The mystery of the disappearing Canon lenses deepens. Today, Canon announced the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens. The first version of this lens is among Canon’s most highly regarded (and expensive) lenses, so if this second version delivers on all its improvement claims, then it’s sure to be another home run.

Here are some of the important improvements you should be aware of:

Durability

Canon claims that the new lens has been redesigned for better strength and durability without a significant increase in weight. The weight is increasing from 3.24lb/1.47kg to 3.28lb/1.49kg, and increase of about one percent.

Optics

The internals of the lens have been redesigned and added to, leading to less chromatic aberration and higher contrast and resolution. Canon has pretty lofty goals for this lens, and claims that it will become “the leader of Canon’s L-series lenses,” a title arguably attained by the first version.

Focusing

The algorithm behind focusing has been improved, leading to faster AF speeds. In addition, the minimum focusing distance of this lens has been reduced from 4.6ft/1.4m to 3.9ft/1.2m, which allows you to get significantly closer to your subject than you could before. This give the new lens the same minimum focusing distance as the f/4 versions of the 70-200mm.

Design

A common complaint with the first version of the lens was that the auto/manual focus switch gets bumped easily. Some photographers worked around this problem by covering up the switch with tape. While it’s unknown whether this particular annoyance has been resolved in the new lens, the “UI” of the lens has been redesigned, and the thickness of certain components such as the switch panel has been reduced, leading to a sleeker-looking lens.

Pricing and Availability

The lens will be available at the end of February 2010, with the price reportedly set at £2,799.99, or roughly $4,500.

Conclusion

It looks like the rumors going around about big Canon announcements are starting to come true. It’s a bit annoying that these things aren’t all announced at the same time, but brace yourselves for some more gear announcements coming from Canon in the next couple weeks. Will the next one be the 24-70mm II?

If you’re a fan of Polaroid instant film, then 2010 might soon become a great year for you. The classic instant film format is making a comeback through the Impossible Project, so it might be time to dust off your old Polaroid cameras (if the redesigned format is compatible, that is).

To trigger some nostalgia and anticipation for the film’s comeback, the above photograph is a Polaroid 1000 camera built with LEGO blocks. Sadly, the camera doesn’t work, and only spits out pretend photos. However, with the number of people who love both Polaroid and LEGOs, a working version of this thing would surely be on everyone’s wishlist the instant it’s released.

LEGO Polaroid (via MAKE)

I wonder how long it will be before camera phone imaging quality rivals the quality of the best point-and-shoot cameras.

(via Photography Bay)

As Canon Rumors reported two days ago, a large number of lenses have completely disappeared from the Canon USA website. What made the story even more interesting was the fact that many of the missing lenses were among Canon’s most popular and highly acclaimed, and lenses about which upgrade rumors have been circulating for a long time.

These include the 24-70mm f2.8L, a lens that might soon be upgraded to a Image Stabilized (IS) Mark II version in the very near future.

However, The-Digital-Picture just reported today that,

Canon USA has “… identified the issue and will have it fixed as soon as possible”.

What do you think? Was this simply a technical glitch, or is Canon getting ready for a major announcement?

Keep in mind that numerous sites have reported that Canon has two announcements planned for January 5th (tomorrow) and January 9th (Saturday), in line with consumer technology tradeshow CES.

(via Canon Rumors)

Update: B&H has an event on the 5th called “Discover Canon’s High-end Pro Lenses Presented by Canon“. Wonder if this is related… (thx @Krypty)

Welcome to 2010! I can’t believe it’s been 8 months already since we started this blog back in May of 2009. Thanks to all you awesome readers and tweeters who have subscribed to this blog and followed our Twitter account this past year.

In this post, we’re going to share some statistics on the growth of this blog in the past 8 months, in order to give you all a better idea of where we are.

Blog

This is the core of what PetaPixel is. Since launching this blog on May 14, 2009, we’ve written 295 posts across 19 topics. These posts have received 2,893 comments, for an average of 9.8 comments/post.

