Have you met the new 88-400mm zoom from Canon?

June 14, 2011 @ 9:04AM

Have you met the new 88-400mm zoom from Canon?

We think so much in terms of 35mm sensors we forget most people live in an APS-C world. And for them things are different!

By Jose Antunes

Let’s face it: the world changed when APS-C was introduced, some 12 years ago. And what some expected to be a temporary format seems will stay with us forever or at least for a long time. For most people, a digital reflex camera is something that as a sensor APS-C size.

It comes as no surprise, then, that Canon has just announced the launch of its latest APS-C “high quality telephoto zoom lens. The new EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II is a compact and affordable lens, offering powerful telephoto performance combined with high image quality, making it ideal for photographers wanting to get closer to the action.”

The press-release for the new lens states that “the versatile new lens enables photographers to shoot a variety of subjects due to its variable focal range. It's ideal for shooting anything from portraits to longer-distance subjects, such as wildlife, sports, or even features within a landscape – ensuring the moment is always captured in impressive detail.”

And if you keep reading through the information you’ll find that “the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II will be available separately and also as part of a double lens kit, bundled alongside the recently-announced EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II with EOS 550D, EOS 600D and EOS 60D bodies, providing beginners with a fantastic start to their photography system, all in one box.”

Close to the end of the pres-release Canon mentions that “designed and manufactured to exacting standards, the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II reflects Canon's premium design philosophy, with an enhanced exterior design and a number of premium technologies to ensure leading image quality. Canon's four-stop Image Stabilizer (IS) counters image blur during low light and handheld shooting, and the inclusion of an Ultra-low Dispersion (UD) lens element and Canon's Super Spectra Coatings also ensure beautifully crisp, high contrast and glare-free images. The latest EF-S lens to be added to Canon's range is ideal for photographers seeking an affordable and versatile lens for general-purpose telephoto photography.”

Last info from the same press-release “The new EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II will be available from July 2011.”

Now, if reading the lines above you find any mention to “crop factor”, “1.6x” or 88-400mm zoom tell me. Because it was only looking at the specificiations… that many never read, that I found this is in fact a 88-400mm lens, what changes in fact everything. It’s far more interesting than a 55-250mm.

I understand that for convenience sake (and because we’re lazy too, I guess…) we keep using the 35mm reference for lenses, but what I don’t understand is why Canon does not, on the first information the reader looks at, states that this is in fact a zoom covering 88-400mm. I know purists will present a lot of reasons for that, but in the real world most people use APS-C and have no idea of what 35mm or full frame is (I know, I’ve been friends with 35mm since back in the seventies, when I started photographing) so it would make sense to say it loudly: this is a 88-400m zoom. Because in terms of marketing, it is important as a sales argument. After all, people love their zooms to be big. Now, who wants a 55-250mm when for the same price they can have a 88-400mm lens? Think about this Canon.

Comments

Geoff Holden

11 months ago

I agree that switching things around so that a lens for a crop sensor could be clearly labeled with some number representing how it performs on the proper camera. But that number can't be in millimeters, because millimeters actually means something.
Maybe the manufacturers should label it as zoom-power 88-400 or something like that. It's just that millimeters will get confusing, especially when you start mixing lenses designed for full frame with ones designed for a crop.

Jose Antunes

Pixiq Expert

11 months ago

I agree with you that in can get confusing, but it's also misleading to not tell people what they're getting. Now imagine someone as an APS-C camera and wants a 55mm (real) focal lenght and then goes and decides the zoom 55-250 fits the bill because it has... 55mm. The should be buying a 35mm focal length instead.

I think lenses could have the "zoom-power" or wnat they want to call it inscribed on the barrel, as they've for meters/feet. It can be helpful for some people. And in terms of marketing Canon would sell more... 88-400m than 55-250mm

As for mm, well the 55-250 does give you the view of a 88-400mm, so in fact that's what we're talking about. Anyway, I just made my point. Something has to be done.

Geoff Holden

11 months ago

I just think that for most new DSLR owners, the focal length in millimeters doesn't mean much to them. Unless they've come from a film background, they're more likely to be familiar with their P&S camera and its 10X zoom.

bryan broyles

10 months ago

You know, I've commented on this article several times. But, I realized why this misinformed article bugs me so much. It's this quote: "I understand that for convenience sake (and because we’re lazy too, I guess…) we keep using the 35mm reference for lenses, but what I don’t understand is why Canon does not, on the first information the reader looks at, states that this is in fact a zoom covering 88-400mm. I know purists will present a lot of reasons for that, but in the real world most people use APS-C and have no idea of what 35mm or full frame is (I know, I’ve been friends with 35mm since back in the seventies, when I started photographing) so it would make sense to say it loudly: this is a 88-400m zoom."

This is embarrassing in an article on a photography blog. Saying things like, "for convenience sake we keep using the 35mm reference for lenses..." No, focal length is not a "35mm reference." In fact, the only person insisting on a 35mm reference is you. You ask that Canon simply say this is a 88-400mm lens, but that's only if one accepts that 35mm film is the "standard" to which we must compare.

