Hi my name is Steven from London, Canada
I would like to review the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM Lens. But first the problem to be solved. My Wife is an avid runner, she participates in many running events and I found wanting to find a better lens for photographing sports.
This lens is designed for Canon’s EF lens mount, and has a good focal length range of 70mm to 200mm, and sports a fast maximum aperture of f/2.8. The first thing I noticed right off the bat is it’s a large, heavy lens, and it’s cream colouring really stands out. Once I attached the lens to my Canon EOS 7D, I found the package to be really well balanced.
The auto focus features a USM focus motor, and is fast and accurate. The zoom and manual focus rings both have a high quality, dampened action to them. The lens’ body is made from metal and includes a detachable tripod shoe, the only plastic I could find was the AF On/Off switch, the lens cap and the included
lens hood.
Shooting wide open with this lens, yields a very thin depth of field, and allowed me to make the runners, or my dog, really pop out from the background. This is probably one of the sharpest zoom lenses I have ever used, and the bokeh (the out of focus portions of the photo) look wonderful.
Some negatives are it’s 7.6 inches long, and 3.3 inches in diameter, it’s size, plus it’s cream colour mean you aren’t going to be able to sneak up on many subjects.
It’s fairly heavy, weighting in at 2.9 lbs. It also doesn’t have image stabilization, so blurry photos in lower light, from camera shake may be an issue.
The last negative would be it’s price, it rings in at $1299 USD. For $1199 you could get the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8. It features quick AF, image stabilization
and the same fast aperture of f/2.8. Another option would be to go with Canon’s F4 L version of this lens, which comes in at $649. At $1299 you are only about
$1000 short of what some pros call the best zoom lens ever made, the Canon 70-200mm F/2.8 L IS USM II.
At the end of the day I would suggest you look into the Sigma, or Tamron offerings in the 70-200mm categories. Or look for a good used
copy of the 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM II. Canon’s L series lenses are known for their durability and reliability for many years.
And one final thing, in case you were wondering why Canon chose to make their large, telephoto lens a cream colour. The early Canon lens used a flourite glass which expanded quite a lot when heated, this would change the optical properties of the glass. The larger lenses were painted a light colour to reduce heating from the sun.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Tamron SP 70-200MM F/2.8 DI VC USD Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon EF Cameras.
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