Based on some patents filed by Nikon, the company is expected to announce an updated 800mm lens, which will be the largest lens in the current lineup, according to Nikon Rumors. As of now, the 600mm f/4G ED VR is the longest lens Nikon is offering, though Sigma and Canon both have 800mm f/5.6 lenses in their lineups.
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The point-and-shoot may be on its way out, but it certainly isn’t going out without a fight. A few weeks ago we saw Sony release the RX100, which has been called “the best pocket camera of all time,” and now Sigma is following that up with its own high-end compact to hit shelves on July 12th: the DP2 Merrill. Read more…
YouTube filmmaker Casey Neistat‘s DSLR recently took a tumble, breaking a piece off of the built-in lens hood of his Sigma lens. Instead of sending the lens in for repairs, Neistat decided to do a thrifty repair himself. After finding a similar-sized jar lid on some peanut butter at a local grocery store, he created a replacement hood himself by drilling a large hole and a couple small screw holes into the lid. He calls the project “The Peanut Butter Solution”.
Sigma made a bold move with its SD1 DSLR camera last month, slashing $6,400 off the camera’s list price to drop it from $9,700 to $3,300. The “street” price — how much the camera is actually priced in stores — fell from $6,900 to $2,300. If you thought customers who had purchased at the high price had been betrayed, think again: Sigma is rewarding those customers handsomely for their loyalty. Early adopters will receive 40 reward points through the “SD1 Point Support Program” that can be redeemed for ¥400,000 in Sigma gear — that’s $4,800 in new gear for a $4,600 price drop! This only applies to customers who purchased the SD1 at full price before February 23rd, and you’ll need to contact Sigma directly to claim your rewards.
When Sigma released its SD1 DSLR with its fancy Foveon sensor last year, many photographers balked at the camera’s $9,700 price tag. Now, perhaps due to the launch of a new generation of Canon and Nikon DSLRs, Sigma is rethinking the camera’s price. In a press release put out today, the company announced that the camera will be re-launched the Sigma SD1 Merrill — named in honor of Foveon co-creator Richard “Dick” Merrill.
However, even with this revolutionary image sensor, we could not solve issues related to some of the manufacturing methods before the start of mass production, and the production cost ended up substantially exceeding our originally expected price. As a result, we had no choice but to set the price of the Sigma SD1 high. This caused great discouragement to all of you who looked forward to its release, and wished to experience the very unique image quality of the Sigma SD1 in person; this has become our biggest disappointment and pain.
Since then, overcoming this situation has become the first priority for us and Foveon, and we have together made improvements to reduce production cost substantially. Even though this effort took nearly a year, at last, we achieved a reduction target close to the price we originally planned. Therefore, we decided to release Sigma SD1 as a new product
The company has decided to lop off a whopping $6,400 from the MSRP, meaning the camera is now priced at $3,300. It was selling in stores for $6,899 before, so the new “street price” will likely be around $2,300.
(via BusinessWire via Photo Rumors)
Image credit: SIGMA SD1 front 01 by HAMACHI!
Canon’s president Tsuneji Uchida announced today that he will be stepping down to pave way for a younger management team as the company fell short of expectations for the second straight year. Canon’s stock price dropped 19% last year while Nikon’s grew 4%. The total number of Canon cameras sold dropped 4% last year, likely a result of both a shift away from consumer cameras and the shortages caused by Japan’s earthquake and Thailand’s flooding. However, DSLR sales are going strong:
Although Canon was affected by supply shortages caused by the quake and flooding, efforts to ramp up production and boost sales in response to robust demand resulted in significant increases in year-on-year sales volumes for such digital cameras as the competitively priced EOS Digital Rebel T3i/T2i/T3, along with the EOS 5D Mark II and the new EOS 60D advanced-amateur models.
Another big story in the camera world this past week was the passing of Sigma founder Michihiro Yamaki, who started the company in 1961 at the age of 27 by developing the first rear lens converter. He went on to lead the company for over 50 years, turning it into the largest third-party lens maker in the world. Yamaki passed away on January 18 at the age of 78 after a battle with liver cancer.
(via Amateur Photographer and PopPhoto)
Image credit: Broken filter! by -AX- … off until may!
There’s some shady business going on at CES 2012 in Vegas. Sigma has announced that one of the lenses it unveiled at the trade show this year, the 180mm f/2.8 macro lens, disappeared after being unveiled on Tuesday. The lens is believed to be one of only two pre-production models that exist.
(via Amateur Photographer)
Image credit: Classic Bond with Gadget Briefcase by Dunechaser
Want a wooden DSLR? If you have extremely deep pockets, nows your chance: Sigma has announced a special wood edition of its high-end SD1 DSLR, which ordinarily sells for $9,700. dpreview writes,
The ‘Wood Edition’ emphasizes the camera’s premium appeal by adding a casing made from Amboyna Burl, an expensive and decorative veneer taken from complex growths on a Southeast Asian tree. The case takes around 60 hours to cut, mill and polish.
Only ten of these cameras will be made, with each one priced at €9,999 (~$13,800).
Of all the camera lenses offered on Amazon, the $26,000 35-pound giant green Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 probably has the funniest customer reviews and images.
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Apparently Sigma was aiming for a much lower price when developing the SD1 DSLR, but was forced to price it high after putting in whole bunch of “great stuff”. The company’s Chief Operating Officer Kazuto Yamaki is responding to user complaints on Twitter with some apologetic Tweets, saying the company had missed the price range that they had originally targeted. Perhaps the SD1 wasn’t designed as a halo product after all…
(via 1001 Noisy Cameras)
