F22 and F32 - F45, minimum apertures

Aug 22, 2005 14:05 GMT  ·  By

In addition to the two DSLR cameras, Canon also announced two lenses: its latest professional L-series lens: the lightweight EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM and the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM zoom lens.

Dust and moisture resistant and incorporating Canon's very finest standards of precision optics, the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM is designed for reportage, event, travel and celebrity photographers looking for a lightweight and manoeuvrable lens with minimal image quality compromise.

Complementing the EF 17-40mm f/4L USM and EF 70-200mm f/4L USM, the lens completes Canon's f/4L-series zoom lens range. These lenses are designed for professional photographers requiring a light zoom lens with a fixed aperture throughout the zoom range. For outstanding camera shake reduction, Image Stabilizer allows shutter speeds of 3 stops slower than would otherwise be possible, with no perceptible increase in image blur.

The L-series is Canon's flagship professional lens range, designed to include outstanding image performance, ultimate operability and weather resistance. The EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM offers a lightweight alternative to the renowned EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM.

Gyro sensors detect unwanted vibrations, triggering the corresponding movement of a correcting lens group perpendicular to the optical axis. This alters the light path, returning the image to its correct position on the sensor or film plane.

The 3 stop advantage means that photographers normally shooting a 105mm lens handheld at 1/125 sec can obtain a shake free result with a shutter speed as low as 1/15 sec, for vastly extended options in low light conditions.

The ring-type USM motor found in the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM employs ultra-sonic frequency vibrations to drive auto focus with unrivalled speed and near-silent operation. A powerful CPU and improved AF algorithm contribute to speed performance. Good holding torque stops the lens with precision and accuracy, the instant it arrives at the correct focus point and without overshoot. Photographers can choose manual focus instantly and at any time simply by moving the manual focus ring without first having to switch out of auto focus mode.

To limit lens size and improve image clarity over the total image area, an Ultra-Low Dispersion glass (UD) element is used to eliminate the secondary chromatic aberrations that otherwise reduce sharpness and introduce colour fringing. Aspherical lens elements correct spherical aberration for crisp, high contrast corner-to-corner quality. By optimising Super Spectra lens coatings and lens element shaping, Canon's engineers have been effective in suppressing flare and ghosting - more prone to occur with digital cameras due to reflection off the image sensor. By increasing light absorption, coatings reduce reflections off lens element surfaces to deliver crisp, undistorted images with natural colour balance.

The EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM includes distance metering information, providing compatibility with the E-TTL II flash system of late model cameras such as the EOS-1D Mark II N and EOS 5D . When used in conjunction with Canon's range of EX Speedlite flash units, the lens passes distance information to the flash algorithm for markedly improved flash exposure metering. To match the weather resistance afforded by EOS-1 professional camera bodies, an O-ring seals the lens against the lens mount and numerous seals around the lens' moving components provide protection against the ingress of dust and moisture.

The EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM comes with a bayonet mount lens hood EW-83H and soft lens pouch LP1219.

The EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM provides 2-mode IS for shooting immobile subjects. Mode 1 stabilizes the image along both the horizontal and vertical axes. For shooting while panning to follow a moving subject, Mode 2 turns off correction in the panned direction and prevents the effect of dragging the subject back through the frame. IS switches off automatically when the camera is mounted on a tripod, thus preventing feedback loops between the IS sensor and stabilizer motor vibrations.

The EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM employs an electro magnetic diaphragm (EMD) with a circular aperture. This helps create an attractive, even defocused background when isolating a subject at large apertures.

Focal length translates to 112-480mm equivalent in 35mm film format when fitted to EOS 20D and EOS 350D cameras

The EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM includes distance metering information, providing compatibility with the E-TTL II flash system of late model cameras such as the EOS-1D Mark II N and EOS 5D . When used in conjunction with Canon's range of EX Speedlite flash units, the lens passes distance information to the flash algorithm for markedly improved flash exposure metering.

Accessories for the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM include the lens hood ET-65B and the lens pouch LP1222.

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