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…)

Canon USA also announced today that the new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-55.6 IS zoom lens and EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS zoom lenses are now available.

The following is an excerpt from the Canon USA Press Release: (more…)

Canon announced their new EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens back on August 20, 2007 along with new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Amazon, B&H Photo). It is not yet shipping, but Klaus Schroiff over at PhotoZone.de has already picked up a sample for review.<

Technically the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS is a tiny lens with a great performance potential. The resolution is very good across the range. Chromatic aberrations are basically a non-issue. The level of distortions remain moderate. The most obvious flaw is, unsurprisingly, vignetting at large apertures. The build quality is fine for a lens in this class and it is one step up from the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS that we’ve seen here recently. Regarding the target market you may surely forgive the plastic mount. The AF (micro-) motor is pretty fast and silent. So’s everything cool here ? Well, the AF accuracy didn’t really convince in the field – specifically at the wide-end of the zoom range – but to be fair this is much better on an EOS 40D (e.g.) with its improved AF capabilities. I had some trouble with the image stabilizer in the field but according to early reader feedback this impression seems to be an exception to the rule. If so the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS has certainly the potential to be another hot seller.

You can read the full review here.

Is it better than the Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens through the same range?

PhotoZone puts Canon’s latest entry level EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens (Amazon and B&H Photo) through the test, and the results are impressive for a kit lens:

The Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS is the next generation budget “kit” lens for Canon EOS APS-C DSLRs. It is a long awaited and, frankly, urgently needed successor for the rather mediocre EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II which was not able to convince anymore ever since the release of EOS 20D. However, Canon did not only improve the optical design – they also added an image stabilizer, changed the finish and introduced circular aperture blades for a better bokeh (out-of-focus blur). (more…)

Nikon’s been getting a lot of the press recently, but Canon has new cameras too. The new 40D was announced the same time, but has been shipping since early fall. With that, I present you dSLR Dad’s with all the information you need to justify spending more money. (more…)

(Updated 12/10) As a follow up to yesterday’s post about the Canon IPF5000 17″ Printer for under $800, I have found another great deal for you dSLR Dad’s.

Amazon has the Canon EOS 30D dSLR (Body Only) for $799. That is $100 less than B&H Photo also has it for $799 (a common theme I’ve noticed this Holiday season). Now true, the Canon EOS 40D is a full model change from the 30D, but it’s still $400 more. For those of you dSLR Dad’s who were considering a Canon Digital Rebel XTi for Christmas, this would be a great step up in performance, durability, and resale value for just $250. You can buy it at either the dSLR Dad Amazon Storefront (post comments to let me know what you think of it) or at the regular Amazon site. As always, these links help to support this site. And I would like to thank all of you dSLR Dads who have done so this Holiday season. You have made it possible (more…)

Amazon has the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS SLR Lens available now for order. This has Canon’s latest optical Image Stabilizer (IS) technology which provides up to 4-stop compensation for image blur caused by camera shake and slow shutter speeds. (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.