According to rumor reports coming out of the Canon rumor mill, it seems that Canon could be poised to announce a new 11-24mm f/4L in the next several weeks. PhotoPlus Expo is coming up at the end of the month, and while not usually a big show for major announcements, it would be a great platform for an announcement such as this.
The genesis of this particular rumor can be traced back to a post on kakaku.com a few weeks back, in which the above image was “leaked.” The image was removed shortly thereafter, but has since resurfaced on digicame-info and has been backed up by an independent source to Canon Watch.
Though Canon Watch does note that their source has been wrong in the past, the image looks legit enough. To me, it looks exactly like a Canon lens product shot. I am with the CW admin here, this seems like a legit rumor and this lens could be dropping anytime over the next month. Still, as always, take this with some salt – don’t bet the house on it or anything.
[REWIND: Canon 7D Mark II ISO Comparison]
The additional tidbit that makes this rumor even more interesting, is that it goes along so nicely with the long standing rumor that a high megapixel Canon camera was on the way soon. This lens would, in theory, be announced with that supposed new high megapixel Canon body.
Time will tell how accurate that extra stuff is, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see this lens announced at the very least. The big piece, as it always is, will be the price. It has that L designation, so you can be pretty sure that the L premium will apply.
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What are your thoughts on this lens rumor? Would you be interested in an 11-24mm F/4L from Canon? Leave a comment below!
[via Canon Watch]
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I’ve owned the Canon EF-S 11-22mm lens for my 7D. It takes astounding photos, and some have even stated the lens is almost “L” quality. Also, some have modified the lens for it to be used on a full frame. It does make a little sense for Canon to come out with such a EF “L” lens, but I think the market is lacking customers for this type of lens. Judging from the visible switch on the side of the barrel, it does not have IS, which would be useless on such a lens. Being a f4 lens, that is Ok, but not as good if it were 2.8 or maybe 1.2. Even though I do shoot landscapes, I now use the 16-35mm f2.8L on my full frame with great success and use my 11-22mm on my crop sensor 7D with equal success. I’ve recently acquired a 8mm totally manual fish eye lens, which has already paid for itself. On such a mega wide angle, you don’t need EF, or even IS, since these landscapes don’t move. So, for a $3000.00 lens I just can’t see a professional use for the lens, noting the existence of the Canon fish eye zoom, and the Canon Ef 16-35 (f4L with IS, or the f2.8L without IS) and the two EF-S (11-22mm, and 10-18mm) lenses for crop frame cameras. Any wider the distortion will be as a fish eye. As for a panorama shot, I can’t imagine the time in stitching such a number of distorted shots together.
I just don’t think that another ultra-wide non-f/2.8 zoom is what Canon needs right now. They already have a fantastic new 16-35, and the 8-15 f/4 fisheye zoom. An 11-24mm f/4 zoom just doesn’t make sense, especially when Canon’s 16-35 f/2.8 mk2 is so pathetic compared to the Nikon 14-24.
Canon knows this, and I’m still strongly confident that this 11-24 is just a photoshop hoax, and Canon’s next ultra-wide will be an f/2.8 zoom either a 14-24 or 16-35 or something in between…
If this does come to fruition I guess the comparisons will begin with the Nikon 14-24 since it seemed to set the standard for the focal length. So much so that even Canon folks bought adapters to use the Nikon.
My primary rig is a 7d classic (yup, already using that designation). So, if I went ahead and needed to get really wide, Canon’s pricing model would probably be one so that I could look at this lens or pick up a 5d3.
I think the price tag and the specific use of this lens will appeal only to a small % of photographers. Personally I have a 16-35mm Canon and I never need anything wider, in fact with even a single filter I have to crop at the widest setting anyway. Presently does not fit with my style and experience in photography.
I definitely would rent before buying to see if it would really suit me.
My experience renting the 14mm was that while it was a very well built lens, the geometric distortion just did not suit my style; my first inclination was always to reduce or eliminate the distortion in post, which meant it was not the right lens for me.
I wold be interested if I can afford it :-)