameras, whilst expanding the photographic and video imaging culture. Canon’s range caters to the varying needs of photographers – from first-time users, to advanced amateurs and professionals.

EF lens production milestones:

• 1995: Production of EF lenses surpasses 10-million units
• 2001: Production of EF lenses surpasses 20-million units
• 2006: 30-million EF lenses produced
• 2008: 40-million-unit milestone reached in April
• 2009: 50-million units produced
• 2011: 60-million units reached in January
• 2011: 70-million units reached in October
• 2012: 80-million units reached by August

Since production began in 1987, development has expanded to a total of four production facilities: Canon Inc., Sdn. Bhd., Utsunomiya and Oita.

¹ Among interchangeable lenses for SLR cameras

² This model number includes EF Cinema Lenses. EF Lenses: 71 models, EF Cinema Lenses: 9 models

source: Canon UK

White balance shift is a setting on the EOS cameras that allows a photographer to bias the colours in images in either blue, amber, magenta or green directions. This colour shift can be used to add or remove colour shifts that may occur when shooting in mixed lighting conditions. Typically think flash and daylight, flash and indoor lights, street lights and daylight and so on. White balance can be shifted from -9 to +9 in both blue / amber and green / magenta directions, or combinations of blue/amber and green/magenta shifts. The blue/amber shift is equal to five mired for each step.

Mired

Camera instruction manuals say that one step of shift in the blue/amber direction is equivalent to five mired shift. The mired (micro reciprocal degree) is a measurement used to express colour temperature.

So with some maths; if the camera is set with a Kelvin white balance of 5200K, then full shift of 9 units to the blue direction is a 45 mired shift, making the temperature actually 4214K. A full shift in the amber direction would give a colour temperature equivalent to 6789K.

As a test I shot a scene with a 7-stop bracket in the B/A direction to give me the original image, plus six others from B9 through to A9. Here’s the camera’s mid-point and the extremes to show the effect.

Mired shift only applies to the blue/amber direction as this is colour temperature shift, however in many software applications working with RAW images, a tint control is available that offers green/magenta shift and so it is also provided in camera.

Extended range of Kelvin temperature

By calculation if you use the full blue/amber shift while using the camera set to it’s lowest 2,500K temperature the result is 2,247K and with the camera set to 10,000K it is 18,182K.

What is white balance bracketing?

Blue – amber white balance bracketing

Your camera can be set to bracket with white balance, for each picture taken the camera will create three files on the card, one at the set white balance and two with the shifted amount. Bracketing can only be in either the blue/amber or magenta/green directions. The maximum amount of bracket is 3-steps.

If the camera can be set to different amounts of bracketed pictures – like the EOS 5D Mark III, and EOS-1D series – cameras then it will create more files for each shot, for me that’s up to 7 shots on the EOS 5D Mark III.

When would I want to use white balance bracketing?

Most of the time the camera’s white balance gets a great result for JPEG shots, but sometimes in strange combinations of lighting the automatic system can be thrown off. The use of the bracketing function will ensure that the camera can produce a usable file with no post production. If you shoot mostly JPEG images then white balance bracketing can help you out by providing multiple versions of a picture straight from the camera – just choose the one that looks best.

In some cases you might want to, and can, combine white balance shift and white balance bracketing.

However, for many photographers the solution is not white balance bracketing but RAW shooting…

RAW shooters – do it later

If you shoot exclusively RAW images then white balance is something that invariably happens as part of your RAW image post production workflow. If you shoot JPEG then white balance shift and white balance bracketing may be useful for critical applications where JPEG images straight from the camera are required to be supplied. However any shift applied in the camera will still affect how the image is displayed on the camera LCD.

Just recently I was invited to shoot with Andy Teo (Photocillin) at the amazing Ditchley Park, but not just the fantastic house but London fashion designer Daniel Blake’s collection of stunning clothes.

It was a truly amazing day with the models, stylists, hair, make-up team, dressers and a few more making the quick changes as the five models walked, switched outfits and walked some more. There can be few fashion catwalks as lovely as the drawing room in Ditchley Park.

Teaming up with Andy we shot the collection from a range of angles while Daniel Blake presented and explained the materials and styles to the assembled crowd. We needed to keep out of the way and still get great shots.

Please stop by Daniel Blake’s website to see the results he selected.

Here’s a few more of mine including some “behind the scenes” shots.

Styling and steaming – making the clothes and models look their best

What a day – I loved it

It was a great day, such talented and creative people to be around, and a challenging set of photo conditions to deal with quietly and efficiently. I’m pleased that several of my photos including some not seen here are on Daniel Blake’s website and look forward to shooting some more of this kind of work.

Techie stuff…

For the technical minded I used a combination of EOS 5D Mark III with either an EF 50mm f/1.2L USM or EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens. Even with the bright light coming through the windows the shadows were deep, I pushed a couple of flashes up against the wall and aimed them up toward the ceiling – a long way up, and back down – to lift the shadows. ISO stayed fashionably high, over ISO 800 for most of the day. The Speedlites were paired up and so let me employ high speed sync to get fast shutter speeds.

