Variable ND test: Heliopan vs Tiffen vs LCW mk II

Every large sensor & HDSLR shooter needs an ND filter for outdoor shoots and Variable ND’s have proven mighty useful if you’re a one-man band or on the clock.
But it is also a known fact that some Vari ND’s dampen your shots quality to some extent. So which is the best Variable ND for the money? Tim Fok put together a very useful test in which he compared the most common brands in detail.

This is a guest post written by Tim Fok

So I’m on the look out for a new variable ND filter. I’ve used the LCW mark II for a couple of years now, and have never been particularly keen on the softness it’s always seemed to add. But whilst trying to complete my L series lens collection, the hunt for a new ND filter kind of took a back seat, until now.

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Rumor: Canon EOS 70D & EOS 7D mark II on the way?

The first rumors about the next HDSLR cameras in line on Canon’s DSLR roadmap are coming in.

With Canon’s introduction of the 5D mark III 2 months ago some filmmakers are eager to see a more affordable version of the new generation of Canon’s HDSLRs.

For others the APS-C sized sensor which comes very close to the 35mm film format is an argument against the 5D mark III.

Unfortunately there are no dates mentioned for the release of these cameras yet but rumored specs lists are a good start. Published by canonrumors:

Canon EOS 70D
- Digic 5
- 18mp
- 100% viewfinder with grid lines like 7D
- 19 AF Points from 7D
- Continuous AF in LiveView & Video Recording
- September Announcement

7D Mark II
- Dual Digic 5
- 100% viewfinder
- 61 Point AF from 5D Mark III
- Announced after 70D

Pictures of the new Canon 5D mark III !!!

After 3 and a half years we’re seeing an update to the camera that spawned this website. The camera’s announcement day is rumored to be Friday March 2nd 2012.

Here are first leaked pictures of the Canon 5D mark III:

These were posted in the canonrumors forum:

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Canon 5D mark ii Firmware 2.0.9 – nothing new

We’ve got a new firmware from Canon for our favorite photo camera.
via Canonrumors:

1. Improves writing/reading speeds when using UDMA 7-compatible CF cards.
2. Fixes a phenomenon where the IS function will not work when custom function C.Fn III-2 is set to [5: IS start] and the lens attached does not have an AF stop button. This is because custom function C.Fn III-2 allows users to assign IS start to the AF stop button on the lens
3. Corrects misspellings in the menu screens displayed in Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai languages.

You can currently download the firmware from Canon Asia:

Download for Windows
Download for OSX

Find a list of all Canon firmware pages and older firmware in this forum topic.