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http://asia.cnet.com/canons-new-supertelephoto-lens-probably-launching-year-end-62218773.htm
COLOGNE, Germany--A year and a half ago, Canon announced it was working on a 200mm to 400mm telephoto zoom lens with a built-in 1.4X extender. But since then, there's been nary a peep.
Well, there's a peep now, Canon shooters jealous of Nikon's equivalent will be pleased to know.
The plan is to release it this year, said Mike Owen, communications manager for Canon's professional imaging department in Europe. He spoke at a Canon press conference yesterday at the Photokina show here.
But Owen was quick to add a caveat: "We're anticipating that, but we don't know," he said.
Canon and partners have been putting the lens through its paces at the Olympics and other major sporting events, he said. The qualitative feedback so far has its autofocus working just a tad slower than Canon's 400mm F2.8 fixed focal length lens, he said.
Canon hasn't detailed the mammoth lens yet, Owen said it's expected to be a bit heavier than the EF 400mm F2.8L IS II, but that's still a lot: Canon cut the 400mm lens 28 percent to a bit more than 3.6kg in 2010.
Judging by the focus-range limit option, the minimum focusing distance is 2m. The focus range on the lens can be set for 2m to 6m, 5m to infinity, or the full range.
The lens also comes with the power focus (PF) mode for smooth motor-driven focus changes during video shooting.
The lens has something of an unsightly bulge near its camera mount, but it's for good cause: A housing for a flip-out element that extends the lens range 1.4x to 280mm to 560mm but dimming the lens to a maximum f-stop of F5.6.
The telephoto extender is technology brought to the photography line from Canon's broadcast lens business.
Supertelephotos of this class are expensive as well as bulky. Canon's 400mm F2.8L II costs US$11,500, and the 500mm F4L costs US$10,500.
COLOGNE, Germany--A year and a half ago, Canon announced it was working on a 200mm to 400mm telephoto zoom lens with a built-in 1.4X extender. But since then, there's been nary a peep.
Well, there's a peep now, Canon shooters jealous of Nikon's equivalent will be pleased to know.
The plan is to release it this year, said Mike Owen, communications manager for Canon's professional imaging department in Europe. He spoke at a Canon press conference yesterday at the Photokina show here.
But Owen was quick to add a caveat: "We're anticipating that, but we don't know," he said.
Canon and partners have been putting the lens through its paces at the Olympics and other major sporting events, he said. The qualitative feedback so far has its autofocus working just a tad slower than Canon's 400mm F2.8 fixed focal length lens, he said.
Canon hasn't detailed the mammoth lens yet, Owen said it's expected to be a bit heavier than the EF 400mm F2.8L IS II, but that's still a lot: Canon cut the 400mm lens 28 percent to a bit more than 3.6kg in 2010.
Judging by the focus-range limit option, the minimum focusing distance is 2m. The focus range on the lens can be set for 2m to 6m, 5m to infinity, or the full range.
The lens also comes with the power focus (PF) mode for smooth motor-driven focus changes during video shooting.
The lens has something of an unsightly bulge near its camera mount, but it's for good cause: A housing for a flip-out element that extends the lens range 1.4x to 280mm to 560mm but dimming the lens to a maximum f-stop of F5.6.
The telephoto extender is technology brought to the photography line from Canon's broadcast lens business.
Supertelephotos of this class are expensive as well as bulky. Canon's 400mm F2.8L II costs US$11,500, and the 500mm F4L costs US$10,500.