Canon

Canon Cameras

How Tough is Your Camera?

I'm not sure that I would really want to test how tough is my camera, but some other dudes, at Digital Rev, tested the Canon 7D. Think of it as the “Jackass” movie but for cameras. For me it is much funnier since nobody gets hurt.

The Canon Timers

The Canon 7D has 4 different timers:

  • 4 seconds
  • 6 seconds
  • 10 seconds
  • 16 seconds

The 4 seconds timer

  • The LCD panel and viewfinder information display their information after the half shutter button press.
  • The review time for the photos. Configured through the Shoot 1 (red) menu as a 2 seconds (the default), a 4 seconds or an 8 seconds.
  • Exposure compensation after pressing the shutter button
  • Metering timer.

Life and Death of Batteries: Flashes

Cameras and flashes are powered by electricity. Most of it comes from batteries. But they use different battery technology. All modern cameras use Lithium-Ion batteries (Li) see: http://www.foto-biz.com/Canon/Life-and-death-of-batteries-part-1 while most modern flashes use Nickel Metal Hybrid (NiMH) based batteries. The reason is that cameras do not have a big and heavy electricity drain, while flash requires huge power for a short period of time. Lithium Ion batteries are lighter but they do not do last long under the heavy power load that the flash requires.

Move Over, I am a Pro

Move over, I am a pro. I have a Nikon D4 and Nikon Pro Services stickers all over my 600mm. Don't come close to me, that's my view. I own it.

Nikon Professional Services

Nikon Professional Services

The guy walked, not only like he owned the place but like everybody was supposed to bow to him.

New Canon Lens Caps

Finally Canon has rejoined the rest of the world by doing the same as every other lens manufacturer did 15 years ago. Canon has introduced the center pinched lens caps. Something must be right with Canon, the prices are not out of the Canon world:

Life and Death of Batteries: Cameras

This is the part one of a two parts about batteries and it affects us as photographers.

The battery technology is extremely old and hasn't changed much since the 1830s, yes that is 180 years ago. Some chemicals have changed but not the physics of the batteries. And right now, the biggest drag on technology is the battery technology.

MFA: The DOT-Tune Problems

Over the last while, there has been a lot of activities about somebody having find a better and faster way of doing the Micro-Focus Adjustment under 5 minutes. The guy did an 18 minutes youtube video available at: http://youtu.be/7zE50jCUPhM

DotTune: Autofocus Fine Tuning in Under 5 Minutes

Bait Cameras

On Saturday, I was walking around a slew with my camera… when I saw this:

Bait Camera: Canon 1DMk4 and 500mm

Bait Camera: Canon 1DMk4 and 500mm

British Columbia, where I live, use to be the North American capital of car theft. There is only one car insurance company for cars and it is government owned. The insurance company with the cops created the “Bait Cars” program.

Micro Focus Adjustments

Most professional and prosumer cameras have the Micro Focus Adjustment (MFA). The MFA allows for the variation between the focusing with focusing module and the focusing at the CMOS sensor. I do my MFA on regular basis:

  • Before a “big” job, just to make sure when I prepare the cameras, just like fully charged batteries for the cameras and the flashes, empty memory cards… It's part of the ritual.
  • Twice a year, usually the end of February and the mid-fall. The temperature extremes can change the MFA settings needed.

How Canon did in 2012

Please note that I'm only highlighting Canon's Imaging division which represents 40% of the company.

  • As with all multi-national companies, the financial information changes according to the currencies. Canon, like Nikon and most other Japanese camera companies, keep their “official accounting books” in Japanese Yens. They also provide US Dollars conversion (which I will use). The unknown is how is the exchange rate calculated? Is it on a transaction basis, on a daily basis, on a weekly or monthly basis?
  • Usually, the exchange rates are averaged over the month but they can use any other method, like the last day of the month as long as they always use the same method.
  • They do not have to explain the details of how they calculate the exchange rates, they just have to state which exchange rate they used.

Demand for interchangeable-lens digital cameras continued to display strong growth across global markets while demand for compact digital cameras shrunk not only in developed countries, but also in China and some emerging nations.

Source: Canon financials for the year 2012

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