Canon Singapore has published a first photograph of the long-awaited Canon 200-400mm f/4L IS Extender 1.4x, which, as its name suggests, includes a built-in 1.4x teleconverter. The photo was shared with this caption:

Be one of the first to check out the soon to be launched EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x at the EOS Experience Roadshow happening this weekend! We’ll be at Cathay Orchard Cineleisure this 4-6 January from 11am-10pm! See you there!

Sounds like the lens is indeed close to hitting store shelves after being announced in February 2011. It’ll reportedly cost around $11,000.

(via Canon via Canon Rumors)

Just because you use the built-in flash on your compact camera doesn’t mean you need to live with harsh, direct lighting. Here’s a quick video tutorial teaching how to use any small white card (e.g. a piece of scrap paper or a business card) to easily bounce your flash and soften the lightning.

(via Pixiq)

Bryce Bell of cardnetics created this business card design that features a built-in aperture mechanism. Pull the lever down and the aperture opens up. If you run a photography-related business, this could be a neat business card to pass out to your clients. Pre-assembled cards start at $6 each, while you can buy kits that you put together yourself for $2.50. If you want to try printing and laser cutting the card yourself, the design templates are available here.

Small Iris (via Reddit)

Canon might be rolling out a new Image Stabilized lens with a built-in teleconverter, but Tamron and Nikon seem to have image-stabilization/vibration-reduction tricks up their sleeve as well. Apparently in the early 2000s both Nikon and Tamron filed patents for teleconverters with image stabilization baked right in. Tamron’s was for a standard unit that sits between the lens and the camera body, while Nikon’s was for a unit that sits in front of the lens.
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Canon is on a tear today with its announcements. In addition to new Rebel cameras and new entry level flashes, they also have some lens news. First, they’re releasing new versions of their 500mm and 600mm lenses, but even more interesting is the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x lens they announced the development of. This is a zoom lens that has a 1.4x teleconverter built right in. Once you switch it on, it instant turns into a 280-560mm f/5.6 lens!