Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM

New camera lenses for your DSLR camera is always something to be excited about because it gives you the opportunity to breathe in new life and functionality to your old camera. In some cases, buying a new lens rather than a new DSLR camera is nice if you are completely used to your current DSLR camera and if your DSLR camera is still in good condition. The main reason why you might want to get a new lens if you want to improve the image quality or need more flexible zooming functions. Canon still continues to make quality lenses today including one brought out back 2010 at the Consumers Electronic Show. Representing the telephoto zoom lens lineup, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM is out to fix some of the shortcomings of its past 70-200mm siblings you can do even more with the same lens.

Design & Construction

The fact that the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM has a white design should give you a good idea on the build quality of the lens. It is literally built like a tank so you won’t have to worry too much about damaging this highly priced lens as long as you do not keep dropping it. Like all the other Canon L-series models with white bodies, it has the necessary seals for both dust and weather resistance making them decent travel lenses all at the cost of the weight. Weighing over three pounds, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM loses a bit of the portability factor and you need to prepare for endurance if you hope to take lots of images with the mounted body of your choice. Fortunately you can use a monopod with the ball head so you can better work with the lens. Plus there are image stabilization technologies to back you up.

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM is also easier to manually zoom compared to its past incarnations. Its focusing ring is a bit larger and rubberized with small ribs that are nearly 2 inches wide. This provides smoother resistance and can let you focus past infinity.

You can move the zoom ring with just two fingers for smooth operations and the lens does not extend while you zoom. The lens construction is even further improved with 23 elements in 19 groups including 5 UD elements and 1 Fluorite.

Actual user review:
“This lens is fast and clear. I have used this only a few times now and maybe my review will change in the future. But, I used it recently for an engagement session and was able to get great shots, clear, colorful, outstanding! I also used it indoors recently and was standing next to 2-3 other photographers when I snapped a picture in a dimly lit room. They saw the result on my camera even before I paid attention. Their response was one of awe, they could see detail in the picture that you could not see standing there with the naked eye! All I can say is read the first reviews here and believe, is it worth it, Yes! Would I do it again? Yes!! “ – J.T.Estep (CA,USA)

 

Features & Performance

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM has some excellent sharpness level results across all focal lengths and using it wide open at f/2.8 does not ruin the sharpness too much. It is much better if you step down to f/4 and using 135mm and 200mm focal ranges is pretty optimal. When using a full-frame, the sharpness is also good especially at 70mm.

Chromatic aberration is virtually undetectable in any type of configuration unless you really look at the image closely. It shows up on the corners when you use 70mm or 200mm but overall, it is never a concern. This is primarily due to the fact that the lens has that fluorite element.

Corner shading is never really a problem as long as you use it on a sub-frame body. There is some light falloff detected when using 200m and f/2.8 but nothing really significant. On a full-frame, corner shading is more noticeable when used wide open.

Distortion results aren’t really the best but that is understandable because this is a telephoto zoom lens. Some barrel distortion is noticeable when using wide angle settings and pincushion distortion is seen instead when moving to telephoto focal lengths. You can balance this out and eliminate both forms of distortion by going in between at 105mm.

Perhaps one of the best things about the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM is the autofocus operation. To sum things up, it is very speedy as it takes less than a second to go through the entire focusing range and it does not produce any noise while doing so. It also comes with several switches to select focusing ranges.

Conclusion

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM costs around $2,450 but it has all of the necessary features to make this a reasonable price. The sharpness quality combined with the autofocus and way of handling CA is unmatchable and the focal length opens up a lot of creativity. Customers agree offering very positive feedback to one of Canon’s newest lenses.

Average User Rating:
Actual User Reviews:
• “This lens is absolutely amazing. Ignoring its steep price, large size, and heavy weight to focus solely on the photos it produces, I am incredibly impressed. The images are remarkably sharp, have accurate color rendition, and great contrast. I’m using this primarily on a Canon Rebel T2i, and expect that the results would be even more impressive on a full-frame camera such as the 5D series or 1D/1Ds series (aside from vignetting which is apparently somewhat pronounced on full-frame). If money isn’t an issue, stop reading this review and order this lens immediately!” – G.Argov (USA)

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• “This Canon lens is the best lens I’ve ever owned, bar none. The build quality is very tight, controls are smooth and fit and finish are excellent. The colors and contrast that it produces are on par with some of Canon’s best primes.

I use this lens for shooting youth sports, specifically soccer and baseball and it has not let me down. As a matter of fact, I sold my 100-400 lens to purchase this lens and have had no regrets whatsoever. I’ve coupled it with a Canon 1.4x Extender II for a little more reach and I have not seen any image degradation at all.

If you are on the fence about purchasing this lens I say go for it. It will not let you down.” – D.Fuller (MS,USA)

• “Amazing and highly versatile lens, well worth the money. Beware it is significantly heavier than the f4 variants of the 70-200, but the construction and image quality is superb. Low chromatic aberration, very sharp, excellent contrast, and very quick focusing. The four-stop IS is very impressive as well. Highly recommended for any serious photographer that is in the market for a Canon EF telephoto zoom lens.” – Nathan (USA)

 

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