Canon EF 70 200mm f 4 L IS USM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens offers the highest possible optical quality with no change in aperture over the full focal range of the lens. This allows photographers to set exposure at the widest aperture and zoom all the way through to 200mm without having to decrease shutter speed. Developed for use with a Canon SLR camera, this autofocus telephoto zoom lens offers optimized use with the Canon EOS series digital cameras. Of particular note, Canon has introduced an image stabilizer (IS) that adjusts to meet the demands of professional photography. IS reduces dramatically the image blur caused by camera shake. Gyro sensors detect unwanted vibrations, triggering the corresponding movement of a correcting lens group perpendicular to the optical axis. This alters the light path, returning the image to its correct position on the sensor or film plane. For shooting immobile subjects, Mode 1 corrects for movement in the image along both the horizontal and vertical axes. For shooting while panning horizontally to follow a moving subject, Mode 2 turns off vertical correction and prevents the effect of dragging the subject back through the frame. The lens’ Ring-type USM employs ultra-sonic frequency vibrations to drive auto focus with unrivalled speed and near-silent operation. A powerful CPU and improved AF algorithm contribute to speed performance. The EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM includes distance metering information, providing compatibility with the E-TTL II flash system of late model cameras such as the EOS-1D Mark II, EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS 5D and EOS 400D. When used in conjunction with Canon’s range of EX Speedlite flash units, the lens passes distance information to the flash algorithm for markedly improved flash exposure metering. Includes Lens hood and soft pouch

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars I’m just rating what I received.
I ordered this lens new from an online merchant recently and after taking it out to shoot for one day, I’ve found that it performs remarkably- when it performs.

I am not rating the 70-200 F/4L IS in general, but rather the one that I received. I thought about not writing a review just so that the raving 5star reviews wouldn’t be skewed but I thought this might be helpful for people who thought it might be too good to be true that nobody got a lemon. It’d be unfair for me to choose to only write a great review just because everyone else did, ignoring the flaws that mine came with.

The lens that I got seemed to be a lemon (which speaks of Canon’s quality control). I tried focusing to infinity manually (tried on both MF and AF) and it just wasn’t getting there. It would rotate from Macro all the way up to about 3/4ths of the way to infinity and it would stop. I put on the lens cap and pressed the shutter halfway to see if it did what it’s supposed to do (try to focus from Macro to Infinity) but again, it would never reach infinity. In fact, when it was rotating towards infinity, it would get stuck and make a scratchy noise. The zoom would also sometimes not turn all the way to 70mm, but if I messed with the focus ring a little bit, the zoom ring would work again. One time it got to the point where the focus ring wouldn’t change the area of focus at all.

The reason why I gave this any stars at all was because I’m giving it 3 stars because it did perform well a couple times and when it did, the image quality as far as saturation, contrast and sharpness were fantastic. Expected better quality control for an L lens so I took off 2 stars. I’ve returned this lens and bought another copy. When it comes, I will give an update to this review.

5 Stars Best zoom lens on the planet
Wow! That’s what you will say when you see your first images from this lens!

It’s not hype, it’s for real.

Small, light, super sharp, super high IQ, super-fast AF, excellent 4 stop IS.

There’s not a lot more to say.

4 Stars Great staple, “go-to” lens.
I have owned this lens for over a year now.

The first lens I purchased had severe front focusing issues and was not as sharp as I would like in a lens of this price range. I returned it and the 2nd copy has been perfect. Having spoken with other enthusiasts, this doesn’t seem to be an uncommon experience, and Canon may have some quality control issues, which is why this is rated a 4 instead of a 5.

The new lens is wonderful, tack sharp, good build and focuses quickly. I use it to do dog photography and it is great outdoors. Indoors for action shots in low light, I would go with the 2.8 over the f/4 to get those really crisp photos in low light conditions. Otherwise great all around zoom lens at a good price. Image stabilization has really come in handy too.

5 Stars Amazing quality in all aspects, cant wait to use it on a full frame.
Optical quality:

The best I’ve seen, period. The pictures I take with this lens standout even around pictures taken with other L lenses like the 17-40 at F/8. This one is sharp from F/4 until diffraction starts to affect (f/16) and is sharp at all zoom points.

IS capability:

I wish all my lenses had an IS like this one does. I can even take sharp pictures at 1/15 at 200mm. It does drain battery a little faster but not to be an issue at all, I even forget about it.

Construction quality:

Solid, excellent… L grade.

Portability

I laugh at the guys lugging the f/2.8… the only reason I would consider the 2.8 is for indoor sports (freezing action) or portaits.

This one at f/4 still produces nice bokeh when taking portraits.

Usability

Of course, its up to you. I have a 40D and found this lens to be too long for normal use. Im buying a 5D mk II and one of the great things about that is that I will be using this lens more. On an APS-C camera the lens becomes usable only for far subjects (more than 20 feet) or head portraits.

Use with the 1.4 tele extender

Great. It still gives excellent optical quality and everything works perfect (remember you loose 1 stop of light however).

4 Stars Beautiful Lens
I use this with a 5D and the combination creates some lovely photos. I had to try two copies of the lens because of corner softness. Its capable of producing gorgeous shots. Works well with the 1.4x adapter.

Buy/More Info