Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

Canon also announced a few products to go with the the EF system. The more relevant ones to the site's readership will be the Speedlites 320EX and 270EX II. The former features an integrated LED (even though magnified by a lens, the LED's die looks huge) for video purposes, while both flashes have wireless slave features. They also have the interesting Pocketwizard-like ability to trigger the shutter of a compatible Canon DSLR. They are expected to ship in April for US$250 for the 320EX, and US$$170 for the 270EX II.

As for the lenses, the new products are the 500mm f/4 and 600mm f/4 L IS II lenses, which will come with the usual 5-digit price tags (or near 5-digit). The third lens is the 200-400mm f/4 IS, which is still being developed. Countering the popularity of the Nikon 200-400/4, Canon also added the trick of integrating a 1.4x teleconvertor. Convenience, or unneeded weight and bulk? You decide (if you are in the market for such a lens in the first place).

Canon Speedlite 270EX II and 320EX

Canon 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Development Announcement

Canon 500mm and 600mm f/4L IS USM II

Picture of the 270EX II after the break.

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"Mississauga, ON, September 15, 2010 - Nikon Canada today introduced the versatile SB-700 Speedlight, the latest addition to Nikon's powerful and versatile Creative Lighting System (CLS). The SB-700 is a high-performance versatile Speedlight that brings simplicity to on-camera, remote and multiple flash photography. Building on the success of the popular SB-600 Speedlight and the advanced functionality of the SB-900 Speedlight, the SB-700 also incorporates a wide zoom range covering the most popular focal lengths, FX/DX format identification that optimizes zoom settings and provides a more efficient use of batteries and flash coverage, and three light distribution patterns for flash-to-scene customization. Whether used as an on-camera flash or as a wireless commander or remote, the Nikon SB-700 Speedlight offers dependable and consistent flash exposure even under the most challenging lighting conditions."

I have a real love/hate relationship with flashes; in general, I dislike flash photography, but that's mostly because I'm not very good at working with off-camera flash (and direct flash, even bounced, can be awful). I've tried putting my SB-600 into slave mode, and it was the most convoluted process I could imagine. I'm sure it would get better with practice, but it's not exactly simple. The SB-700 is on my "might buy" list because it has a user interface that looks much easier to figure out than my SB-600. I have a friend that works wonders with off-camera flash, so I know it's something I should add to my photographer's tool kit. Where do you stand on flash photography?

The remainder of the press release and more images are after the break. Read more...