Unlike other brand, Canon has four high-quality or “L” (luxury) telephoto zoom lenses. This has led to confusion for users who are looking for upgrade. In other words, it causes paralysis by analysis. In this post, I will try to sum up which telephoto zooms are the most appropiate for your condition.
70-200mm f/2.8 is quite big and long
Generally, Canon 70-200mm lenses has a solid built-quality, white (tan) finish. The white finish has pro and cons. The pro is in hot sunlight outdoor, the lens will be cooler because white color reflect the light rather than absorb it like black color. The cons is it will be very noticeable in the crowd and the finish peels off after months of regular use.
Like other Canon “L” lenses, all 70-200mm lenses comes with lens hood and suede lens bag.
Image quality of lenses are superb, sharp and detailed. Bokeh (background blur) is smooth and creamy. Auto Focus speed is sensational fast and instaneous.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 USM
This is the cheapest and lightest version of all Canon 70-200mm telephoto zoom lens. Only 705g, this lens is very well balanced in small Canon EOS Rebel series or bigger Canon 40D, 50D series. The price is very attractive too, it is half the price of IS version. Therefore, it is probably suited for students or someone who don’t want to spend a fortune on a lens. This lens will be great for many application such as outdoor sports, landscape, portraits. However, due to the large aperture of f/4, it will be quite challenging to use this lens in dim light condition such as indoor or evening. But, you can always use external flash or tripod if needed.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 IS USM
This lens is quite popular because it is regarded as the sharpest among all the 70-200mm Canon has. It also has two type of Image Stabilization (IS), one for general use, the other for panning. The price is quite reasonable, around $1100. The IS will really help when you shoot indoor.
When you use it on crop sensor camera such as Canon 40D, and you aim for 200mm, then you need to have around 1/320 to keep the image tack sharp (find by 1/(200mm X 1.6)) where 1.6 is the camera crop factor. The 1/320 is hard to achieve in dim light condition. The IS will help at least 3 stops, so you can shoot around 1/80 without worrying about the camera shake. The nice thing is you can see the IS in effect on the viewfinder. The not so nice is the IS surely increase the price by almost two time, and it creates a swirling noise while is activated.
But IS certainly won’t help so much in stopping the action. When you shoot sports indoor where you usually need 1/200 or more to freeze the subject, IS is not helping in this point. But if you use full frame cameras such as Canon 5D mark II which has clean high ISO level, this lens might be very usable.
I find people usually confuse either to get this lens or the f/2.8 without IS version below. I recommend 70-200mm f4 IS to shoot non or slow moving objects, outdoor sports, and the f/2.8 version for indoor sports because the bigger f/2.8 aperture will help freezing subject better.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 USM
This lens is twice heavier than f/4 version and 15mm longer. The diameter is also bigger (67 vs 77mm). Because of the physical size and weight, it is quite uncomfortable to use for a long time. It is not very balanced when mounted in small EOS rebel cameras. This lens has almost the same price as F4 IS.
The f/2.8 will help on sports event but not as much on landscape or still images. With f/2.8 you can create shallower depth of field resulting in attractive and smooth background blur which is great for portraits.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM
The superlative of all, it is the heaviest, the most expensive and the most popular among professionals. This is basically a lens with complete features. It has IS, and big maximum aperture. The cons is the price, the size and weight. Get this lens if you don’t mind of the price and size.
70-200mm f/2.8 and f/4 side by side
Alternatives
To make it more confusing, third party manufacturers also release 70-200mm lenses. They are
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 HSM II EX Macro
This lens is not as sharp as the Canon versions but it is around $300 cheaper. Built quality is excellent. Auto focus is fast and accurate, but it is not as fast as Canon lens. This lens has MACRO label, means they can focus closer than Canon lenses. The closest focus is about 3 feet / 1m. Closest focusing distance for Canon lenses are around 3.9 ft or 120m.
Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Macro
This lens is almost as sharp as Canon, the price is similar to Sigma, but the built quality and auto focus is below average.
In conclusion, if you get the budget, I suggest you to get Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS, exception if you are concern about size and weight, I suggest Canon 70-200mm f/4.
I am not enthusiastic on third party lens maker such as Sigma and Tamron for Canon cameras, but I do recommend these lenses for Nikon full frame camera.
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Thanks, the review is helpful.
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