New optics for every budget: Canon launches 24mm and 400mm primes, 24-105mm zoom lens

Fancy adding another lens to your camera bag? If so, Canon has just announced three new optics that could occupy a little of the space you yearn to fill, no matter the size and your budget.

The largest and highest-priced of the trio, not surprisingly, is the Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM. Set to ship this November for US$6,900, this pro-oriented optic is a comparitively lightweight 4.6-pound alternative to the existing, brighter EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM. As you'd expect at this focal length, the design includes optical image stabilization, with a choice of three operating modes -- standard, panning, and exposure only. The system is said to provide a four-stop correction. It can also detect when the camera is mounted on a tripod, and take this into account itself, saving you remembering to disable and reenable it as needed.

The optical formula for this new EF 400mm f/4 includes gapless dual-layered diffractive optical elements that help reduce flare around backlit subjects, as well as a large-diameter ground and polished aspherical element and a UD glass element. There's also a nine-bladed aperture diaphragm, dust-resistant fluorine coatings front and rear, and Canon's Sub Wavelength Structure coating internally. Other features include full-time autofocus, and power focus for video-friendly focus pulls.

Next up, we have the Canon EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM, a rather more affordable $600 full-frame optic that will ship this December. According to Canon, this is its first full-frame lens to feature a lead screw-type stepping motor for near-silent autofocus that's well-suited to video capture. Again, a four-stop image stabilizer is included, and the seven-group optical formula includes two aspheric lenses and a UD lens. It has an inner-focusing design, seven-bladed aperture, and both a high-speed CPU plus new AF algorithm for swifter focus.

Finally, we come to the most affordable and compact option, the Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM. Priced at just US$150 and available from November, this pancake-style lens is, says Canon, the slimmest and lightest EF-S optic to date. Features include a seven-bladed aperture driven by a quieter Electro-Magnetic Drive mechanism, and an aspheric element plus coating to control ghosting and flare.