Bobcat

Nikon D810, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, f/3.2, 200mm, 1/500 sec

Wild cats are very elusive and shy, perhaps that's why I love to capture them more than any other type of wildlife. I saw this Bobcat twice on a hike this last weekend, the first time I was not prepared with a long enough lens, so on the way back through this area I had my AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, mounted on the D810 and came through as quiet as possible. I saw him on the trail in front of me, so I snuck up on him as stealthily as I could. With about 20 yards between us I caught a few images before he darted around the corner. When I made it to the corner it was obvious he had left the trail, so I froze. I knew he would be in the grass or trees watching me and as I scanned the area around me, sure enough, there he was watching me from behind some rocks about 10 yards away, I was able to get a few shots off before he ran into the grass and disapeared.

Margay in Costa Rica
Cheetah in Tanzania

A great hike!

Nikon D810, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, f/3.2, 200mm, 1/250 sec

Canon 5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f/4 L IS, f/13, 18mm, 1/80 sec

A great hike!

Ross

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New Sigma Art 50-100 f/1.8 and Quattro Mirrorless

The New Sigma Sigma 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM Art

Canon 80D announced

The Canon 80D looks like a competent camera for the stills or video enthusiast, improved on sensor ADC, improved AF with 45-point all cross-type autofocus module.

Key fearures

• New 45-point all cross-type AF system 
• Intelligent Viewfinder with approximately 100% viewfinder coverage 
• Newly Developed 24.2 Megapixel (APS-C) CMOS sensor
• DIGIC 6 image processor for enhanced image quality
• Improved Dual Pixel CMOS AF for smooth, fast and accurate autofocus with video and stills 
• Built-in Wi-Fi  and NFC capability for easy transfer of images and movies to compatible mobile devices
• 1080/60p Full HD video to capture brilliant results in MP4 format for easy movie sharing on select social networking sites
• Vari-angle Touch Screen 3.0-inch Clear View LCD II monitor enables flexible positioning and clear viewing even outdoors

DPReview here

Ross

Images In Light

Pentax K-1 full frame DSLR, at last

Pentax finally join the other big boys and bring full frame to their fans, this is a very interesting entry in to the FF market from Pentax, lots of good features at a very good price $1800.  It comes with a full line up of lenses already in place, including the all important f/2.8 zooms. Using the Sony 36mp sensor, it will be interesting to see how it compares with the Nikon D810. Pentax has a very good track record with the MF 645z.

This will be available soon, but I'm guessing it will be back ordered right away. B and H shows availability on: April 05 2016, get your orders in quick. Buy it here.

Key features:

• 36.4 effective MP, AA Filterless Full Frame CMOS sensor
• Newly Designed Prime IV Engine
• High Sensitivity 204,800 ISO
• SRII five-axis Shake Reduction System
• Pixel Shift Resolution System with motion correction function
• Continuous shooting at 4.4fps
• Selectable Anti-Aliasing Filter Effect
• 33 Point Auto-Focus System
• SAFOX 12 Autofocus Module
• Pentaprism Optical Viewfinder with 100% FOV
• 4-point LED Illumination of critical camera functions
• 3.2-inch Cross-Tilt LCD display
• APS-C Crop Mode for maximum lens flexibility and compatibility
• Built-in GPS and ASTRO TRACER Functions
• Built-in Electronic Compass
• Wi-Fi Camera Control and Image Transfer
• Professional H.264 Full HD video
• Dual SD card slots
• Fully weather sealed
• HDMI port
•  

Buy it here
at the source here
first impressions at DPReview here
DPReview article here
Petapixel article here
Imaging Resource here 
K-1 special site here
Pentax Forums here

Plus the 15-30 f/2.8 and the 24-105 f/3.5-5.6 here
get the 15-30 f/2.8 here at B and H
Hands on here 


Ross

Images In Light

Spring has sprung

5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f4 L IS, f/11, 1/125 sec at 28mm

5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f4 L IS, f/5.6, 1/500 sec at 16mm

I was out exploring the Cottonwood creek wildlife are near Pacheco pass this weekend, the hills are green and the wild flowers have started to bloom, should be great in the next few weeks, with temps in the 70's and rain in the forecast. It should be the perfect storm for the bloom this year.

Ross

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Sony and the missing link

The missing link

Sony today finally gives its fans what they have been missing, not just the anticipated A6300, but more importantly the the FE 24-70 f/2.8 GM and the FE 70-200 f/2.8 GM along with an FE 85mm f/1.4 GM, fast portrait prime, plus a pair of teleconverters. I can hear the vacuum of peoples bank accounts already.

 Sony full frame owners will really get a boost to their system with these new lens additions, the Pro f/2.8 versions have been missing, also a real portrait lens. Sony still has a way to go to catch up with Nikon and Canon, but this will go a long way to help complete the lenses needed for the Sony mirrorless system.

 What I do see here is proof that the cameras  really are to small and I wouldn't be surprised to see them start to grow. The A7 series has already begun that with the Mk II versions. A lot of people bought in to this system because of its relatively small size, but physics has a way of catching up, f/2.8 lenses just cant be small, that's just physics. Also you will note that the 70-200 has OSS, I believe the sensor based 5 axis stabilization is insufficient to cover these focal lengths, so this lens is pretty much the same size as the Canon or Nikon equivalents.

Sony FE 24-70 f/2.8 GM  here
Sony FE 70-200 GM  OSS here
Sony FE 85 f/1.4 GM  here
DPReview a6300 here
DPReview lenses here 

Ross

Images In Light

Shark Fin Cove

5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f/4 L IS, f/11, 19mm, 4 sec exposure.

I have been meaning to shoot this location for a while. About one hour from my place, just north of Santa Cruz. A place where the Canon 11-24 f4L would come in handy. This was taken with a Lee 6 stop ND filter and processed for monochrome in Lightroom 6.

Ross

Images In Light

Canon 1DX Mk II

Canon announce their flagship, the 1DS Mk II

Key features:

• Newly developed 20.2 megapixel 35mm Full Frame Canon CMOS sensor;
• Continuous shooting speeds of up-to-14 frames per second (fps) with Auto Exposure (AE) and predictive AF for viewfinder shooting and up to 16 fps¹ in Live View mode;
• Dual DIGIC 6+ Image Processors that transfer image data at extremely high speed for extended bursts during continuous shooting – up-to-170 consecutive RAW images at 14 fps. When shooting JPEG images you’re only limited by memory card capacity ²;
• Capable of shooting 4K 60P and Full HD 120P video with Dual Pixel CMOS AF;
• Enhanced wireless functionality (with the optional accessory Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E8) that supports the new high-speed IEEE 802.11ac standard and the ability to easily transfer photos and videos to compatible smartphones using Canon’s Camera Connect app*;
• Digital Lens Optimizer to help correct aberrations in-camera (a feature that previously required post-processing on an external computer);
• Improved 61-point viewfinder AF with expanded coverage and all AF-points selectable and supported to a maximum aperture of f/8;
• Improved AI Servo III+ predictive AF algorithm for better accuracy;
• Continuous red illumination of all AF points within the camera’s Intelligent Viewfinder II.
• Compatibility with both CF and CFast memory cards for optimal performance and versatility.
  
  Video:
  

  4K, 4096 x 2160 (60p, 30p, 25p, 24p, 23.98p), 1920 x 1080 (120p, 60p, 50p, 25p, 24p, 23.98p)

  MPEG-4, H.264, Motion JPEG

Canon web site here
Andy Rouse here
Imaging Resource here
What you need to know here at DPreview

Review here at DPreview

Full specs here at DPReview

Ross

Images In Light