In terms of traffic, we’ve received 620,077 page views from 362,965 unique visitors since launching. We currently have 2,635 RSS subscribers. Here’s a chart of our subscriber count since the beginning:

The 25 polls we’ve posted so far have received exactly 10,000 votes, and have sparked some pretty interesting conversations.

We’ve also done 12 giveaways where we gave away gear and software worth a total of $4,041. These giveaways received a total of 3,348 entries.

Twitter

PetaPixel is also very active on Twitter. We currently have 31,312 followers, and appear on 3,407 lists. We’ve made 1,777 tweets since creating our account, and our Best of Photography list has 1,559 followers. According to Listorious, this list is the #13 most popular list on Twitter.

On WeFollow, PetaPixel is listed as the #6 most influential and #14 most followed for photography, and #8 most influential and #15 most followed for photographer.

Miscellaneous

On Flickr, our profile has 868 contacts, and our group has 1,348 members. 5,739 photos have been post to our group pool.

We also have 724 subscribers through FriendFeed, who have left a total of 369 comments.

Our Facebook profile currently has 300 friends, and our official page has 760 fans.

In addition to Twitter, we also regularly bookmark helpful and interesting photography-related links to our Delicious account. Two new links are displayed every weekday on the side column of our blog. So far we’ve added 397 awesome links to this account.

What’s Next?

So far, PetaPixel has been a part-time, two-person operation. Jessica is applying to grad schools, and I have one semester left before I earn a MS in CS. I’m hoping to write for PetaPixel full time after I graduate in May, so if this is something you’d like to support, please continue spreading the word about this blog!

Thanks so much to everyone who has visited, subscribed to, retweeted, and commented on PetaPixel in the past 8 months! I’m definitely looking forward to 2010, and hope to see you around as we continue to share photography-related awesomeness!

Image credit: 2009 becomes 2010: Happy New Year! by Optical illusion

As 2009 comes to an end, here’s a look back at 10 of our most popular articles from the past year:

1. 4 Creative Projects that Bend the Reality of Street Scenes
2. 21 Awesome T-Shirts for Photographers
3. A National Geographic Photographer’s Incredible Antarctic Experience
4. 7 Steps to Taking Clone Photographs
5. 13 Tips for Staying Motivated in Photography
6. Pro Camera Gear on a Student Budget
7. The Chilling Effects of the Fashion World
8. Some Thoughts on the Canon 7D
9. PetaPixel Photography Gift Guide 2009
10. Shooting Stars: Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks November 17

Image credit: New Year Eve London 2008 (Fireworks) by T@H!R – طاھر

Here are the results of the poll we posted last week:

2009 is coming to an end, and we’re wondering whether you’ve made any New Year’s resolutions that have to do with photography. Perhaps you’re going to try a photo a day for 365 days, or start a photoblog, or maybe even both. How many have you made?

If you have made resolutions for 2010, please share what you’ve decided to do in the comments!

Image credit: Writing Resolutions by Tojosan

This video is an interesting compilation of over 4,600 Polaroid self-portraits taken by Marc Tasman over ten years between July 24, 1999 and July 24, 2009. That’s a total of 3,654 consecutive days.

The video is similar to Noah Kalina’s everyday project, where he made 2,356 self-portraits over six years between January 11, 2000 and July 31, 2006. The difference is that Tasman’s self-portraits are much more… diverse.

(via Laughing Squid)

Update: Alain points out that Noah’s project has been going on for almost 10 years now, and that the video was simply made at the 6 year milestone.

Animated films have had enjoyed increased exposure on the big screen this year. Films like Pixar’s Up, Miyazaki’s Ponyo, and Ari Folman’s animated documentary, Waltz with Bashir,  have received widespread critical acclaim, demonstrating that while animated films can be family-friendly, they are at their core a dynamic and imaginative medium with impressive potential.

Two major animated films this year, Henry Selick’s 3D film, Coraline, and Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, utilize an old animating technique that has been used for nearly a century: stop-motion.

