First look at the Canon EOS 650D

Take a closer look at the Canon 650D, including two brand new lenses that have just been announced.

For the nitty-gritty details on the new camera, make sure to check out our full preview here. Expect the camera, plus new 18-135mm and 40mm f/2.8 pancake lenses, to be available on store shelves towards the end of June.

The new 650D doesn't look all that different from its predecessor, the 600D. The big difference, though, as you can see from the photo above, is the rather cute-looking 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens. It's an EF lens, so that means it can be used on any member of the Canon EOS line.

Want to feel closer to your images? Perhaps a touchscreen will help you do that. The 650D comes with a 3-inch articulating and variable-angle LCD screen that also features touch controls. If you're used to pinch to zoom and swiping actions on your mobile phone or tablet, you'll be right at home with the playback functions on this camera. You can also select menu options and change shooting controls using the touch interface.

One minor design quirk that caught us by surprise was the relocation of the movie mode. Instead of sitting on the mode dial, as it was on previous generations of EOS entry-level cameras, this time it's part of the power switch. Flick the switch up past On, and you'll enter movie mode.

There's a stereo microphone on the 650D, a first for the EOS range.

Here's the new 18-135mm lens on the 650D. It looks and feels pretty similar to the old version, except that this model is denoted by the STM moniker. This means that it has a step motor built in, which makes autofocusing during video recording more smooth and silent than on previous generations of lenses.

There's also a locking switch on the bottom of the lens to prevent it from unfurling when not in use.

We can't emphasise enough just how small the 40mm pancake lens really is; at just over 2.2cm thick, it's much smaller than the existing prime lenses you can get.

Like many other new cameras and SLRs on the market, the 650D comes with a range of creative filters. This is a before-and-after example shot of the results obtained by using the Art Bold filter.

Yet another shot of the 650D and 40mm combination. Even though the body design has hardly changed from the 600D, this camera feels slightly heavier. It tips the scales at 575 grams, excluding the battery.

The 40mm lens comes with a free-flowing focus ring, as well as a switch to activate automatic or manual focusing.