Canon’s New 70-300mm II is Its First with an LCD Info Display

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The rumors, patents, and leaks have finally come true. Canon today announced its new EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS II USM lens, its first lens with a newly developed LCD information display built right into the lens body.

The new lens improves on the popular 70-300mm IS it replaces in critical areas.

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First off, the lens features NANO USM technology, which gives it high-speed focusing in near-silence, allowing photographers and videographers to quickly, accurately, and stealthily focus for both stills and videos. NANO USM combines the speed of an ultrasonic motor (USM) with the smoothness of a stepping motor (STM).

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The new 70-300mm also boasts an image stabilization system that compensates shake for the equivalent of 4 stops, helping you capture sharper photos with less unintended blurring.

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At the base of the lens is a new Lens Information Display. Following in the footsteps of Zeiss, Canon is adding the first digital display.

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In one mode, the display shows a distance scale with depth of field markers — what the physical windows of Canon lenses already show:

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Press the “Mode” button next to the display, and it will change to show you your current focal length.

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What’s neat is that if you mount your lens onto a crop sensor body, the digital display will actually show you the 35mm equivalent of what your current focal length is.

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Finally, press the Mode button again, and the display will show you a graphic display of detected lens shake.

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If you’d rather have the display show a black background and light characters, you can hold the Mode button in for 2 seconds.

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Other specs and features of the lens include a special UD lens element for reducing chromatic aberration, a 9-blade circular aperture for smooth bokeh, and full-time manual focus for focusing in AF mode.

The new Canon EF 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 IS II USM will be available in November 2016 with a price tag of $550.

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