According to the IMDB websites of both films, the individual frames of Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox were captured with Nikon DSLRs: the Nikon D80 and D3, respectively, along with a variety of other lenses, bodies, and equipment. Additionally, several Canon bodies can be spotted in a Wired.com video feature on Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Producer Jeremy Dawson notes how differently the film was produced because it was on a digital medium: instead of director Wes Anderson being present during the entire filming process, captured photographs could be remotely accessed and viewed for his approval, no matter where he was physically. The final film consists of 5,229 shots, 621,450 frames, an average of 120 gigabytes of data was captured per day, and the total storage for the images took up 18.5 terabytes of space.

Coraline also seems to have its share of behind-the-scenes camera aficionados; the titular character can be seen in one scene using a Leica camera.

Both films are visually captivating. Coraline director Selick does not stray far from the styles of his previous animated masterpieces, James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Director Wes Anderson’s trademark vintage color palette also stays consistently impressive.

The behind the scenes featurettes of the films are worth a watch as well, and provide some interesting insight into the tedious effort and tremendous amount of time put into making these gorgeous motion pictures.

The Making of Coraline

Behind the Scenes of Fantastic Mr. Fox

PetaPixel: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

Laura Brunow Miner: I have a background as a print designer, but haven’t worked as one in a few years. I really enjoy deciding each morning whether I’m going to be an editor, designer, writer, entrepreneur, internet geek, or photography lover that day — or all of the above. I’m originally from a suburb outside Dallas, and spent seven years in the lovely college town of Lawrence, Kansas.

PP: How did you first get into photography?

LBM: I’ve got a long history with photography. I co-founded my high school photography club, and as a teenager I worked at both a one hour photo lab and a contemporary art museum. In college I did some event photography and took some classes while getting a degree in International Business with a concentration in art and design. After graduating I worked for an architecture firm in Lawrence, Kansas, as a graphic designer — though I often tagged along with the architectural photographers, and did some shooting myself.

Six months after moving to San Francisco I landed a job as a print designer for JPG Magazine, and over a few years there, worked my way up to editor in chief. During that period I realized how fulfilled I was by immersing myself in photography as an editor, particularly in a community setting where the results are always surprising.

PP: What was your first camera?

LBM: I learned on my dad’s fully manual Nikon F from the 60s — the original photojournalist camera.

PP: What equipment do you use now?

LBM: While I love taking photos, I don’t consider myself a photographer, and shoot pretty casually. I take a lot of iPhone photos, do some underwater point and shoot photography with a Canon Powershot D10, use a Canon Rebel dSLR, and just started playing around with a LOMO LC-A+.

PP: What is Pictory, and why did you start it?

LBM: Pictory is an online publication for big photos and small stories. I designed and founded it as a way to create my dream job for myself. I also felt there was a need for more online publications with the care and intention of print magazines, but also the practicality of the web.

PP: How many people are currently involved in Pictory at this point?

LBM: Just one, myself. Though I hired Jeff Croft of Seattle to build Pictory for me on a Django platform, and my husband, Wilson Miner, has been incredibly helpful with advice and ideas. I also plan to continue to work with a guest designer and guest copyeditor on each showcase.

PP: Why did you choose the name “Pictory”?

LBM: Besides the straightforward “picture + story” which helps explain that captioned photos are submitted, “pictory” is also a term used in other cultures for photo stories (try googling it!). Plus, I wanted a name that felt catchy enough for the Web, but didn’t immediately seem misspelled. (For example, I own piktory.com but opted for pictorymag.com instead.) I’m an editor after all — and particular about spelling and typos.

PP: How do you choose the photos that are included in the showcases? What are the things you look for?

LBM: Many factors go in to the selection. Is it an eye-catching photo, and does it look good at 1,000 pixels wide? Is there a unique perspective to the image or caption, or do I have a dozen other entries from the same viewpoint? Is it the best of those dozen? Does it work well in the flow of the showcase? (IE: too many vertical photos in a row can fatigue the eye, etc.)

