Professional grade lens at an affordable price

Author's Rating:

Pros: Image quality is sharp, vivid colors, light for 70-200, solid build, fast & quiet focus

Cons: Price (but worth it)

The Bottom Line: 
If you're looking for Canon's highest grade professional quality lens, this is it! Great outdoor & day time lens and still performs superb at night.

Author's Review
I currently shoot with Canon 20D (x1.6 crop factor) and have been using the 18-55mm kit lens & the 50mm f1.8 mkII lens (much sharper then the kit).

I've rented few lenses including the 70-200 f2.8 L IS (nice but quite heavy) and the more I used it, the more I fell in love with it. The problem with the "L" or the "Luxury" series from Canon doesn't come cheap. Until of course I found the 70-200 f4 L. I was looking & reading reviews on the 70-300 IS lens but the tests and sample pictures showed the f4 L lens to be a higher quality. I can easily get extra reach with the Canon x1.4 extender if I need to.

With the 1.6 crop body it's equivalent of 112mm-320mm which is nice for zooming in far subject and getting that extra reach. I did start to get a bit hungry for a wider lens but got used to it after awhile.

The initial impression of pulling the 70-200mm f4 L lens out of the box was finding a treasure in a small box. It's beautiful for one. It's something you have to see to believe. The lens feels like a solid tank but not heavy. Every part of the lens you grip feels solid although I've been babying it where I put it, how I put it & where I store it! The package comes with a lens hood & nice velvet bag with the bottom cushioned.

Since the lens uses 67mm filter, it was easy to find inexpensive (but high quality) UV filter from B&H Photo for $50. Some recommended buying step up ring & 77mm filter so it's interchangeable with other lenses but I figured for $50 it wouldn't be a big deal. It's definitely a great walk around lens even for landscape.

As far as the image goes it's sharp. I've shot & took a 100% crop and it's very detailed. The bokeh looks great, the color looks more vivid before doing any PS. It's a night & day coming from a kit lens and will never go back. Yes I do have the "L fever" like everyone else seems to get with these lens.

I highly recommend this lens. Great lens for the price, can't beat the "L" quality, it's solid, doesn't feel like you'll get a wrist sprain, does a great job at focusing quietly & smoothly, image quality is impressive & of course, it's Canon L...it looks cool!

On a side note, I'm looking into getting a nice B+W warm CPL filter, expensive but will be a great addition. I'm also considering 16-35mm L for my next lens although it's a bit pricey.