To make use of the new Picture Style you will need to use EOS Utility to install it in your camera before you shoot the movie.

You can download the new Picture Style directly from Canon Inc in Japan for free

Download Video Camera X-series Look Picture Style

Of course like all Picture Styles, once they are loaded in the camera it is possible to shoot still images or video with the Picture Style applied.

One benefit of the “extended” launching and field testing process is that Canon’s various websites are quite full of user testimonials from working professionals who have trialled the lens. Probably hundreds of professional photographers have had the chance to experience the lens. Key will be how many of them stump up the £12K to buy one, or hope their employers and agencies do.

Thorsten Milse – Canon Ambassador has tested the lens on wildlife subjects [CPN link]

Andrew Redington – has tested the lens for golf photography [CPN link]

I’ve seen a pre-production unit recently in Ireland, and also last year in March at Focus. It’s a surprise to search back through the posts on here to find the lens was first announced as in development way back in February 2011.

Today Canon has finally released an update to it’s Beta Project1709, and for me the most important item is the availability of an uploader for the Mac OS. Since the start of the Project1709 there’s been a windows uploader that would automatically upload images from selected folders directly to Project1709, now some seven months later there’s a Mac version.

Once you login to your Project1709 account you select Upload from the top menu and there it is a Mac uploader – much nicer than the old text that suggested I try Windows There’s a little oddity that it offers a Mac OS 10.6 uploader maybe it should say also works on later OS versions.

Once the uploader is downloaded and placed in the Applications folder and run it prompts you to login to your Project1709 account

The installer logs in and then the next step is to select the folder or folders that you want to automatically upload to your Project1709 account. I’d have loved to be able to create a folder from the folder selection dialog box, but it’s not possible. Still I made the folder called Project1709 in my Pictures folder to use for this article.

Project 1709 BETA is free – I’m sure it won’t remain so

The next step is to set some options to determine how the uploader performs.

It’s here that there’s a few clues to the future direction of Project1709, billing for upload space!

Moving the mouse over the little information icons next to Upload Limit Per Month, Start day of month for upload limit I found that the start of the month tooltip says You can change this to be in line with your billing dates. Quite clearly providing unlimited storage for your photo collection is not something that Canon will offer to anyone without charge in the future. However for the Beta test currently running there is no charge or communicated storage limit.

EXIF is key to make the uploader work

Given that I’ve had the experience of images not uploading using the browser upload feature due to missing EXIF. I wanted to see how the uploader handles JPEG images created from a RAW file from Adobe Lightroom. Exporting the file as a JPEG from Lightroom it’s important to preserve the camera EXIF data. I tried multiple different files, but the only one that would create a JPEG that would upload automatically was to leave ALL the EXIF data in the file.

If you use Canon’s DPP software it does always preserve the EXIF information in files it creates. So if your software doesn’t keep the EXIF intact check the settings or use one that does.

Fortunately the uploader does show you that it’s been unable to upload some files, and even allows you to re-enter the camera make and model or have the software provide Default EXIF. To me it seems a bit strange to allow user entry or default EXIF since that is no more accurate or useful than no EXIF data, though at least they tell you which files have had the problem.

I think that for me the uploader will make my use of Project1709 simpler and more streamlined, I might even make a specific Lightroom export preset to ensure that the EXIF data stays in the files.

You might also like to read my initial assessment of Project1709 when it first launched…

The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) have announced the winning products for their 2013 awards, and Canon have picked up a total of five awards this year out of forty categories of awards given by TIPA.

Twenty seven member magazines and the Camera Journal Press Club (CJPC) of Japan voted for the best product in each category at the TIPA General Assembly in April 2013. TIPA has member magazines from nine European countries plus Australia, Canada, China, South Africa and the USA.

All the awards winners are on the TIPA 2013 awards website

Canon’s TIPA 2013 winning products

EOS-1D C – Best Video DSLR

As the first Canon “hybrid” DSLR, the EOS-1D C has an 18MP full frame CMOS sensor that can capture 4K (4096×2160) or HD video as well as 18MP still images in JPEG and/or RAW format. Geared towards film and TV production, as well as specialty work, onboard 4K recording can be done at 24p or 25p and HD recording at frames rates up to 60p. Recording is done onto CF cards and all Canon EF-mount lenses can be utilized, The EOS-1D C also has all the features of a pro DSLR for still recording, making it an extremely versatile camera for today’s pro shooters.

- TIPA awards 2013

EOS 6D – Best Digital SLR Expert

The Canon EOS 6D melds consumer-oriented features with a very advanced set of photo options. It has a 20.2MP full-frame CMOS sensor and can record Full HD 1080p video; the full frame advantage here is excellent quality at its highest “native” ISO of 25,600 and beyond. The bright 104k 3-inch monitor offers high-resolution viewing for video and live view still shooting, as well as access to many creative controls. A “Q” button evokes a screen menu with the most used controls that, with other dedicated buttons and an 8-way toggle control, makes for a very pleasing and fast shooting experience.

