This is the reason why the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS UM and Nikon AF 80-400mm VR f/4.5-5.6 D ED has been so successful despite their obviously high prices (around $2000). When I’m on photo safari, I’d say that about half the people around me have one of the Canons as their main lens (somtimes, it’s even their only lens).

Some time ago, Sigma added its own version of this lens (see this high-end zoom lens comparison). And it was a winner in terms of price-performance.

Now, we can expect several significant news in this range of products coming from different manufacturers.

• Sony presented about a year ago a mockup of a zoom lens corresponding well to this range. The word is out that it will be a 70-400mm f/5.6 zoom presented to the European press on August 14th (for an official launch in the beginning of September, probably at the same time Sony launches the Sony Alpha 800 and/or Sony Alpha 900 Full Frame camera(s)).
• According to some rumors (mainly originating from an unsubstantiated initial post at NikonRumours), there will soon be a Nikon AF80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR update. And this should be explaining the reduced availability of the original version.

I would even be tempted to read between the lines of a recent test article of Chasseur d’Image and say that Canon will also be hard pressed to provide an update to its aging 100-400mm. After all, it’s a real cash cow and a sure sale for owners of top- and mid-range cameras like the Canon EOS 40D (and possibly its successor EOS 50D – next year?).

Source: Popular photography.

This opens doors to a type of photography that is quite unusual and that was only possible with the old IR analog photo films. It seemed a bit over-geeky in the digital world.

PopPhoto.com explains us how to remove the IR filter of the Sigma SD14 and start IR photography.

Beware: It is quite probable -even if Sigma approves of the opening of your camera- that you may loose the advantage of the camera warranty in doing so. To be checked before…

This is not everyday that a web site makes the effort to compare 26 Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras in one single article/review. Nevertheless, this is what GearDigest (affiliated to the excellent Tom’s Hardware of good fame among PC enthusiasts) does today. This is an orgy of cameras between $600 and $7000 (around 600-7000€)! Are missing though: Panasonic and Leica for being late and the Fuji S3 pro that is -surprisingly- considered a specialty camera for infrared.

The guide contains several pages of explanations and of theory on the advantages of the specificities of the SLR and DSLR cameras (the journalist visibly does not expect its readers to know much about that photo technology and compensates with the clarity of his writing).

unfortunately (but this is understandable for a general public audience – rather than photo enthusiasts), the comparison is done essentially at the limited level of technical characteristics. Nonetheless, this is a very wide review of the photo DSLR landscape of available products and it will ease the initial sorting between the many offers.

Link.

This is very bad news for this good product. After having missed the Christmas season buying spree, the SD14 may have itself in a tough strugle with the new products bound to appear in Spring 2007.

As could be expected, the center spot of the show is the Foveon X3 sensor bringing 2652 x 1769 pixels of 3 colours (where the competiton is taking only 1 colour per pixel and has to interpolate missing data, Sigma Foveon literally piles up 3 pixels of different colours in a single pixel), leading to a total of 14 million pixels. This is not only more than the current competiton (Rather in the 10 M-pixel ballpark), but it makes without additional calculations and interpolations that always produce some little more or less visible coloured effects. Hurrah for fine colours!

Moreover, the SD14 – at long last – brings JPEG format images to ease life of most amateur photographers. In this context, Sigma is specially proud of its new supporting software Photo Pro 3.0.

Another feature where Sigma heard the same call than its competition: Dust management. This time, there is no cleaning of the sensor but a protection located far enough from the sensor to avoid any dust left to be visible.

But the two big advantages – to my eyes – come from the shutter and the viewfinder. The first is protecting well the sensor and bring a very long life time of 100,000 exposures (let’s not forget that today’s digital photographers are shooting infintely more than their analog predecessors). The viewfinder is served by a superb pentaprism (certainly bringing a very clear view), with 0.9x magnification, an 18mm eye point and –3 to +1.5 dpt dioptric adjustment for those of us with less than perfect eye-sight.

What is left for scrutiny in the upcoming test models: The autofocus with only 5 measuring zones may prove limited compared to richer offerings from Canon or Nikon; 3 image/second continuous shooting is only capable of 6 images at the highest quality.

All in all, Sigma is certainly participating in the race for the best digital single lens reflex camera of Year 2007.

Sigma started the promotion of its upcoming SD14 on the Sigma web site specially open for it. You’ll find a Flash teaser that doesn’t say much, but the use of a new sensor from the excellent Foveon X3 series (they decode the three basic colors on eah pixel leading to an improved resolution and an excellent color quality).

Shouldn’t the name point to a 14 million-pixel resolution? I’ll tell you more, when I have more.