Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Review

OK, I have been having too much fun with this lens that I didn't even get a chance to review it! Ha ha... Anyways, thought I should do it sooner or later. I have my eye on this lens (and the 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM) for a while, and just on the edge, until I learned about the recent Canon instant rebate, and I just couldn't resist anymore. I went to Amazon.com and clicked that "Buy" button... Wow, that feeling of spending $1575... :P


Images from the-digital-picture.com

If you don't know about Canon lenses:

• "EF" is a type of mount, it basically fits all current cameras.
• "70-200mm" is the focal length, and in this range, it's a telephoto zoom lens, great for portraits because due to lens compression (for example, ladies, it makes you look thinner... :D )
• "f/2.8" is the aperture value, and the lower the number, the better bokeh it creates. Bokeh is the creamy background you get, and it is essential for me to make the subject pop up.
• "L" is the luxury line of Canon lenses, best of the best! Another sign this lens is the high quality expensive line is the the off-white body. When you see a white lens, be very afraid... ha ha!
• "IS" stands for Image Stabilizer, it compensates for your hand shake. Works quite well actually.
• "USM" is the Ultrasonic Motor for the focus mechanism. I really needed a accurate and fast focus lens so my head shots will have sharp eyes.

This is a pretty big lens... On my tiny Canon Rebel XSi, it's a "glorified rear lens cap"! When I have all the lenses I want, I will upgrade to a bigger body. Together with my Canon 580EX II Speedlite, the whole thing weighs 6 lb. 3 oz. Yeah... But it's really not that bad when I am busy shooting.

Canon XSi shown with the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens and the Canon 580EX II Speedlite

The previous post (Nikki) was my first shoot with this lens. I really like how fast and accurate the focus was. The 50mm f/1.8 II was not very accurate, so this was a blessing. Shooting at f/2.8 was a bit soft, but when stopped down to f/4 or so, this lens may challenge the prime lenses. I will post more about this lens as I shoot more with it.