Digital Camera News, 3/23/08

[David Rasnake]

Sigma launches new wide-aperture 50mm HSM lens

Sigma has done a one-up on the other wide-aperture 50mm primes on the market with the announcement last week of its 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM.

The company's latest "fast 50" sports Sigma's ring-type Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) focus drive, promising fast, near-silent AF operation and instant manual focus override just by turning the focusing ring. The EX pro-series lens also uses multi-layer coating to control flare and ghosting, and aspherical elements for aberration correction.

The new 50mm is slated for release in Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, and Sigma mounts. No word from the maker on pricing or availability.

Sony's new full-frame DSLR out in the open at Photo Imaging Expo

Tokyo hosted the Photo Imaging Expo 2008 late last week, and while there hasn't been a flood of news from the show, apparently Sony's planned full-frame pro DSLR that we reported on during PMA got a little more solid this week.

The photography blog masterchong.com posted several hands-on photos with the new camera (seen only under glass at PMA), along with shots of a new Sony external flash unit and battery grip to accompany the release. The new model, speculatively called the Alpha A900 and targeted squarely at pro bodies from Canon and Nikon, utilizes a newly developed 24.6 megapixel CMOS sensor.

Reports from PIE have confirmed that we should expect final versions of the A900 to make an appearance in time for Photokina in the fall.

Check out the images at masterchong.com.

Thanks to DCR moderator usapatriot for the tip!

New firmware for Canon EOS 30D, EOS 5D released

Canon has updated the firmware for its EOS 30D and EOS 5D DSLRs.

The latest 30D firmware adds camera-side EXIF support and automatic lens correction functionality in Canon's Digital Photo Professional RAW conversion software for a long list of lenses. Firmware for the 5D adds the same lens support and also corrects an issue with high-capacity CF cards.

Canon's website has download and installation instructions for both 30D firmware version 1.0.6 and 5D firmware version 1.1.1.

[usapatriot]

That Sigma 50mm F/1.4 lens has me excited.

[David Rasnake]

Yep, there's a lot of potential there. My 50mm f/1.4 is one of my absolute favorite lenses, and makes a great portrait lens on a DSLR. HSM is also a nice addition, though in my experience 50s tend to have such a light "throw" anyway that it may not be significantly faster than traditional screw-drive lenses (but for those of us who don't yet have an OEM internal-focus 50, it's a welcome addition just the same).

dr

[AaronM]

More important than the HSM is that this is filling a hole for Sigma, I don't think they had anything faster than f2.8 and longer than 30mm in their lineup.
-a