Canon expands ultra-wide zoom selection, preps Stormtrooper-friendly Rebel SL1
posted Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 12:59 PM EDT
Good news, wide-angle fans: Canon just boosted its selection of ultra-wide angle zoom lenses by half, thanks to two brand-new lens models. Neither is a direct replacement for an earlier optic -- instead, they sit alongside the company's four existing EF and EF-S ultra-wide zooms. And alongside the new lenses, the company has also revealed a Stormtrooper-friendly white version of its tiny Rebel SL1 DSLR, arriving soon.
The Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM is far and away the company's most affordable wide-angle zoom to date, priced at just US$300. It's also the smallest and lightest by quite some margin, making for a particularly nice pairing with the compact Canon SL1 body. (It will work on any EF-S body, though.) The EF-S 10-18mm costs less than half as much as the existing 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM optic, which was until now also Canon's smallest and lightest ultra-wide zoom. And although it sacrifices a little zoom range and maximum aperture compared to that lens, it adds image stabilization to the mix. That's a pretty impressive feat, given that the new lens weighs a third less, and is 0.6-0.7 inches smaller in both length and diameter.
The other new offering is the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM, and this looks to us to be aimed at video shooters. It's similar in size and weight to the existing EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, but with a list price of US$1,200, it'll save you $500 over the brighter optic. And although you give away something in terms of maximum aperture, you're rewarded with image stabilization. That's probably not a big deal for still shooters -- it's a wide-angle optic, after all, and you'd have gotten a faster shutter speed in the first place with the f/2.8 lens -- but the Canon 16-35mm f/4's stabilization will lend itself nicely to shake-free video.
Both lenses are slated to ship this June, and so is the new color variant of the Canon Rebel SL1 DSLR body. The white EOS Rebel SL1 kit will be priced at US$750, and comes bundled with a white version of the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM kit lens. Not included: a matching Stormtrooper costume, but we recommend one to complete the look.
Find out more about the Canon Rebel SL1 in our in-depth review, and find out more about the EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM and EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lenses on our sister site, SLRgear.com.