A great lens choice for any advanced/professional photographer…

Author's Rating:

Pros: Light weight for its zoom ratio and quality; one of the best!

Cons: White, black, white, black…looks like a zebra!

The Bottom Line: 
The image quality and focal length range make this a highly desirable lens.

Author's Review
Over a thirty year period of shooting professionally (glamour and fashion), of all the lenses that I owned (plenty), two lenses were my real money makers. Depending on the brand of equipment that I was using at the time they were the 300mm F2.8 (or 280mm F2.8) and the 70mm-200mm F4.0 zoom (or 80mm-200mm).

The way I used the 300mm F2.8 was to always shoot wide open to take advantage of a shallow depth-of-field, thereby having my model "pop" out against a softly-blurred background.

But the 70mm-200mm, F4.0, has always been my work-horse lens. Essentially, in my working with models, it would allow me to quickly recompose my photos and to pull back from a tight shot to a more encompassing image in an instant. Easier than using a prime lens and running back and forth to include more in a photo or to crop tightly, I never had a problem with sharpness where zoom lenses were concerned.

However, some were sharper (and had better contrast) than others. Notably, Leitz (Leica) lens had superb characteristics.

I had not been a user of Canon cameras till this year when I bought the digital 10D. My friends have all been amazed by the quality of my images (usually printed to 11x17 inch paper on a Canon S9000 printer). Though, I was generally happy with my images, I felt they could be much better if I could only afford (I can't) and be using the Canon 1Ds with the "full size" sensor.

But, since I no longer get those swell magazine assignments and need to earn a living, I just purchased the Canon 70mm-200mm, F4.0, L, zoom lens, mainly for the purpose of doing head shots for actors.

I had been using the Canon 28mm-200mm, F3.5, 5.6 lens. Though it is a nice all-around lens, the operating word is "nice." It's an "okay" lens but it's not a great lens (neither is it particularly expensive and it is quite compact).

So, I took my new Canon 70mm-200mm, F4.0, L, zoom lens and went out shooting with my Canon 10D digital camera. Upon my return, I uploaded the images to my computer and was absolutely stunned!

The subject matter was the same subject matter (literally) that I've been photographing over the past months. That's why I was so surprised! Yes, the pictures were really, really sharp but it was the colors and the tones that jumped out at me. Suddenly, I felt that I was approximating the quality I might get with the Canon 1Ds ("full-frame" sensor). Without reflecting upon my ability as a photographer, the images are just beautiful.

This lens (as is the range of "L" series lenses) is sealed against moisture and dust; a filter at the front of the lens is recommended to complete the protection.

The focusing is fast but Canon also provides a switch on the lens to narrow the range of focus, thererby, allowing the lens to focus even faster. (The range delimiter allows focusing from 3.9 feet to infinity or 9.8 feet to infinity.) Manual focusing is always available and can be used to override auto-focusing.

Canon offers three 70mm-200mm, L series, lenses in its line-up. Two of the lenses have a maximum aperture of F2.8, and one of those lenses offers Image Stabilization (IS).

However, of these three lenses, it is the F4.0 which, at 3.9 feet, focuses the closest by about a half-a-foot (the IS lens) and by a full foot (non-IS lens).

The lens is supplied with both a lens hood and a lens pouch. The front element of the lens does not rotate during focusing so allows the use of a circular polarizing (67mm) filter. An optional tripod collar is available.

If you have no need for an aperture of F2.8, I think the F4.0 lens is a perfect choice. It is less expensive and produces superlative image quality. If I were to choose a fast lens (f2.8 or better), it would probably be a prime lens that I might use in deliberately low-light situations (documentary, moody photos). Or, I would choose a 300mm telephoto for its shallow depth-of-field when used wide-open.

But, for my purposes, I could not be happier than to have the Canon, 70mm-200mm, F4.0, L, lens. Easy to handle, it is about one-and-a-third pounds less in weight than the lighter of the two F2.8 lenses. It is a lovely lens out-of-doors and eminently well-suited for studio use.

If I could own only one lens, perhaps, this would be it.