In other words, Canon is simply reporting the focal length based on, you know, determining the distance where, "when a photographic lens is set to 'infinity', its rear nodal point is separated from the sensor or film, at the focal plane, by the lens's focal length." In other words, by accurately measuring and reporting its focal length. You on the other hand insist that Canon should then tell people what the field of view of a non-35mm sensor would be in 35mm sensor terms. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.

planetMitch

11 months ago

nice take on the news - it is indeed important for those with crop sensors to realize the actual mm - heck, I didn't understand it until I started looking at the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and full frame cameras.

Jose Antunes

Pixiq Expert

11 months ago

thanks for your comment. In fact it is as you say, many people are confused about the crop factor. And Canon, with three different sizes - 1.6x, 1.3 and FF - has made even more confusion.

I find people, readers from my magazine and at my workshops are many times unaware of the differences. And sometimes it's hard for them to grasp it because they never thought about the differences or what APS-C means. And you can not blame them. For many APS-C is the only thing they know. We must remember that digital SLR have been with us for more than a decade now.

bryan broyles

11 months ago

It is indeed important for those with crop sensors to realize the actual mm. However, the actual mm is 55-250, and this article doesn't help matters.

The focal length doesn't change with the size of the "film". Large format, medium format, 135 film, and digital sensors have no impact on the focal length of the lens. None. Saying otherwise is incorrect.

Film size has an impact on the field of view. That's it. Articles like this do a serious disservice.

Kevin Tieskoetter

11 months ago

You've got that backwards. The lens you're referring to *is* a 55-250mm lens. When you refer to it as a 88-400mm, you're translating that 55-250mm into what would be the equivalent field of view on a full-frame sensor.

If Canon referred to this lens as 88-400mm, you might be surprised when you compare it to a 300mm full-frame lens on the same body; the 300mm (480mm-equivalent with the 1.6x crop factor) would have a much tighter field of view.

Jose Antunes

Pixiq Expert

11 months ago

I KNOW it is a 55-200mm but what you see when you look through it in an APS-C camera is the field of view of a 88-400mm, so when you get a print made from the framed subject (and I am not considering pixel density, sensor size or anything else) what you get framed is the same area you would get from a 35mm sensor. That's the reason why people always say that you gain on he telephoto side with APS-C but you loose on the wide-angle. That explains why we've seen so many 10-20mm lenses that behave, in fact, like a 16-32mm on a FF.

bryan broyles

11 months ago

It's called a 55-250 because that's it's focal length. I guess I don't understand. Should a medium format 80mm lens be called a 50mm lens because it has an equivalent field of view?

This is not "equivalent to" an 88-400mm lens. The field of view is the same, but for all other purposes, it performs as (because it is) 55-250mm. Telephoto compression, distortion, depth of field, all are those of a 55-250mm lens.

This article does a grave disservice. I already have to spend time correcting misconceptions related to crop factor as it is.

Oh, and as for when they mention crop factor? Right upfront. . . It's an EF-S lens. That's what the S means.

For anyone wanting an actual discussion of this issue,

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/dslr-ma...

Jose Antunes

Pixiq Expert

11 months ago

Thanks for pointing me out that the S is the revealing factor. I've been using Canon since FTb days and never really figured that out...

Let me just point you on in this direction to end this conversation.

"This telephoto zoom lens is designed with Canon's Optical Image Stabilizer technology while retaining compactness and lightness, in response to demands of photographers. This high zoom ratio lens is equivalent to a focal length of 88-400mm in the 35mm format (when used on Canon EOS cameras compatible with EF-S lenses), and the image stabilizer effect equivalent to a shutter speed about 4 stops faster than the same size lens without Image Stabilizer. In other words, if the slowest shutter speed you could formerly hold a 250mm lens steadily was 1/250th of a second, with Canon's 4-stop stabilization correction, you could hand-hold at shutter speeds as slow as 1/15th of a second. It also uses a UD-glass lens element to correct chromatic aberration for excellent image quality throughout the zoom range. This new EF-S telephoto lens with great features delivers excellent performance at an affordable price for all photographers.

The info can be found at

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/ef_lens_lineup/e...

I guess Canon know what they're talking about.

bryan broyles

11 months ago

You've attempted to take "equivalent to" to mean to much. Read the actual impact of the crop factor. It's seriously does not make the lens equivalent to the larger focal length. It just doesn't work that way optically. Even Ansel Adams commented on this years ago.

Tim

10 months ago

Lousy article, sorry.

"but in the real world most people use APS-C and have no idea of what 35mm or full frame is"

The term is meaningless and misnamed, that's why. Much better to talk about a 35mm frame-size if that's what you mean (because to some of us sensible people, full-frame is 5x4").

"so it would make sense to say it loudly: this is a 88-400m zoom."

Not when it isn't, no. The correct phrasing would be "this is a 55-250mm zoom, designed for APS-C where a crop-factor of 1.6 makes it approximately equivalent to 88-400mm on a 35mm frame".