New Canon Lens: EF-S 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 IS

As mentioned in my previous post on Canon walk around lens choices, the EF-S 17-85mm F/4-5.6 IS USM is my current lens of choice for such a purpose. However, that might change depending on how good the new EF-S 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 IS lens announced by Canon is.

Photo courtesy dpreview.

Announced in August 2008 prior to Photokina 2008, this lens provides an equivalent focal range of 29-320mm with an exciting 11X zoom range. With up to 4 stop Image Stabilization, 1.5 ft closest focusing distance and 600g weight, this lens promises to be an ideal companion for a 1.6X FOVC camera as the lens to have on all the time. Lack of USM is a disappointment, autofocus performance needs to be seen once the lens is out. The major factor would be the Image Quality (IQ) of this lens and how much Canon had to compromise to bring out a budget (?) lens with 11X zoom range.

Priced at $699, this is not exactly a cheap lens. Alternatives are Sigma 18-200mm F/3.6-6.3 DC OS or the newly announced Tamron AF 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Macro (whew!).