viper1963's Full Review: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 USM Lens
What makes a great image? A photograph is as good as a photographers eye? But I feel a photograph is also as good as the lens it was taken with too!
CANON EF70-200/2.8L USM TELEPHOTO ZOOM LENS
It was time for to update my photo equipment. I already had my budget in place so all I had to do was find the best price in my county. I chose the Canon EF 70-200/2.8L lens because of my history of fantastically sharp images and ease of use.
This lens primary duty will be to photograph youth sport action for Little League, AYSO (soccer), football, basketball and girls softball. It will see some duty in NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and NASCAR events too.
To any automobile lover, the Ferrari is a dream car. To a photographer, Canon’s L-series lenses are Ferrari of lenses. You can say like sort of a status symbol. So why is this L-series lens so sought after? One of the main reasons photographers covet an L-Series lens is because of its fast aperture speed. It is the lens choice of thousands of professionals throughout the world. All one has to do is look at professional sporting events such as the NFL, Stanley Cup or NBA playoffs and you will see a wave of white Canon lenses shooting the vent.
WHAT COMES IN THE BOX
• A canvas case
• Tripod Ring Mount (Can be attached to a tripod or Monopod)
• Lens cap and rear cap
• Lens Hood ET-83II
• Canon USA Warranty card
THE FEATURES
You can set the focusing to either auto focus or manual. The majority of people prefer to shoot with the auto focus on so that they do not have to worry about focusing. This allows the photographer to concentrate on the action they want to photograph.
Aperture scale window shows the exact f-stop for those who desires to see exactly what f-stop they are actually setting. Most photographers today do not really need this. This feature is a remnant from the old manual focusing lenses of the past.
Focusing Range Selection Switch – You can choose between two focusing modes. One allows focusing from 1.5m (meters) to Infinity and the other allows focusing from 3m (meters) to Infinity. The purpose of these modes is to provide faster focusing times when you know your subject is at a certain distance. Although the focusing on this lens is fast, it will be even faster due to the fact that the focusing will start at either 1.5m or 3m depending upon what mode you select.
Tripod Ring. This tripod ring is a useful tool. Because of the weight of this lens, many photographers attach this lens to a tripod or monopod. The tripod ring is centered so that it is balanced when attached to a tripod. You can also use the tripod mount on the body but it will make it easier for the camera/lens combination to be tipped over if someone hits the camera/lens.
WHAT DOES “L” MEAN?
That ‘L’ you see means Luxury and is usually placed on fast aperture lenses with the largest aperture settings of 1.0, 2.8 or 4.0. All ‘L’ lenses have Ultra Sonic Motor (USM) built in that provides fast whisper quiet autofocusing. By having a separate focusing motor inside the lens, it lessens the energy consumption of the body and provides faster focusing response times.
With luxury comes more in price too. The Canon EF70-200/2.8L lens will set you back about $1,149.00 street price in southern California.
ACTUAL USE OUT IN THE FIELD
The primary reason for the purchase of this lens is for youth and professional sports action images. I have used this lens in the past and it is one of my primary lenses that I always carry. My lens is almost always mounted on a monopod so that I can pick up my camera body/lens combination and move with the action at hand. As a good example, for baseball action images, I am usually walking from first to third base to shoot batters and players in the outfield. For basketball games I am usually on the sidelines or under the basket. For football, I am walking around the perimeter of the field.
Shooting at 70mm, 80mm, 100mm, 150mm and 200mm range; the focusing is fantastically sharp. At 200mm you can even pick out a player’s eyelash! If you are into bird photography, this lens might not be what you are looking for. I usually use a Canon EF100-400IS or a Canon EF400/2.8L lens.
Pop on a Canon 1.4x Extender and this lens becomes a 98-280/4 lens. Pop on a Canon 2x Extender and this lens becomes a 140-400/5.6 lens. Even with the lost of a fast aperture, the images were still absolutely sharp.
WHAT I WISH CANON GURUS PUT ON THIS LENS
Some of Canon’s professional lenses have a weather seal on the lens mount. This particular lens does not have this seal on it. The seal prevents moisture and light rain from seeping between the lens and the body.
THE OPTIONS THAT WILL MAKE SOME PHOTOGRAPHERS SAY OUCH!
Accessories for the Canon EF70-200/2.8L lens is not cheap. A standard 77mm filter for this lens will set you back $99. Want a circular polarizing filter? Prepare to fork over $165 for that! Lose your Tripod Mount ring? That will cost you $150 to replace it.
But remember this lens is a specialized lens that many weekend photographers will probably not use very much. This is why I tell hobbyists to rent this lens instead of buying it.
SHOULD YOU BUY THIS LENS?
If you are into sports, landscape or wildlife photography where your subjects will be within 100-150 feet of you, I would highly recommend this lens. Even for normal family use, it does come in handy. You might be thinking how can someone use a telephoto lens as a standard lens? I once used this lens to photograph a family event and although this lens made me stick out a bit, I never once felt the need to switch to a smaller lens such as the EF24-70/2.8L lens.
IMAGE STABILIZATION
This lens does not have an image stabilization but you can purchase this lens with the image stabilization feature. This is will add another $300-$400.
THE BOTTOM LINE
I am extremely happy with this lens. It is one of my most versatile lenses that I always keep attached to my camera body. Of all of my lenses, this is the lens I use the majority of the time for my photography assignments.
One note of caution, do not drop this lens. Although this lens is built with a metal alloy body, you can do some serious damage to lens mount as well as knock several of the lens groupings loose. Once you knock a lens grouping loose, you must replace the lens group. Just because the front lens is cracked doesn’t mean that only one lens must be replaced. No, you are looking at a grouping of 2-4 lenses which is costly.
Because photography is my career, I need a lightweight and tack sharp lens to photograph any given event I am shooting. Canon and its lenses has never let me down. If you have the money and need a remarkably easy to use and sharp focusing lens, this lens is for you!
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