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

I needed a telephoto zoom for sports action and portrait work, and came to the classic toss-up between this lens and the less (but still very) expensive Canon EF 70-200mm F/4.0 L IS USM Lens. I ruled out the non-IS versions due to lack of weather sealing. The pros/cons of each have probably been mentioned before, but here's a quick summary:

F/2.8 IS II Pros (vs F/4.0 IS):

- Lets in a stop (double) more light wide open - for sports action, f/2.8 really is the minimum, f/4.0 is just too slow unless it's a bright sunny day or you are able to rely on flash. I'm sure there are loads of people shooting sports action at f/4.0 and getting great results, but would they prefer an f/2.8 if they had the funds? Every time.
- Ability to blur the background to a greater extent, to better isolate a subject
- Better autofocus performance (arguably not noticeable until the low light gets the better of the f/4.0). I should stress this is REGARDLESS of what your aperture is set to; the lens is always 'wide open' when you're looking through the viewfinder. This also results in a brighter viewfinder, which is easy on the eyes.
- A tripod collar is included with the F/2.8, this might not sound like much but after you spend all your money on the F/4.0, are you going to cheap out with a third party collar that might let you down? No? Then add the cost of a genuine Canon one onto the price of the F/4.0 ... look it up, they're not cheap.

F/2.8 IS II Cons (vs F/4.0 IS)

- Its obscene cost
- It's heavy ... okay, this one is more of a subjective thing. I'm in my early twenties, medium build, work out a couple of times a week and have no problem running around a rugby pitch for 80 minutes with this lens + a battery gripped 7D and a 580 EX speedlite. If you are a 12-year-old girl or a 65-year-old gent with unstable angina, it's going to be really heavy. If you're hiking or carrying this lens all day, I'd invest in a better strap than the standard Canon one.
- If you point it at the sun, it will flare more than the f/4.0. There's a lot of glass in this lens, 4 extra groups containing a total of 3 extra elements versus the f/4.0. Considering that though, flare is well controlled and about a million times better than the original 70-200 f/2.8 IS.
- It's huge ... but let's be honest, the bigger your lens the cooler you look. And the f/4.0 is hardly inconspicuous.

F/4.0 IS Pros (vs F/2.8 IS II)

- Arguably a better landscape lens because landscape shots are most often taken at small apertures. At F/11, you're not going to be able to tell these lenses apart, so what's the point in having F/2.8? And the F/4 will flare less for those shots with the sun in frame. And it's lighter to carry.
- Most of the other pros have already been alluded to by the cons of the f/2.8, i.e. it's cheaper and lighter.

F/4.0 IS Cons (vs F/2.8 IS II)

- If you're 'umm'ing and 'ahh'ing about which of these lenses to pick, you will probably always wish you'd saved a bit longer for the F/2.8. Saying that, resale values on L lenses are particularly good, meaning you could always sell it and buy the F/2.8 if your needs change (e.g. more action photography, fewer product shots)
- A relatively minor one, but the f/4 uses 67mm filters, which would be annoying for me because all of my other lenses, including the f/2.8, use and share 77mm filters. 67mm filters are a little bit cheaper though.

So there's my slightly eclectic review. Oh, and the tulip-shaped lens hood for the F/2.8 is much cooler than the F/4.0 variant.

I struggled for weeks justifying the cost of this lens, heck it's expensive. However, I bit the bullet, bought one and all I can say is WOW! I use it on a 5D MKII and the sharpness is simply jaw-dropping, I've never seen anything like it before.

Is it heavy...
Is it big...
Is it worth it...

All of these questions are things I considered, but now I own the lens and have seen the results, I don't care about its size or weight. This is now the standard lens fitted to my camera. It's great for shooting birds, wildlife, portraits and just about anything except macro. Having said that, you can get within a distance of around 1.5 metres and when cropped the detail is just awesome.

Sharpness, IQ, colour, contrast and bokeh are all superb, I'm really pleased I invested in this lens and I'm sure I'll keep it for years and years and years.

Yes, it's a lot of money, but if you can bring yourself to part with the cash, I promise you, you'll be smiling from ear-to-ear when you see your pics, it's just a beautiful piece of kit.

I used this lens in conjunction with a Cannon 7D which is a 1.6 crop sensor which makes this lens effectively a 320mm equivalent on the 7D...wow!

The purchase was originally inspired by a trip to the Grand Prix and hence was it's first outing. The stabilization has 2 modes of operation either "horizontal" or "vertical only", the vertical only stabilization for panning shots is unbelievable. I was able to very easily get perfect panning shots of the Grand Prix cars with the textbook blurred background (and I truly have limited experience).

The focus on the lens far exceeds my EFS lens' and I have a couple of good ones, the focus is on another level, crystal sharp with very fine control (I guess you expect that for an L-series). No micro adjustment was needed on the body.

This is a very heavy lens, you need to consider if you want to carry this bad boy around but then it has such a rugged metal finish with a lot of glass inside (I think this one has 5 or 7 UD elements). It's common sense that it's going to be heavy but it needs to be said.

It comes with a lens hood which is of solid construction with a healthy snap when it locks into place. A ringed tripod mount is supplied which is easily removed (you need to have the lens detach to remove it). Also supplied is a good quality hard canvas tube style case with dual zip and shoulder strap.

Summary:
This is an expensive lens, but if it's what you want and you have reason to use it and you don't mind the weight then you wont be disappointed.

The image quality is amazing as is the build quality.

200mm gives you great reach and with a crop sensor you get insane reach (and you are using the best portion of the lens).

An EF style lens is likely to retain some value too if you look after it, as it's the main Canon standard so there is the possibility of selling it in the future.