I loaned a Canon 1Ds from CPS (Canon Professional Services) for a couple of weeks. I'll post new photos taken with this amazing camera next weeks, and I'll update the 24-105 review with some sample photos taken with the 1Ds. So far, I'm pretty happy by the result, the image quality is very good even on fullframe; there are vignetting and distortion, but they are not nearly as bad as some says...moreover, they can be easily corrected with PS.

Processing large photos requires a fast computer, and Intel has just announced the availability of its

I added new photos to the galleries: Alpe Devero, Rivers and Waterfalls, Huts and Villages, Marmota marmota (Alpine Marmot), Hieracium sp., Nigritella nigra (Black Vanilla Orchid), Geranium selvaticum, Coenonympha darwiniana (Darwin's heath), Boloria napaea (Mountain Fritillary).

The majority of these photos has been taken with the splendid Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM.

If I had to own only one lens, it would be the 24-105 IS. This L zoom is very versatile thanks for the wide range of focal lengths and the image stabilization; it bright enough for low-light photography, and it has a superb built quality. It is the ideal lens for travel and landscapes, in particular on Fullframe (35mm) cameras...

I've published my in-depth review of the 24-105 IS: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Field Review 

Sandisk has announced today the fastest CF cards of the world: the Sandisk Extreme IV is available in 2 GB, 4GB and 8GB cards, and it has a write speed of 266x - two times faster than the fastest CF previously available.

These cards can be used in extreme environmental conditions, from -25 Celsius degrees to +85 degrees, and they have lifetime warranty.

I've updated the Canon Lenses page with my impressions about two interesting lenses: the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM and the Canon 28-300 f/3.5-5.6 L IS USM.

I'm going to publish soon the in-depth review of the Canon 24-105 IS and many new photos!

Could we photograph without autofocus? Yes, of course, but we would lose a lot of opportunities. The AF technology has been introduced more than two decades ago, and since then it has made enormous progresses. The first AF lenses had a very slow autofocus, that was useable just with static or very slow moving subjects: as you can imagine, it had a limited usefulness, but the manufacturers believed in this technology and continued to improve it. Today...

I have completely re-written the article about The Autofocus

I added new photos in the galleries: Arda cinerea (Grey Heron), Ardeola ibis (Cattle egret), Egretta garzetta (Little Egret), Anas sibilatrix (Chiloe Wigeon), Nycticorax nycticorax (Night Heron), Vanellus vanellus (Northern Lapwing), Cities and Buildings.

Canon has posted two minor firmware updates for its professional cameras: Canon EOS 5D Firmware 1.1 and Canon EOS 1D MarkIIn Firmware 1.1.

Sorry for the lack of website updates in this week - I'm very busy with work now! That said, I plan to add many new photos by the end of this month, and I'm working on some new articles (one of them is the review of Canon 24-105 IS - I bought it three weeks ago and I love it!)