Reviews for Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

World Class Glass

Strengths: "L" lense quality; F 2.8; comes with tripod mount.

Weakness: Big and heavy; sure to draw attention; the included lens hood is hard to work around.

If you are in the market for a professional Canon telephoto zoom lens, this is a great choice. Sharp image quality at every focal length, excellent color, quick auto focus and silent USM operation are all things I absolutely love about this lens. This lens also works with the 1.4x and 2x extenders from Canon. The 77mm ring size is nice for me as any filters for my 17-40 f4 L fit this is well (and a good circular polarizer is not cheap).
If you need Image Stabilization, that model runs an additional $500+ and another pound plus of carrying weight. I personally do not like the softened pictures IS gives and would rather not have it for such a premium. The included tripod mount is a nice perk over the f4 lens version considering the $120 price of that ring piece purchased alone.
The biggest warning against this lens is visibility. If you don't want to draw attention, this is not the lens for you. The EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS might be a better choice for the shy. Also, the included lens hood is great at reducing lens flare but is cumbersome to work around. When placed forward, it is impossible for me to remove the Canon lens cap. When reversed for travel/storage I cannot reach the front focus ring. A collapsible rubber hood solved this problem.
My complaints are minor and praise is high for this excellent bit of engineering. As much as I hesitated spending the money (versus the f4 version), all doubts faded as the first frames downloaded from the camera.

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Very nice.

Strengths: Very sharp photos even without the IS.

Weakness: Very BIG. Wait until you buy the lens before upgrading to a new camera bag.

Faster than the f/4, cheaper than the IS.

For another $500 you can get this lens with IS, but for that money, you can also get a very good primary lens for that extra $500 or a nice tripod and still have money left for a trip someplace to take photos of something cool.

This lens is very large. For a mental image, take two beer coozys and stack them on top of each other. That is about the size of just the lens. The hood makes it ~3 coozys stacked, not including the camera itself.

I highly recommend you wait until you have the lens in hand before ordering / buying a camera bag. Whatever you have in mind may not be big enough.


The lens takes very good photos. Its built like a rock too.

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Great lens

Strengths: Picture quality, f/2.8, fast auto-focusing

Weakness: Weight, attracts unwanted attention

I bought this for our trip to Asia. My husband and I both used this lens on a 30D and XTi and the resulting image quality was excellent! I had considered getting the IS version however for the steep increase in price ($500) and weight I couldn't justify that purchase, in part because with a lens this heavy I would most of the time be mounting it to a tripod for zoomed shots anyway. My husband also has some gripe about the weight since one part of the trip required a hike of over 5 miles, but after a few shoots it became one of his favorite lens; we even had to take turns on this lens afterwards. One thing we learned on the trip regarding this lens is that it attracts much attention! Just something to consider when you travel to less than friendly environments.

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Canon 70-200 2.8L Non IS

Strengths: Bokeh, Fast Focus, Image Quality, L Glass

Weakness: Weight

This is an awesome lens. It is now my second most used in my set (50/1.8, 60 Macro, 10-22, 24-70L, 70-200L).

I do a lot of outdoor stuff so the IS wasn't a must, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd go IS on this lens.

My copy was a little soft when I got it, but rather than send it back for an exchange, I took it to a Canon Service Center for calibration. It came back much, much, better.

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Fantastic

Strengths: f2.8, AF, zoom, everything

Weakness: nothing

Not only is this the best lens I've ever owned, buying from Beach Camera made this purchase that much better. I ordered the lens on 8/3/09 and received the lens 8/5/09. Lightning fast delivery. This lens can do it all. AF can track fast moving objects and stick with it. I would recommend this lens over the IS version. The IS makes pictures look a little soft and most of the time with this lens you should be using either a tripod or monopod so the IS becomes a non-factor.

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Wow

Strengths: Image Quality Focus speed F2.8

Weakness: Weight White - Attracts attention. Good and bad

Used my brother's and now bought my own. Seeing is believing. Sold my 70-200 F4 and got this beauty. Only 1 stop difference, but oh what a difference. As a side benefit, because it works perfectly w/ my canon 1.4x extender, I have a 98-280 F4 lens at nearly no less in image quality. That is what I call versatility! The only downside is weight. But what it gives makes up the difference!

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Better than you can imagine

Strengths: Absolutely one of the best Canon lenses out there, fast, and deadly focus accuracy.

Weakness: None.

This is by far my favorite lense, absolutely stunning images in any lighting. The size is very comfortable and the build quality is superb. I use mine primarily for shooting sports and about the only problem I've noticed is that sometimes I may hit the AF/M focus switch inadvertently. Superb images corner to corner and the IS is worth every penny. Some prefer the non-IS version, but not me. I wish every Canon lense had it. The bokeh and speed of this lense are superb as well, with very little distortion, and very little vingetting.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM (Ultrasonic Motor) Lens is a medium level product in the Canon L Series 70-200mm product line. The 70-200mm L lens family has many similarities in common, like focal length range, top notch image quality with build quality to match, constant wide apertures (f/2.8 or f/4) over their entire zoom range, and, fast and accurate auto focusing benefiting from Ring USM...

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

Testseek.com has collected 5 expert reviews for Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM and the average expert rating is 90 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

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