Canon 70-200mm 2.8L IS - A must have lens

If you own a Canon EOS camera and are serious about the quality of the images you are capturing, the 70-200mm 2.8L is one of *the* lenses to own. This zoom lens belongs right up there with most primes, and that is why many professional photographers have this lens with them at all times.

I have owned this lens a short time now for use on a Canon EOS 20D camera body. My other lenses include the Canon 17-40mm 4L, 28-135mm 3.5-5.6 IS, and some lower primes. I typically shoot landscapes, wildlife, and some architecture. Although my other lenses are working nicely for wide landscapes or near subjects, I found that I needed a quality lens for more distant shots where I was never quite capturing enough of the subject. I already love the Image Stabilizer on my 28-135, so the 70-200 2.8L with IS seemed to be the right length with all the right features.

While using this lens, the first thing you will notice is that it is big, and it is heavy. 3.2 pounds to be exact. It is probably a blessing that the hood is plastic, as I couldn't imagine much more weight being added and still using the lens handheld. At first the lens seemed to overwhelm the 20D, but the more I used it, the more natural it was to balance. The zoom ring is quick and smooth, and the autofocus has the excellent manual override feature that allows you to hold the focus ring without it turning when autofocusing, and then tweak the focus manually while still in auto. The switch to move from auto to manual focus is easy enough to locate quickly once you get used to where it is amongst the array of switches.

With my previous experience using Image Stabilizer (IS) technology, I now automatically switch on IS every time I use the 70-200 handheld. There are two separate switches to control IS. The first turns the feature on or off, and the second allows you to select Mode 1 IS or Mode 2 IS. Mode 1 is used for handheld shots where the subject is basically stationary. This might include things like trees and shrubs, a nested bird, or ducks resting on a pond. Mode 1 helps keep the lens focused on the stationary subject while you might be shaking or moving. This is extremely useful for lower-light situations where the shutter speeds drop under 1/70-1/200 second. IS will let you shoot up to 3 stops faster before getting blurry. I used to spend a lot of time adjusting ISO up to 1600 in these situations before I was saved by IS. Mode 2 is used for panning when the subject is moving across the view field. This mode would be most useful for a moving car, airplane, running dog, or ducks landing on the pond. Based on my subject matter, I tend to use Mode 1 most often. I must also add that if you are strictly a tripod shooter, you may not want IS. IS does not work when shooting with a tripod, and Canon recommends that you always turn off IS when using a tripod.

The quality of the photos I have taken with this lens are impressive. The sharpness is probably the best you will find on a zoom lens, and definitely competes with my primes. I also found the tones to be more pleasing - somehow more alive and realistic. I usually tweak saturations and levels in Photoshop, but I find that many of the images are perfect right out of the camera with this lens. I must admit that I shoot mostly JPG's, not RAW's, so take that into account with color objectivity.

There are a couple of negatives about the 70-200 that should get mentioned, and are the usual nitpicks of high quality lenses. First of all, as mentioned, the lens is big and heavy. It does not fit at all into most camera bags, and does not really "travel" well. This means that if you take it along on a half-day hike, you may return with a very tired neck or arm. It can be a walk-around lens if the walk is not too far, or if you are shooting most of the time. The more time I spend shooting, rather than walking, the more I'm distracted from the weight of the thing. Also, as a high-quality Canon L lens, it is that off-white color that screams "I'm expensive!" In questionable tourist areas, it might not be the preferred lens. Finally, you probably already know the painful truth about the price, otherwise you would not even consider this lens. It was hard to justify a lens that cost more than my camera, or cost more than my other two best lenses combined, but it did, and that's what it cost, and yes somehow it is worth the price when you know that you don't have to buy anything else in this range (I'm now saving up for the 300 2.8L - the other must-have lens - that's going to be even harder to justify!).

The accessories that accompany the lens are basic and include a plastic hood, a soft-sided, dual-zippered carry bag with strap, tripod mount ring, and caps. The lens features excellent construction, an 8-sided aperture (has very nice bokeh or blur for shots with out-of-focus background), and the high-speed ultrasonic motor for fast autofocus.

This lens is obviously a standard for other zooms to measure against. It is a *must have* lens for anyone considering professional-quality images where carrying various primes around is not convenient.

Sample Photographs
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/rcarboni/BigCat2_L2.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/rcarboni/BigCat_L3_2s.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/rcarboni/SnowyOwl_Crop.jpg