- TIPA awards 2013

EOS 100D – Best Digital SLR Entry Level

The Canon EOS 100D challenges the assumption that DSLRs need to be bulky and creates an attractive alternative to smaller CSC format cameras for those seeking DSLR handling, viewing and of course access to the entire range of Canon EF and EF-S lenses in a very portable and lightweight body. Its 18MP CMOS APS-C sensor has an ISO range of 100-12,800 for stills and 100-6400 for video. Hybrid CMOS AF II offers accurate focus tracking during Live View shooting, and video quality is enhanced with Full HD and Movie Servo AF capability. A 3-inch LCD Touch Screen provides ready access camera controls and functions including numerous Scene and Creative modes.

- TIPA awards 2013

EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM – Best Professional DSLR Lens

This constant aperture Canon zoom is constructed of 18 elements in 13 groups and utilizes 1 Super UD lens element and 2 UD lens elements. Two types of aspherical lenses are combined to help reduce spherical aberration over the entire image area through the full zoom range, plus optimized lens coatings are used to minimize ghosting. The lens is equipped with a circular 9-bladed diaphragm and a ring-type USM and high-speed CPU with optimized AF algorithms to enable silent and fast autofocusing. It is constructed with improved dust sealing and water resistance with fluorine coatings on the front and rear lens surfaces.

- TIPA awards 2013

PIXMA Pro-10

Oddly Canon’s press release this morning shows the PIXMA Pro-10 as winning a TIPA 2013 award, but details are not displayed on the TIPA website at the time of writing.

The PIXMA PRO-10 is a wireless and AirPrint capable printer that utilizes Canon’s new 10-colour LUCIA pigment inks, plus incorporating a Chroma Optimizer cartridge that helps eliminate bronzing and metameric failure effects. The printer offers two paper feeds—a rear tray for a variety of papers and a manual slot feed for thicker and heavier weight inkjet substrates. Utilizing 7,680 4-picoliter-size nozzles, the unit can deliver up to 4800 x 2400 dpi in both colour and monochrome images in sizes up to 13 x 19 inches (A3+). Print speed for an 11×14-inch image on A3+ paper is 3mins 35 secs (5 mins for PT-101).

- TIPA awards 2013

Previous TIPA awards posts

• 2012 – Canon takes six TIPA awards
• 2011 – Canon takes four TIPA awards

The long awaited fimrware for the EOS 5D Mark III is now ready to download for free from Canon. Key improvements in the new firmware suit both videographers and photographers. Clean uncompressed video available from the camera’s HDMI port, autofocus now possible with certain lenses / extenders at f/8 using the centre AF point, plus  AF speed has been improved when using the Speedlite AF assist beam.

Download EOS 5D Mark III firmware v.1.2.1 from Canon USA

-OR-

Download EOS 5D Mark III firmware v.1.2.1 from Canon UK

Canon’s information about the firmware has a few more details…

Changes

Firmware Version 1.2.1 incorporates the following functional improvements and fixes.

1. Uncompressed HDMI output is now enabled.

2. Enables the center AF point to autofocus when the camera is used with Canon EF lens/extender combinations whose combined maximum aperture is f/8.

3. Improves the speed of the camera’s acquisition of focus when using a Canon Speedlite’s AF-assist beam.

4. Fixes a phenomenon in which the LCD monitor may freeze and display Err 70 or Err 80 when a still photo is taken during Live View or in movie shooting mode.

5. Fixes a phenomenon that may occur when the continuous shooting priority setting is enabled for multiple exposures, such that, after the sixth image is taken, there is a slight pause before the remainder of the sequence is completed.

6. Fixes a phenomenon in which the viewfinder display shows incorrect information during AEB shooting.

7. Communication with the WFT-E7 Wireless File Transmitter has been improved.

8. When images have been successfully transferred with the WFT-E7 Wireless File Transmitter through the FTP protocol, an “O” will be displayed. When images have not been successfully transferred with the WFT-E7 Wireless File Transmitter through the FTP protocol, an “X” will be displayed.

9. Fixes a phenomenon in which the camera may not function properly when an Eye-Fi card is used.

10. Fixes a phenomenon in which the focal length value listed in the Exif information is not displayed correctly for images shot with the EF 24-70mm F4L IS USM lens.

11. Fixes a phenomenon in which the lens firmware cannot be updated properly.

12. Corrects errors in the Arabic language menu.

13. Fixes a phenomenon in which the camera changes the AF microadjustment value to -8.

14. Fixes a phenomenon in which the on-screen guidance cannot be fully displayed when setting the maximum limit value for the “Setting the ISO Speed Range for Auto ISO” option.

* Items No.1 through 12 have been incorporated into firmware version 1.2.0.

* Items No.1 through 14 have been incorporated into firmware version 1.2.1.

Firmware Version 1.2.1 is for cameras with firmware version 1.2.0 or earlier. If the camera’s firmware is already version 1.2.1, it is not necessary to update the firmware.