Canon also announced today a new L-series lens - the EF 70-300mm f4/5.6L IS USM.  For customers requiring a compact size lens for travelling with a 4.3x telephoto zoom range, this could well be ideal.

The IS function provides a four-stop IS advantage, allowing capture of sharp images even when shooting at maximum zoom or in low light, by allowing the use of slow shutter speeds than would be usually possible with handheld shooting.

An eight-blade circular aperture also offers excellent bokeh, ideal for portraiture, producing a more peasant background and creatively isolating the subject.

More details on the lens can be found here

Canon today announces the latest addition to its world-famous EOS series of Digital SLR (DSLR) cameras - the new EOS 60D. Replacing the EOS 50D, the EOS 60D is designed for photographers who want to take their skills to the next level, offering high performance, a series of creative features, a Vari-angle LCD screen and enhanced ergonomics - empowering photography enthusiasts to capture outstanding stills and Full High Definition (HD) video for unique, creative results.

The EOS 60D uses an 18 megapixel APS-C sensor and Canon's DIGIC 4 technology and can shoot at bursts of 5.3fps.  It also features the same metering system as the 7D with a 63 zone Dual Layer sensor.

Immediately obvious and something new for this level of camera is the new 3" vari-angle LCD monitor, allowing you to frame shots from awkward angles.

On the movie front, the EOS 60D offers 1920x1080p at 30, 25 and 24fps as well as 720p at 60 and 50 fps.  Full manual control is available in Movie mode.  Sound wise, there is an external stereo mic input and most importantly manual gain adjustment is available!  An HDMI connection is provided - how effective this is for monitoring, we will have to wait and see.

More details on the camera can be found here.

Sony announced today the launch of two new 'compact' cameras - the a55 and a33. Now we don't usually talk much about the Alpha range but these cameras are worthy of special mention.

Sony have introduced Translucent Mirror Technology which uses a fixed translucent mirror that 'splits' the optical pathway between the main image sensor and a separate phase-detection autofocus sensor. This means you can use either the viewfinder or LCD screen at all times and full-time autofocus is thus also available. For those that find the idea of no autofocus somewhat daunting (a lot of consumers), this is great news - this is the first camera that is 'family friendly' for shooting video. We are assuming as the cameras record video in AVCHD format, all shooting is at Sony's packaged 50i frame rate.

Both models include Sony's sweep panorama, which whilst it does have its limitations, can produce some quite impressive shots.

The LCD tilts and swivels (to a maximum 270 degrees) for comfortable framing using the 3.0" Xtra Fine LCD. The viewfinder has a 1.15 million dot resolution and delivers 100% coverage.

The two models are available with either a 14.2mp or 16.2mp sensor, the more expensive a55 offering faster shooting at up to 10fps rather than the 7fps of the a33.

More details once we get our hands on one!

Today Nikon has announced the launch of the D3100, a follow up to the D3000.  As you would expect, the specification has been improved but interestingly there are a few significant points to make.  Firstly the sensor is now a 14.1mp CMOS sensor and the camera now can film at 24fps at Full 1080p HD (can also film at 720p).  What seems the biggest draw (for movie makers) is the AF-F focus mode in live view which keeps the subject in focus without the need to press the shutter release button (the camera has its own dedicated movie start/stop button).

How good it will be we will have to see once they arrive towards end of September!

If you are a regular customer, you will know how we like to keep you regularly informed throughout the hire process.  There was, however, one hole in our armour.  We have had several customers ask if it is possible to confirm safe arrival of their return equipment.

Consider it done!  From today onwards, any equipment that comes through the door will prompt an email to be automatically dispatched off to the customer to confirm receipt of the equipment.

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After nearly a year of hard work, we are incredibly proud to announce the launch of our new insurance scheme.  This is huge news for us as it allows customers to hire equipment without the need to provide deposits.

As with everything Hireacamera, we wanted our policy to be the best available and we cannot thank our insurance partner Aaduki enough for doing such a sterling job in putting it together.

So how does our policy differ to those already out there?  We are only too aware that most of our customers travel away from home whilst hiring equipment so there would be little point in just offering a policy that only covered them whilst in their secure home.  So our policy extends this cover outside the home to non-secure situations (bed & breakfast, hotels, caravans and camping).

The hardest part has been getting all this cover for the best price possible - something I think we have achieved.

You will now see the insurance price appear when using our on-line quotation and availability system.  We will also be only too happy to provide a quotation over the phone.  

Full details on the policy and the conditions can be found in our Insurance Section.  If you have any questions, as always, please do not hesitate to ask.

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Canon have launched a new firmware update for the 7D. It includes a fix to ensure the set aperture doesn't move when shooting EOS Movies in manual exposure mode using some Canon lenses.

For more details, click on following link http://bit.ly/bp7gdw

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