Canon Announces T4i (650D) and Two New “STM” Autofocus Lenses!

Just in time to screw up everyone’s father’s day gift giving of a Canon T3i or 60D, Canon announces late-June availability (now available) a new edition to the Rebel line-up, the Canon EOS T4i. And it looks impressive for a US$850 camera:

• Improved autofocus system (9-point all cross-type AF system including a high-precision dual-cross f/2.8 center point)
• New “Hybrid CMOS AF System” increases autofocus speed and accuracy when shooting both photos and video in Live View (combines contrast and phase detection autofocus!)
• Continuous autofocus during video with new “STM” lenses
• Touch screen version of the vari-angle display already found on T3i and 60D
• Faster continuous shooting, now 5 frames per second
• Latest DIGIC 5 processor and software (e.g. object tracking for focus and less noise)
• And more…

Add to all that, a new kit lens (EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 STM) and a super thin 1″ thick pancake lens (EF 40mm f/2.8). Both feature the brand new autofocus system called “STM” which, when paired with the T4i, does super-silent continuous autofocus during video shooting. These lenses can be used with any Canon camera, not just the T4i.

Now Available for Pre-Order

I’m so excited for that pancake lens, I’ve already pre-ordered it. It is great for street photography as it’s VERY unobtrusive.  40mm is a great focal length for full-frame or APS-C cameras. On anything other than the 1D and 5D, the focal length is equivalent to 63mm. At US$200 (CAD$230), it’s a no-brainer and fits nicely between my 28mm f/1.8 and 50mm f/1.4 primes. The 50mm is a bit too close at times on my 7D and the 28mm is not close enough. It will be fun to play with this and f/2.8 is a big enough aperture for most situations given sub-f/2 is a very shallow depth of field (hard to focus). Your T4i options will be:

• Canon Rebel T4i Body Only:
  B&H (US$850) or see Photoprice.ca (~CAD$900)
• Canon Rebel T4i w/18-55 IS II:
  B&H (US$950) or see Photoprice.ca  (~CAD$1000)
• Canon Rebel T4i w/18-135 IS STM:
  B&H (US$1200) or see Photoprice.ca (~CAD$1200)

And here’s the new lenses:

• Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM:
  B&H (US$200) or see Photoprice.ca (~CAD$230)
• Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM:
  Not yet on B&H, see Photoprice.ca (~CAD$600)

If you need help with these lens names, checkout my post Decoding DSLR Camera Lens Acronyms.

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