PP: What has been the most challenging part of getting Pictory off the ground?

LBM: Putting one foot in front of the other during the months when my “to do” list seemed infinite. Design is fun for me, but writing specs or working on legal documents is not.

Another challenge was “keeping my eye on the north star.” One of the things that made the site successful was feedback from dozens of smart Web industry friends during development. The tricky part was staying focused on my own vision while processing smart advice that wasn’t always right for me.

The actual logistics of starting the online magazine was really fun — I wouldn’t call it a challenge. After a year or so of just doing editorial, it was thrilling to get back to design work — and a total luxury to have plenty of time to iterate and fine tune the design. Watching a capable developer think things through and ask the right questions during the code process was just as exciting. Pictory is sort of halfway between running JPG and a blog, so I felt pretty secure about how to execute it from the beginning. If I got stuck, I either went in favor of simple or waited until I had an instinctual feeling for what was right.

PP: What are some common mistakes photographers make in photos submitted to Pictory?

LBM: The number one mistake I’ve seen is people using the caption to describe things we can see in the photo. For example, if it’s a shot of a woman on a rooftop, they’ll describe her appearance and posture (which we can see) without explaining what they remember about the moment. It’s the equivalent of a stranger coming up to you at a party and telling you about his outfit, and you wanting to respond, “I can see your outfit, I want to hear about you!”

PP: What is the most important thing you’ve learned so far through Pictory?

LBM: I’ve learned how much faster I can learn and improve when running an online publication than I could when running a print publication. It’s like the difference of shooting with a digital camera or a film camera, in terms of the speed of feedback. I’ve also learned how completely fulfilling this work is to me!

PP: What’s Phoot Camp and why did you start it?

LBM: Phoot Camp is an invite-only camping trip for photographers that I founded last October, and which will continue annually. I started it because I love meaningful fun! I think I might be a “collaboration matchmaker” in my next life (or next career) and introducing 20 talented people to each other was well worth the hard work of organizing. I was thrilled with the photographs and videos that came out of it (displayed at http://phootcamp.com) and I’m really happy to see the friendships and working relationships that have thrived since.

PP: In your opinion, are there any “Silicon Valleys” of photography? If so, where?

LBM: LA and New York, because they are the two easiest places to make a career out of photography. I love visiting New York because it’s so easy to end up at dinner with a photo agent and drinks with a photojournalist and then brunch with a photo curator — and have great conversations along the way. San Francisco doesn’t have the same density of photo industry folks, but I pal around with new media innovators here and love it.

PP: Do you think we’ll see the end of print magazines as we know it? How is the landscape changing?

LBM: No, but I do think we’ll see an explosion of online magazines, as people are doing some really smart thinking on the topic already. Sports Illustrated and BERG are great examples.

I think there will absolutely be room for both in the market, though I’m going to compare print magazines to film again and suggest that they might be more of a purist offering. But I’m not sure if I even believe that, because who doesn’t love curling up in a recliner with a magazine?

PP: What are the main advantages and disadvantages of online magazines?

LBM: The feedback and metrics available for online media will turn good editors into great ones very quickly. Plus, there are so many possibilities for expanding on ideas, using infographics, quoting or referring to content, etc., online. I can’t wait to see the piggybacking and sharing of ideas that happens.

That said, online magazines don’t have the tactile appeal or portability of print publications — nor the mastery of the medium that has been achieved by some print offerings.

PP: Who are your favorite photographers?

LBM: My favorite “famous” photographer is Roger Ballen. Of the photographers I know, I could name dozens, but Bernie DeChant, Matt Nuzzaco, Paul Octavious Cribb, and Steph Goralnick are all consistently great.

PP: Anything else you’d like to say to PetaPixel readers?

LBM: If you’d like to be considered for Phoot Camp or have feedback on Pictory, feel free to contact me at support@pictorymag.com. Thanks for reading!

Image credits: Photographs by Laura Brunow Miner. Headshot taken by Wilson Miner