Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM

CMT · Mar 30, 2010

Hello, this is my first thread since I introduced myself three years ago. I haven't had much to offer by way of experience so I've been content to lurk and gain as much possible knowledge to be applied to my personal enjoyment of Photography as a cherished hobby. My pictures have come a long way in the three years that I have read this forum, and I thank every one of you for the invaluable help.

My first DSLR was a Canon 20D that I sold to fund the purchase of my current 5D and 1D MKII, and I picked up a 24-70 f/2.8L to replace the 20D's 17-85 kit lens. A few years ago while working for a newspaper I had the chance to buy a pristine 80-200 f/2.8L "Magic Drainpipe" from one of the photographers, and it has served me very well over the years for everything from track/Motorsports photos to very amateur wedding photos and everything in between.

Despite lacking ultrasonic focus I was still always able to get the shot I wanted with the 80-200, and I am still very happy with the image quality from the old lens. I'd been saving for the 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM, but held off purchasing once the rumors of an updated version started surfacing. I waited, continued to save, and now the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM is mine. To be honest I had forgotten to check the news on the glass, so I went from reading Canon's shortage announcement to finding it available at Adorama and having it in my hands within 48 hours.

Unboxing pics:

As a serious hobbyist with far greater aspirations than talent, this is my second piece of L glass and I am utterly blown away by the image quality and the overall upgrade it represents over the 80-200. The focus is viciously fast on my 1D MKII, and it is an amazing sports lens as the original was before it. When mated to my 5D it reminds me of a large version of my 24-70 f/2.8L, and I dare say its images are even sharper due to the IS as I constantly shoot in low light settings. I have no doubt that I would be this impressed and gushing over the original 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM had I been fortunate enough to own one, but for some reason I chose to wait. In retrospect I don't know how smart this was given how much greater my "keeper" ratio is just from one weekend of shooting, but since I do not rely upon my photos to make my living I guess saving for so long made it easier to assume extra cost of the IS II.

Sample images mated to my 5D:

Sample images mated to the 1D MKII:

I have read my share of gear reviews, but now that I'm making my own I am sure that I am missing something critical here and apologize in advance. I haven't had more than two days/events under my belt with the glass, so while I am enjoying every chance to use it I can only imagine what it would produce in more capable/experienced hands or on one of the more current/updated Canon bodies. I do look forward to growing into it though!

Thanks for reading.

cfusionpm · Mar 30, 2010

Mine came in the mail a few days ago and I am incredibly pleased with it. It's a HUGE upgrade from my 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM.

CMT · Mar 30, 2010

cfusionpm said:
Mine came in the mail a few days ago and I am incredibly pleased with it. It's a HUGE upgrade from my 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM.

I love it, zero buyer remorse whatsoever. I do not notice the heft at all due to the excellent balance of the lens. I was shooting for a full two days and did not feel fatigued at all, no doubt buffered by the excitement of having killer new glass.

Formatted · Mar 31, 2010

Lucky git!

I'm doing a horse trial in a couple of weeks and renting one for my 40D!

Congrats on your lens concert picks are great by the way.

gsgary · Mar 31, 2010

Formatted said:
Lucky git!

I'm doing a horse trial in a couple of weeks and renting one for my 40D!

Congrats on your lens concert picks are great by the way.

Badminton ? 200mm could be a bit short at a lot of places get there early so you can plan where to shoot

Formatted · Mar 31, 2010

Badminton

haha I wish, I asked at a local camera shop if they would take me on a shoot and they invited me to come along to one they are doing in a few weeks, just a small local one.

Don't forget its on a cropped body so its really 320, hope that should be enough.

CMT · Apr 1, 2010

Formatted said:
Lucky git!

I'm doing a horse trial in a couple of weeks and renting one for my 40D!

Congrats on your lens concert picks are great by the way.

Thanks Formatted, sorry to have made the thread and then basically abandoned it, work started kicking my tuckus and I haven't had a lot of free Internet time as a result. I haven't shot much more with the 70-200 IS II, but I have corresponded with a friend from work who also has the lens along with a host of better gear. We were discussing the 1.4x and 2x extender options and when I mentioned that I was fearful that the 2x would degrade image quality too severely, he sent me this:

I took some shots with the 70-200 II and the 2.0x extender at what I think were in the worst possible conditions. This is dim indoor tungsten light except for IMAGE3 (chair) which was window light.

I am blown away by the quality I can get now from that extender. Just look at image3 up close. That's a strand of cobweb that I couldn't even see with my eyes and it's sharp as hell to me at least!

The image of the receiver (image 1) was handheld at 400mm (200x2.0) at 1/25 of a second!

All shots were the largest aperture of 5.6 image 1, image 2 were 12800iso, image3 was 800iso and image 4, and image 5 was 8000iso. In gym light or outdoors I can only see the quality getting better.

A final note: the extender seems to have thrown of my lens calibration by a hair (I had to calibrate all my lenses to the MKIV since it was front focusing a little) which means these images are NOT as sharp as they could be!

I'm amazed by the quality of those pictures given the as-described abysmal light condition of the shot. It shows how capable the 1D MKIV+70-200 IS II combo really is. I wonder if either my 5D or 1D MKII would perform anywhere near as well in decent light with the 2x extender, because if that thing is a viable option due to the sharpness of the 70-200 IS II then I'd like to get as much bang for my extender buck, so to speak.

Did I mention I love this thing? I need to create more opportunities to shoot with it!