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

Combining a very popular and very useful focal length range with excellent image quality, professional build quality, superb autofocus performance, a fast aperture and one of my favorite features - Canon's valuable 3-stop Image Stabilization - makes the 70-200 IS one of Canon's most desired lenses. When I really need to make every shot count, the 70-200 IS is one of the first lenses I will include in my bag. It is one of the most-professionally-used lenses available and finds a home in the kit of many, many serious amateurs as well.

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens balances out great build quality with excellent image quality. Images are sharp wide open (f/2.8) - corner performance is remarkable even with a Full Frame body. Stopping down to f/4 delivers even sharper results with better contrast.

Color and contrast are good. Some CA is present (especially in the upper focal lengths). Vignetting is well controlled, basically only showing in the corners at f/2.8 and encroaching the most at 200mm. I notice slight barrel distortion at the 70-200's widest focal lengths full frame body. Distortion is not an issue with a 1.3x or 1.6x FOVCF body. Utilizing an 8-blade circular aperture, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens delivers foreground/background blur quality that is renowned. It doesn't get much better than this. The longer included focal lengths will create a diffuse background blur as well. The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens delivers fixed focal length lens performance in a much more versatile (in my opinion) package. Use the included ISO 12233 Resolution Test Chart sample crops to compare the 70-200 IS with some of the fixed focal length lenses in this focal length range such as the Canon EF 135mm f/2.0 L Lens and the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II USM Lens. The primes have some advantages (a wider aperture is one of the biggest) and I use them, but the versatility of 130 other instantly-available focal lengths causes me to far more frequently use the 70-200 IS. Having zoom versatility can mean the difference between getting the shot and getting nothing with a young, energetic child. Any cropping required on a picture shot with the prime will quickly negate any image quality advantage it has. The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens' internal focusing is very fast, quiet and accurate thanks in part to Canon's excellent Ring USM (Ultrasonic Motor). An autofocus range limitation switch enables enhanced autofocus performance. Aside from a very slight amount of play in the focus ring (not enough to impede manual focusing), the zoom and focus rings are very smooth and nicely sized. The objective lens does not rotate or extend with focusing (or with focal length changes).
www.MDTsources.com