Tag Archives: Product launch

“Tell me what you want, what you really, really want…..” Is this Canon’s new company song? Judging by the latest announcement they’ve been listening diligently to the calls for an EF200-400mm lens to rival Nikon’s offering. And now they’ve promised they’ll deliver one and they’ve thrown in a 1.4x Extender for good measure…

As you’ll have no doubt seen all over the web today there is a bit of a furore going on. Canon have announced a slew of new products – cameras at the consumer end and lenses at the high end as well as a couple of flashguns. all very interesting stuff, but to my mind,the most interesting announcement was the development release talking about a new lens they will release later in 2011 – an EF200-400mm f/4L lens with built-in 1.4x Extender.

Now, I’d be a rich man indeed if I had even a penny for every time someone has asked me when we’d see an update to the EF100-400mm lens, or more ideally a competitor to the Nikon 200-400mm lens. It seems everyone from wildlife to sports to travel photographers wants this lens.

Well, the waiting isn’t quite over but at least we have an announcement. And what an announcement it is. It seems Canon have listed to lots of feedback and requests about this lens. Clearly the Nikon lens has been very popular with lots of users, most notably those shooting ‘contained’ sports like tennis and anyone interested in a single wildlife lens for traveling with.

It’s the addition of the 1.4x Extender that takes this lens from “I want one!” to “OMG I have to have one!” Imagine you’re sitting on an elephant on safari. It’s dusty and there’s a faint breeze. Suddenly, a tiger appears along the track from you. 400mm just won’t do it, you need more. Instead of reaching in the bag, finding the 1.4 Extender removing the lens, fitting it and then cursing as the tiger walks off the track, you can now just flip the extender into the optical path and go to a 560mm f/5.6 lens – all without having to remove the lens and risk dust getting in as well.

You want f/4 rather than f/5.6? Just flip the extender back out again. Simples…!

There is no word on weight, wait or wallet lightening abilities yet, but I’d suggest it won’t be cheap. Then again, if it replaces a 100-400mm, 500mm and Extender in your bag, there’s got to be some saving there.

What do you think? Is it something you’d be interested in? What would you use it for?

Check out the EOS-Network blog post for the announcement details and links to Canon’s press releases.