Canon TS-E 17mm F/4L and TS-E 24mm F/3.5L

Badlands Tilt Focus Photoshop, originally uploaded by tony.eckersley.

This content was written just a few hours before the official announcement. See further down for more information after the announcement

CanonRumors are reporting (via Achatzi, an Authorized Canon of Germany reseller) that a TS-E 17mm F/4L is due to be announced ahead of PMA2009 which starts next week.

It’s priced on the Achatzi site at a whopping 2.499,00 €, which is approximately $3100 – which I don’t buy (both figuratively and literally speaking). It’s an interesting lens, but also reported to be announced is the TS-E 24mm F/3.5L II. These two lenses would be very interesting to market, being so close in focal length (the same if you put a 17mm on a 1.6x crop and a 24mm on a full frame). Seems like a difficult choice for some Canon users…. I was interested in a 45mm or a 24mm TS-E, and I couldn’t decide… now throw a 17mm in the mix and I’m even more confused! I can see why the 24mm was getting an update – many classed this as the softest if the 3 tilt-shifts, yet it was the only with with a “L” label. Chromatic Aberration has been noted as a weakness for the TS-E 24mm, usually seen in the corners using a full frame camera. I hope this has been addressed in the update.

I do love the concept of tilt-shift lenses. To quote wikipedia for a moment – “A tilt-shift lens provides three degrees of freedom, allowing the user to shift, tilt or rotate the lens. Shifting the lens provides analog correction of perspectives on the image, allowing images taken with an upward angle to have parallel vertical lines.” This, of course, is perfect for architectural and landscape photography, but just like we have seen with Vincent Laforet and “reverie“, tilt-shift lenses can be very creative.

I was sold on a tilt-shift via this video…

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

It’s simply stunning – perfect editing, fantastic story. This is the kind of videos I believe the web is perfect for

UPDATE: Made official by Canon

So, it’s official – and doesn’t it look stunning! look at that “bulge” too – that puts the EF 14mm to shame! RRP is $2199 for the 24mm and $2499 for the 14. I’m going to guess $1400 for the 24mm and $1600 for the 17mm as actual selling price come May, but I may be totally off as Canon are hiking up prices right across the board right now. Take a look at the “key features” from CanonRumors below to see the highlights. I wonder if the 45mm and 90mm TS-E’s are looking at an update soon?

Read more at PDN Gear Guide.

Here is the first sample image taken from Canon for the TS-E 17mm F/4L:

It’s wonderfully wide and look how straight those columns are. Users of this lens are going to produce some fantastic results.

Here is the first information and the Canon European Press Release from CanonRumors

Amstelveen, the Netherlands, 18 February, 2009: Canon today announces the launch of two new tilt and shift lenses, the Ultra-Wide angle TS-E 17mm f/4L and the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II, an upgrade to the popular TS-E 24mm f/3.5L.

Canon was the first company to offer 35mm camera users a combined tilt and shift lens, With 36 years experience in this field, Canon has now added  a new unique functionality to the TS-E 17mm f/4L and TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II, allowing users to rotate the direction of the tilt and shift independently of each other.

This affords greater control over the focal plane, replicating the movements of a large format view camera. Canon’s revolutionary tilt and shift revolving mechanism is particularly useful when shooting product shots from a perspective where specific framing and focal plane is required.

The new lenses, influenced by feedback from professional photographers, have been created to produce the best image quality with high resolution, high contrast and low distortion.

The use of high-precision asphercial front elements keeps distortion, common in wide angle lenses, to an absolute minimum, even at the edges of the frame. The TS-E 17mm f/4L and TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II also feature multiple UD elements to reduce chromatic aberration and optimised focus mechanisms.

Canon today has also introduced a new range (52mm to 72mm) of versatile, multi-functional PL-C B polarizing filters to help reduce reflections from glass or water or darken blue skies. The PL-C B’s, which are now available in 52mm, 58mm, 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm filter thread sizes, also allows the lens cap to be attached to the lens to prevent damage to the filter if left attached when not in use.

