Reminder that the B&H Canon Lens and Speedlite Rebates expire next weekend. These are instant discounts like $300 off the famous Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Zoom Lens or $120 instant discount on my favorite Canon 100mm F/2.8 IS Macro. Find more details about all the discounts available following the link to the rebate page via B&H (Click Here).
Canon Lens and Speedlite Instant Rebates
Just talking about Canon's latest Compact Prime Cine Lenses, it's not for everyone. Fortunately Rokinon is well aware of the DSLR Video scene and is adding another Cine lens to it's product line and i'm feeling the new Rokinon 35mm T/1.5 Cine lens is going to be a winner. The available Rokinon 8mm T/3.8 Cine Lens didn't really take off since it was more of a specialty type wide angle fisheye look.
The new 35mm Cine Lens will have a lens gear built around the housing, and de-clicked manual aperture ring to adjust exposure on the fly. First lenses will come in Canon, Nikon, and Sony mounts, but as one wise commenter mentioned you could just go for the Nikon version (since it's a manual lens) and find simple adapter to fit just about everything else.
[Update] Rokinon will also be announcing a new 14mm T/3.1 & 24mm T/1.5 Cine Lens. At this time, only the 8mm T/3.5 Fisheye is already available, and 35mm T/3.1 has been just been released for pre-order, but you'll be able to check out the entire Rokinon Cine Lens collection over at B&H (Click Here).
Rokinon 35mm T/1.5 Cine Lens
The Zeiss CP.2 Compact Primes have been a popular choice for professional Canon DSLR Cine Lenses, but Canon should be giving Zeiss a run with the growing line of Canon CN-E compact primes. So far they've announced a 24mm T1.5, 50mm T1.3, and 85mm T1.3, to work on your full frame cameras, the new Black Magic Cinema camera, and 4K resolution ready for that new C500. For me that has pretty much covered a good range of lenses I choose to use on a daily basis, but i'm hoping to see a 35mm added to that list too. Pricing is not too far off from the CP2 lenses, and Pre-order pricing for Canon's compact CN-E prime lenses start at just under $5K (each).
Canon Compact Prime 24mm, 50mm, and 85mm CN-E Lenses
The Ultrawide Rokinon 8mm and fast 85mm F/1.4 lenses are back on Lightning Deals. These deals have always proved to be the cheapest price you'll find for these lenses. These deals only last for a few hours or until the quantity is sold out. You might find that it brings you to a Nikon mount deal, but no worries. Rokinon are all manual focus lenses, and the Nikon mount can fit on Canon bodies with a very thin and simple adapter like the ones (seen here on Amazon)
The Nikon mount can also fit pretty much everything else without a complicated adapter like a Sony FS100 down to a Sony NEX7 or GH2. Check it out at the deals page via Amazon (Click Here).
Amazon Lightning Deals
Normally priced at $255.00 dollars, the Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS II Lens has a price drop down to just $149.00. This is only a 48 hour sale with B&H or until inventory runs out. Check it out following the link (click here)
Canon EF-S 55-250mm F/4-5.6 IS II Lens
Here's another video showing you how those new ND or CPL filters will work when in use with point and shoot cameras. Keep in mind that i'm still working with prototype versions, so end quality in design and glass will be much better. The ring i've attached to the Sony RX100 was originally designed for the smaller lens of the HX20V, but I was was able to use the filters without obstructing the widest focal length of the RX100. As soon as they become available, i'll let you know who you can purchase these from. For updates, please follow me on Twitter.
The RX100 so far has been a better replacement over many of the other cameras i've been using including the Canon S100, HX9V, or HX20V. Check out the RX100 over (click here).
Sony RX100 Digital Camera
Amazon Lightning Deals
For these 8mm Rokinon Lenses, check out the discounts following the links below.
Rokinon 8mm F2.8 Ultra-Wide Fisheye Lens for Sony E-mount and Sony NEX Cameras 28FE8MBK-SE Black
Rokinon 8mm F2.8 Ultra-Wide Fisheye Lens for Sony E-mount and NEX Cameras Silver
The Canon 7D seems to have received it's second wind with the new Firmware announcement that will give it full manual audio and a slew of other features. You've probably seen other blogs talking about the Canon 7D Deal that ends today. If not, take a peek at what B&H has to offer. About $200 dollars off regular retail price + Free accessories or instant discounts and rebates on Canon lenses and more. The product page will display a link to choose your free accessory (in product description). Today is the last day if you wanted to see what's available (Click Here).
Canon 7D Sale and Bundle Rebates Discounts
What happened to cheap Variable ND filters? So I recently picked up the Sigma 30mm lens for the Sony NEX-7 camera and it's been the only lens on the camera since. Today I decided I needed a Variable ND filter and did some online shopping. For cheap, normally the Nature ND filter (seen here on eBay) was pretty good, but today it's going for around $50 bucks. Even the purplish color casting Polaroid Variable ND filter on Amazon is now being listed for more than $35 dollars (seen here).
Now the option for a cheap Variable ND Filter for under $13.00 dollars is the Slim Variable Fader ND version from Fotga. The listing on the product details claim to use high quality glass from Japan that avoids color shift when changing densities. I doubt it's that good, but I can correct a little color cast through a WB shift or in post. I know Fotga has some decent products, but so far there's no talk about these Variable ND Filters. Not many options now for cheap Variable ND filters, so to find out if it's any good, I went ahead and ordered a 46mm.
