Last Updated on 11/30/2014 by Chris Gampat
Editor’s Correction: in an earlier version of this article we stated that it was the 28mm. We’ve corrected it ever since.
Reader and former Phoblographer Staffer Thomas Campbell sent us an email in regards to a tweet that he sent about a claim of false advertising by Canon. The image above is part of an email of Canon Black Friday deals and shows a famous image by Elena Shumilova–and it is being used to advertise the company’s 24mm f2.8 EF-S STM lens. We’ve interviewed Ms. Shumilova before and know that the image above was actually shot with a Canon 135mm f2 L lens. Indeed, there is no possible way that a 24mm f2.8 (especially on an APS-C sensor) can render an image like this. The photo looks like it could have been shot with a medium format camera but instead that is the effect that you get with 35mm full frame sensors and telephoto lenses.
What we’re surprised at is the fact that many photographers these days are much smarter than the average consumer looking for a camera, and so we’re able to immediately spot a fake.
More after the jump.
The email takes you to a site called Canon Genius, and a DNSKit search doesn’t apparently link it to Canon. However, if you keep going through the site, you’ll eventually see that it leads to Canon’s own shop like in the case of the 7D Mk II listing with no sign of an affiliate code attached to it.
Further, the site’s disclaimer states “Certain images and effects simulated.” Even with this statement, we’re not sure how a lens that equates to an approximate 45mm field of view can render an image like the one presented in the ad. Canon also doesn’t explicitly state that the images were shot with the products used, but in that case the advertising is just misleading.
This isn’t the first time that similar events have happened. When Canon first launched their See Impossible ad campaign, they were caught by one of the directors who actually stated that he used Sony cameras. According to the Verge, Nokia has also pulled similar antics.
Oh Canon, you silly goose!