Key features of the TS-E 17mm f/4L and TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II include

• Tilt and shift lenses compatible with all Canon EOS cameras
• Ultra Wide 17mm / wide 24mm focal length, ideal for architecture and landscapes
• High precision lens elements for low distortion and high resolution to the edge of the image
  +/- 6.5° Tilt and +/-12mm Shift (TS-E 17mm f/4L) +/- 8.5° Tilt and ±12mm Shift (TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II)
• Tilt and shift mechanism rotates +/-90° allowing shift in any direction
• Tilt mechanism rotates +/-90° allowing tilt in any direction relative to the shift
• Aspherical and UD lens elements minimise chromatic aberration
• Sub-wavelength structure and super-spectra coatings minimise ghosting and flare
• Circular aperture for creative, blurred highlights
• TS-E 17mm f/4L has a floating internal focus mechanism delivers high image quality throughout focus range.

Official Canon USA Press Releases from The Photography Blog

CANON U.S.A. EXPANDS ITS LENS PORTFOLIO WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF TWO NEW WIDE-ANGLE TILT-SHIFT LENSES

Canon Introduces the New TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II and the TS-E 17mm f/4L Tilt-Shift Lenses

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., February 17, 2009 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging and optics, today introduced two new Tilt-Shift lenses, the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II and the TS-E 17mm f/4L. These two new L series lenses expand the Company’s extensive lens line-up of TS-E lenses giving photographers creative control over perspective and depth of field in their images. Both the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II and the TS-E 17mm f/4L are specialty lenses ideal for landscape and architectural photography and are compatible with all Canon EOS system single lens reflex cameras1. The TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II, a replacement for Canon’s TS-E 24mm f/3.5L introduced in 1991, has significantly improved operability with low distortion when photographing buildings, consistent image quality throughout the image and reduced chromatic aberration when shooting at ultra-wide angles. The TS-E 17mm f/4L is the world’s shortest focal length Tilt-Shift lens with full-frame 35mm coverage.

“These two new lenses are Canon’s answer to photographers who have requested wider angle Tilt-Shift lenses, with the new TS-E 24mm for wide angles and the all new TS-E 17mm for ultra-wide angles. We continually seek to expand our optics portfolio to meet the demands of our photographers to ensure that they have the best tools available to capture some of the most stunning images on the planet,” stated Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A.

An innovative feature on both the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II and the TS-E 17mm f/4L lenses is Canon’s new TS Revolving System. This feature allows tilting and shifting lens movements to be adjusted in parallel or at right angles to each other, with detents at 45? intervals. Additionally, once the TS Revolving System has been set, the orientation of the entire lens can be rotated freely through a range of ±90?, with detents at 30? intervals. The amount of tilt is ±8.5? for the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II and ±6.5? for the TS-E 17mm f/4L. The amount of shift is ±12mm for both lenses. The image circle diameter for both lenses is an impressive 67.2mm. (The diagonal measurement of the full-frame 35mm format is only 43.2mm.)

The high-precision glass molded aspherical and UD glass lens elements and accurate aspherical GMo along with a large diameter in new TS-E lenses deliver outstanding image quality, high resolution and super-low distortion to all edges of the image. Each lens incorporates a new type of anti-reflection coating, Canon’s SubWavelength structure Coating (SWC) that continuously changes the refractive index on the lens surface via wedge-shaped structures more minute than wavelength of visible light. Canon’s SWC helps minimize flare and ghosting caused by bright light from large angles of incidence. The new TS-E lenses are the 2nd and 3rd Canon EF series lenses with SWC, following the EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM that was introduced in 2008.

Pricing and Availability
The TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II is expected to ship in May for an estimated retail price of $2,199.00*. The TS-E 17mm f/4L is expected to ship in May for an estimated retail price of $2,499.00*.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked third overall in the U.S. in 2008†, with global revenues of US $45 billion, is listed as number seven in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies 2008 list, and is on the 2008 BusinessWeek list of “Top 100 Brands.” At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – “all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future” – Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at http://www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company’s RSS news feed by visiting http://www.usa.canon.com/rss.

† Based on weekly patent counts issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office

* Prices are estimated retail prices. Actual selling prices are set by dealers and may vary.

All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

Prices, specifications and availability are subject to change without notice.
1 To prevent the knobs on TS-E lenses from coming into contact with the camera during tilt/shift/revolving/TS revolving movements, the use of EOS-1 class or EOS 5D/5D Mark II cameras is recommended.