dSLR Dad

Popular Photography Magazine as published their review of the Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 Image Stabilized (IS) Zoom Lens:

In the past two years, the 11X IS superzoom has become the ideal general-purpose lens — certainly for shooters whose cameras don’t have on-board shake reduction. This Canon fits the mold. Very light and compact, it’s a gracious and adaptable traveling companion. Impressively sharp, it’s also an obvious choice for handheld low-light pictures, including event and theater work. Its real fortes, however, are close-up macro subjects, distant wildlife, and almost everything in between. Sports? Go for it!

You can read the entire review at PopPhoto.com.  You can also find more reviews at the dSLR Dad Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens Resource Page.  Of particular note, for those of you who may be interested in this lens, there is a $50 instant rebate on this lens through January 17, 2009.

Well, I guess you could say better late than never.  Canon has finally filled one of the largest holes in their consumer lens lineup.  The Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 Image Stabilized (IS) Zoom Lens offers dSLR Dads an option for an everyday, ‘walk-around’ vacation lens.  What is somewhat perplexing, is that this is built upon Canon’s entry-level EF-S lens platform.  This means that Canon will be speaking highly of ‘value’ when it describing the features of this lens.  Value, in this case, both for the consumer and Canon’s business case.  The highlights of this lens include: (more…)

Big Lenses for those with Big Wallets

Canon actually exhibited prototypes of these lenses at PhotoPlus Expo in October 2007. Today they have announced that the production versions will ship this spring. The following is an unedited Press Release:

CANON U.S.A. INTRODUCES TWO HIGHLY ANTICIPATED TELEPHOTO LENSES AT PMA 2008

EF200mm f/2L IS USM and EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM Lenses Add New Levels of Super Telephoto Performance to Canon’s Market-Leading EOS System (more…)

Press Release:
CANON TO EXHIBIT TWO NEW TELEPHOTO LENSES AT PHOTOPLUS EXPO

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., October 15, 2007 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today announced the development of two all-new telephoto lenses for use with its EOS SLR cameras: the EF200mm f/2L IS USM*/** and the EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM*/**. The Company will exhibit prototypes of the new lenses at PhotoPlus Expo (booth #318), taking place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, October 18 to 20.

The new Canon EF200mm f/2L IS USM and EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM, both of which are L (luxury)-series lenses incorporating a high-performance Image Stabilizer, feature optical systems utilizing special optical materials such as fluorite to correct chromatic aberrations, making possible high-resolution, high-contrast shooting performance.

The Canon EF200mm f/2L IS USM, targeting users who seek a brighter lens for portraiture and indoor sports photography, realizes a large aperture of f/2. The EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM, expected to deliver telephoto performance surpassing the current top-of-the-line EF600mm f/4L IS USM super telephoto lens, is being developed in response to requests from users working in the fields of sports and news photography who are looking for a high-performance lens that offers a longer focal length.

“These new lenses demonstrate that Canon is continuing to respond actively and flexibly to the wide-ranging needs of professional and advanced amateur users, with the aim of contributing to the expansion of photographic possibilities for SLR cameras,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. “Canon’s EOS System is the premier brand of Digital SLR cameras, and we take great pride in offering the world’s largest selection of interchangeable autofocus lenses.” ***

As these new lenses are currently under development, pricing and availability information is not yet available.