• Focal length: 70-200mm
• Maximum aperture: 1:4.0
• Lens construction: 16 elements in 13 groups
• Diagonal angle of view: 34 to 12 degrees
• Focus adjustment: Inner focusing system with USM
• Closest focusing distance: 3.9 feet
• Zoom system: Rotating type
• Filter size: 67mm
• Dimensions: 3.0 inches in diameter, 6.8 inches long
• Weight: 25 ounces

While it's true that this lense will never "grow up to be" the f/2.8 70-200, at half the wieght and half the cost, it's worth it if you're looking at lugging around your camera for hours on end.

...P>One Warning: If you've never shot with a Canon Professional lens ('L' series lenses), you're in for a real treat. You'll have a very difficult time justifying buying anything for your Canon's in the future that's not an 'L' lens, and that can get VERY expensive.


Perfect on-the-go lens   July 22, 2005
 80 out of 81 found this review helpful

I have to say, "Wow I love this lens."

I'd recommend this lens for three kinds of people:

1) People who want to get a taste of the L-series lenses who need a lens in the 70-200mm focal length relatively inexpensively;

2) People who already own the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens who have to lug that huge thing around for a long time;

3) People who want a L-series 70-200mm lens who don't NEED f/2.8 or IS.

Call me a wimp, but shooting 1000-2000 shots a day in the field with the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS gets tiring, especially if you're hand-holding. This lens is relatively inexpensive for being L-series glass, the difference in optical quality is almost imperceptible from the f/2.8, and it's sturdy and ergonomic enough to use all day long.

When I plan on shooting the whole day, especially over the course of several days, this is the lens I take with me, NOT the f/2.8 IS. It's shorter, narrower, and lighter. While you may not feel the difference when shooting for a couple of hours, take two people of equal endurance and strength and give them the f/4 and f/2.8 IS and send them out for a day and you know who is going to come back with the sore arms when the day is over.

On a 1.6x FOVCF body, the 70-200mm focal range makes this lens a little tight; but at 1.3x or 1.0x FOVCF, this focal length range is quite awesome. When I travel, I like to pair this lens with the 17-40mm f/4 and use my feet to fill the gap between 40 and 70mm (I also take along el-cheapo 50mm f/1.8 so I can shoot in low light, and the 1.4x teleconverter to give myself an effective 450mm reach) -- all of this is a good, lightweight, relatively inexpensive package. Also, while being quite a chunk of pocket change, this lens is nowhere near as expensive as the f/2.8 versions, and so it's a lot less of something to worry about when traveling or shooting under adverse conditions.

As so far, I have found NOTHING that I do not like about this lens (well, except for the one-stop loss from f/2.8).

I have to say that if you are looking for a single lens to do General Purpose work, this is not it. This lens is for specfic purposes. This lens works best as one-half of a pair, taking the upper useful focal lengths, while you use something like the 17-40mm f/4L or the 24-70mm f/2.8L to handle lower range of focal lengths. If you're looking for a carry-everywhere never-change lens, try the 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens. It's a great value, the focal length range is in the sweet spot, and the optics are not bad.

Otherwise, if you fit into one of the three categories at the beginning of this post, I would highly recommend this lens to you.


70-200 f4   November 23, 2006
 49 out of 65 found this review helpful

I had thought long and hard about this lens before purchasing it, and ive had it now a couple months and taken a thousand or so shots with it. I have had the chance to also borrow a friends 70 -300is while not an L lens it does yield good results.. for me im not saying the 70-200 is a bad lens because it isnt its a great buy for the money ... but the IS helps and i know in my heart the F2.8IS 70-200 was the way i should have gone. and will replace the f4 with it before long.


High-Quality, Light-Weight and Produces Outstanding Images   November 29, 2005
 39 out of 39 found this review helpful

What more can you ask for? Well, IS would be nice for those low-light 200mm hand-held shots. Otherwise, this lens is nearly perfect in build quality and most importantly, image quality. It is ultra sharp with eye-popping contrast and accurate colors wide open at f4.0 over the whole range from 70-200mm. Stopping down to 5.6 gives only a very slight improvement, just in contrast. I tested it against the new non-L Canon 70-300 IS lens and found the images of the f/4L to have noticibly higher sharpness and contrast at the same f-stops. It also the beat pants off the sharpness and contrast of the 3-times as heavy and 3-times as costly 70-200 f2.8 IS at the same f-stops (4 to 4, 5.6 to 5.6, etc) for all but 200mm, where the IS had virtually the same (but not better) image quality. It also works wonders using the 1.4X teleconverter, becoming a super-sharp 98-280mm f5.6 zoom with fast and accurate autofocus. This lens seems to get a very high percentage of rave reviews from owners and for a reason. You get the best quality images and build with the most portability (low weight) for the lowest cost. Yes, you can spend twice as much for the f2.8 non-IS version and haul 3-times the weight just to get one-stop. Or, you can spend 3-times as much and haul the 2.8 IS for a Gold's Gym workout to get low-light performance (but maybe lower image quality from my experience). There are many choices, but this lens seems to be a winner and a relative bargain for many reasons.