The new Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS is now available at Amazon (w/ free shipping), B&H Photo and (soon) Adorama. For $199, it’s a heck of a deal! If you’re not familiar with this lens, it was introduced along with the Canon 40D this August. I expect that this will become the kit lens in the Canon Rebel XTi replacement due in Jan./Feb. 2008.

More on the EF-S 18-55mm IS lens:

Developed in response to consumer demand for a high-quality yet affordable optically image stabilized lens, the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS standard zoom lens adds a phenomenally flexible lens to the EOS 40D SLR shooter’s imaging arsenal. While it features the wide-angle to mid-range zoom flexibility of its non-IS predecessor, this new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens offers the significant advantage of a true lens-shift image stabilization system that yields up to a full four stops of image-shake correction.

The higher performance provided by Canon’s lens shift IS system (compared with the in-camera sensor shift type offered in some competitive SLRs) includes the ability to optimize the lens performance for specific shooting situations such as low-light, long-zoom or movement while shooting (or virtually any combination of the three). What’s more, the shooter can see the image stabilization effect in the viewfinder. As the image already appears steady, more accurate framing and composition is possible, the AF point can be placed more precisely, and the photographer can concentrate on the optimal shot more comfortably.

Compact and lightweight, the optional EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens is manufactured by Canon specifically for the EOS 40D SLR and any other EOS SLR that takes EF-S lenses including the EOS 30D, EOS 20D, EOS 20Da, EOS Digital Rebel XTi, EOS Digital Rebel XT and the original EOS Digital Rebel camera.

[tags]canon, 18-55mm, is, ef-s, lens, price, availability[/tags]