Real World Lens Test: Canon’s 70-200mm f/4L IS II USM
This is one of Canon’s absolute best L-series lenses, superb glass. This is also the level of lens that I dreamed of when I bought my first digital SLR camera, the Rebel XT back in 2005. And it’s true what they say, camera bodies come and go, but lenses are forever.
Canon’s 70-200mm L-series telephoto zooms come in four flavors. Basically, it’s available as either f/4 or f/2.8, and both are available with or without image stabilization. The pick of the litter, then, is the f/2.8 IS version. But if you’re on a tight budget, the f/4 without IS is no slouch, assuming you’ve got plenty of available light.
f/2.8 IS III = $2,099
f/2.8 = $1,349
f/4 IS II = $1,623
f/4 = (no longer listed?)
(all prices US at Canon and B&H websites 8/30/22)
After years of lust, I finally bought the f/4 IS II. B&H PhotoVideo has a nice overview of the lens at their site, as does DP Review, and the reviews should convince you to buy one. In this price range, I’d recommend renting one for a week – try it before you buy it. RentGlass.com or LensRentals.com are two shops that I’ve used to check out lenses I was thinking of buying.
I’ve been pressed into shooting two weddings and had rented the f/2.8 IS on both occasions. The f/2.8 versions perform better with less light, obviously. There are nothing but glowing reviews about that lens and it has never disappointed me. For my own purposes, and because I’m cheap, when I decided to pull the trigger, I went with the f/4 IS II version you see here. (And it was on sale.)
Let’s get to shootin’. A few photos from this lens, untouched other than cropped from a larger image and resized, all taken with the EOS 80D. The deer was about 60 feet from the back door. The cardinal was taken through a patio door at a distance of about 25 feet. The pod of dolphins was off of Cape May, NJ at quite a distance. Each photo links to a version at 1920×1080.
One reason I decided to upgrade to the EOS 80D was for high def 1080p video, through whatever lens is attached. Here’s a short clip taken with the 70-200mm on automatic setting. This is just a typical tourist shot on the fly, but it’s a good example of the clarity of this lens. (Untouched, unedited.)
Next is a compilation of short videos of a birdfeeder at a distance of about 15 feet. EOS 80D is mounted on tripod with remote shooting by app over home WiFi. The large woodpecker is an infrequent but welcome guest.
Canon, you know I love you, but these tripod mounting rings for the L glass are ridiculously overpriced. (Currently $168.) And it’s a necessary accessory, to boot. I also ordered an additional mounting plate for my tripod, because I’m too lazy to keep swapping it out between cameras and lenses.
For the most part, the L lenses have been outstanding for me. The 100mm macro needs to be on a tripod for close-up work. The 17-40L is a wonderful walk-about lens, always sharp and suited to a wide range of subjects. The 70-300L replaces the older 70-300 (non-L), which was largely a disappointment. And the 70-200L instantly becomes my favorite. You would think there’d be some redundancy with the 70-300L and the 70-200L, but the latter is sharper, cleaner than the former. (Oh – hiding in the back somewhere is the 50mm f/1.8, the Bang for the Buck Canon lens that every photographer should have.)
As advertised, the 70-200 f/4 IS II is very quiet, very fast. I tend to shoot a little dark – my exposures are usually a couple of ticks to the left of dead center on the light meter. This lens responds well to that, so that backgrounds aren’t blown out and skies are still blue.
(1) I will only briefly mention FILM (old folks, explain “film” to the youngsters, please), and only to say that my wife was taking a filler course in Black and White Photography toward her college degree. For the course, she bought a Pentax K1000 – all manual, all the time – and even learned to develop film in our basement. I picked up the Pentax and couldn’t put it down. Over a thousand dollars was spent in having bad, bad photos developed. (Old folks, explain “developed” to the youngsters, please.)
(2) When DIGITAL was born, I jumped on an early Olympus D360L (released in 2000). This camera took photos at a stunning 1.3 megapixels, or a best 1280 x 960 (a size that is barely adequate today on Facebook). As I recall, the memory card it came with could hold all of two photos at best quality. The camera was slow, downloading photos took forever, and it took 4 AA batteries and ate them like candy. I know, because I still have the camera. And I wish I could go back in time and re-take every one of those photos with modern equipment. As a digital camera, it made me want to keep using film.
My second digital was the Canon S1 IS (IS = image stabilization, not quite as universal then as it is today). Oh, how I loved that camera. Issued in 2004, the S1 was a “superzoom” camera with a 10X optical zoom (the equivalent of 38mm to 380mm) PLUS digital zoom (which one should never, ever use). This little handful took excellent photos, packing 3 megabytes (or twice the size of the Olympus’ best setting). After a month shooting on automatic, I read the user guide, switched over to manual settings, and never looked back. And I was never without that camera.
(3) Eventually, my beloved S1 developed a zotzed display screen. I found out that this was A Thing, that Canon had issued an advisory on it, and that I was supposed to send the camera in for free repair. It turned out that the parts needed to complete that repair had run out, so Canon’s new “repair” was to replace the S1 with a refurbished S3! No complaints from me. I just went from 3MP to 6MP, and from 10X zoom to 12X. But by that time, I had a new love.
(5) In all of my reading, I found myself lusting after better resolution, more clarity, more vivid photos. I wanted a DSLR. At the end of 2005, I picked up the Canon Rebel XT (the 2nd in the Rebel line), an 8MP beauty with an 
(6) So in 2009 I bought the Canon 50D, the newest release at the time in the next level of Canons. Somewhat larger than the Rebel, the 50D fit my hand like it was built for it. Now I had 15MP, a much faster, cleaner, and more capable camera. With this camera, I upgraded the old 18-55mm kit lens with the