Photozone.de reviewed the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM, a budget-friendly tele lens. I like the first sentence in the review:

If you are looking for the best tele lenses around, you don’t really need to look further than Canon

Build quality is “fine for a lens in this class thanks to decent quality plastics“. In the conclusion they write:

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM gives you lots of bangs for your bucks. The biggest strength remains to surprisingly high level of resolution across the range. The low level of chromatic aberrations (CAs) are also contributing to the subjective quality perception. Image distortions remain moderate at all settings whereas vignetting is a bit on the high side at max. aperture. A more significant weakness is the rather mediocre bokeh (quality of the out-of-focus blur).

I also like the last sentence of the review:

Well done Canon … again!

The Canon  EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM sells for $349, an excellent choice for the budget-oriented photographer.

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Specs (taken from B&H’s product page):

Long-reaching zoom lens provides a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 88-400mm, covering portrait-length to telephoto perspectives.

Optical image stabilization helps to minimize the appearance of camera shake by up to 3.5 shutter speed steps to benefit shooting handheld in dim lighting and with greater zoom magnifications.

The STM stepping focus motor produces near-silent, smooth, and quick autofocus performance that is well-suited to video applications.

One ultra-low dispersion element helps to reduce chromatic aberrations and distortion while also contributing to greater image sharpness, contrast, and clarity.

Enhanced lens coatings minimize flare and ghosting in order to produce true colors with maintained contrast.

A minimum focusing distance of 2.8′ throughout the zoom range and a maximum magnification of 0.29x at the telephoto end enables working with close-up subject matter.

A seven blade circular aperture helps to produce an aesthetic out-of-focus quality to benefit selective focus and shallow depth of field imagery.

[via photozone]

I think this is the next lens I will get next. For $299 the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM offers a lot for Canon’s APS-C DSLRs.

I know this lens (and this kind of lenses) is considered “cheap” by someone, and not suited for serious photography. I do not entirely agree. Canon’s L lenses are obviously some steps above lenses like the mostly plastic-made EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM. Nevertheless, the ultra-wide angle EF-S 10-18mm weights 240g, making it a perfect travel companion. You should always resonate about how often you need a more professional (and hence expensive and heavier) lens. For most photographers, a lens like the EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM is perfectly suited for more than 90% of their photographic settings and needs.

ephotozine reviewed the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM. Some excerpts:

• Autofocus is very swift and precise and virtually silent
• The lens barrel is constructed from high quality plastics
• At maximum aperture and 10mm sharpness is already outstanding
• Distortion is pretty well controlled for an ultra-wide zoom lens

In the conclusion they write:

It is quite amazing that budget lenses like this are able to deliver image quality you’d expect from top of the range,professional quality glass from a few years ago. This lens delivers excellent sharpness, low CA and reasonable distortion, which is fantastic for a lens costing under £300.

ephotozine’s review has test charts, sample pics, and more information. The lens was tested on a Canon EOS 70D.

Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM
B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

The Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM (16-28.8mm equivalent) is one of those lenses where Canon shows what they can do (when they want) and how much engineering skills they have when it comes to lenses. DigitalRev’s Kai reviews the EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM in a hands-on video review.

The Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM was announced a few weeks ago, and is a high performing ultra-wide angle lens for APS-C DSLRs at a bargain price. The EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM sells for $299/€280 and is in stock almost everywhere (check links below). Kudos to Canon for making such a good lens and for selling it at an affordable price.

Photozone‘s verdict on the EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM:

[…] Canon showed once more that the quality crown still belongs to DSLR systems – even and especially regarding low cost lenses. The Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM may be very slow but it is darn sharp in the relevant aperture range. In fact it is every bit as good as the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM here … at half the price! The amount of lateral CAs is well controlled. In critical scenes (e.g. architecture) you will be able to spot some barrel distortions at 10mm but we’ve seen a lot worse here. The only significant weakness is vignetting especially at 10mm.

At a price of $299 the EF-S 10-18mm delivers a lot of band for the bucks!

Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM
B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Product description after the break.

The new Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS is in stock and ready to ship at Adorama | B&H Photo | DigitalRev.

Specifications (taken from Adorama‘s product page)

• High performance L-series ultra-wide zoom lens in a compact design and Optical Image Stabilizer for up to four stops of correction
• Three aspheric lens elements, including a large-diameter aspheric lens, help correct aberration.
• Two UD lens elements help reduce chromatic aberration from the center to the periphery throughout the entire zoom range for excellent image quality with high resolution and contrast.
• Fluorine coating on front and rear lens surfaces are optimized to help minimize ghosting.
• Highly resistant to dust and water intrusion, enabling shooting even in harsh conditions.
• Inner focusing and ring USM for silent, fast and accurate autofocusing
• Circular aperture (9 blades) delivers beautiful, soft backgrounds.
• Minimum focusing distance of 0.92 ft/0.28m across entire zoom range.
• Full-time manual focus allows manual focus adjustment while in AF Mode.

Photozone tested and reviewed Canon’s new EF 16-35mm f/4L IS lens. In the verdict they write:

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4 USM L IS is definitely a step forward for Canon. The lens is capable of delivering an impressive performance throughout most of the range but especially between 16-24mm. The center quality is stellar here and the borders and even corners are sharp. It can’t really reach the same level of peak performance at 35mm but it’s no slouch either here. Canon has mastered the handling of lateral CAs – while not completely absent, they are low unless the contrast change is really extreme. The vignetting is typical for a lens in this class so you have to live with visible light falloff at f/4 especially at 16mm. Image distortions can be disturbing at 16mm but if needed you can apply auto-correction in the more popular RAW converters.

Performance appears to be noticeable improved in the 16-20mm range, Photozone recommends the EF 16-35mm f/4L IS over both the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM and the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM.

The review comes with plenty of graphs and lab measures, be sure not to miss it.

[via Photozone]

Learningdslrvideo made a quick comparison between the new Canon 16-35mm f/4 IS and the Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8. The Canon 16-35mm f/4 IS was announced a few weeks ago.