New Tasty Canon Lens!

Canon has done something unexpected and announced a new lens. It's not that they don't bring out new lenses, they do that all the time, but this lens is something they've never done before; a pancake lens. The EF 40mm f/2.8 STM lens is very small--less than an inch long--and is designed for maximum portability. Perfect for street shooting, photojournalism, and casual snapshots. The "STM" designation refers to new Stepper Motors used for autofocus which allow for continuous and silent autofocus, even during video capture.

The EF 40mm f/2.8 STM has six elements in a modified classic planar formula of six elements/four groups and will focus down to 0.3 meters or around one foot, which is pretty close. It also includes one aspherical element. It will work on both full-frame cameras and APS-C models. Pancake lenses are called that because of their flat profile. I'm hoping that the introduction of this lens signals Canon intentions for stepping up their game. Right now, they are the biggest camera manufacturer in the world, but they are lagging behind companies like Sony and Panasonic in terms of innovative products. Maybe this is when they change their approach.

Also, Canon announced a new Rebel, the 4Ti, with features an 18 MP sensor, continuous AF during video shooting mode, and touch screen control.