70-200 f4 L stong points and limitations..

candleJack · Oct 19, 2006

I have this lens and the Tamron 28-75 f2.8 to go with my 350D. Unfortunatelly i have little experience in photography but i want to get as good results as i can when i'm shooting.

That why i was hopeing someone who knows these lenses can give some pointers about what they are best at and where they come short.

Thx, Alex.

MY GALLERY: http://allydea.deviantart.com/

johnboy · Oct 19, 2006

I really like the 70-200F4 and it is my favorite lens as of this date. I do not own the other lens. In my experience the only drawbacks are that it is not fast enough being F4, and that it is white(people stare) great lens for outdoor portraits and such, please do a search there are about ten threads a week on this lens and other people will have other opinions.

happy shooting

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17149496@N00/

ed rader · Oct 19, 2006

i have owned both lenses and still own the 70-200L f4. for the price both lenses can't be beat and they both can equal or beat lenses costing more.

the limitation of the canon zoom is F4.

at F4 this lens is better than any other lens that i have but it can suffer in low light compared to an F2.8 zoom.

strong points are size and weight, price, superb IQ throughout its range, fast focussing (ring USM), excellent build and it works very well with a 1.4 TC.

the tamron also has excellent IQ but because it does not have ring USM it focusses slower than its canon counterpart, the 24-70L. but the tamron is also much smaller and lighter than the canon.

you've got two great lenses there so excuses won't be tolerated

.

ed rader

--

'One often has mixed feelings about relatives, but few people could identify serious problems in their relationships with dogs.'

-- Anonymous

Dr Love · Oct 19, 2006

I too am considering the 70-200L F4.
INTERESTING...compairing MTFs on Photozone.de...
The F4 resolves better the the 70-200L 2.8 and its IS counterpart.
If you can live with F4, it is a steal at under $500 with double rebates!
Now, I am debating to buy that 17-40L with it........

blackhawk13 · Oct 19, 2006

ed rader said:
i have owned both lenses and still own the 70-200L f4. for the
price both lenses can't be beat and they both can equal or beat
lenses costing more.

the limitation of the canon zoom is F4.

at F4 this lens is better than any other lens that i have but it
can suffer in low light compared to an F2.8 zoom.

strong points are size and weight, price, superb IQ throughout its
range, fast focussing (ring USM), excellent build and it works very
well with a 1.4 TC.

the tamron also has excellent IQ but because it does not have ring
USM it focusses slower than its canon counterpart, the 24-70L. but
the tamron is also much smaller and lighter than the canon.

you've got two great lenses there so excuses won't be tolerated .

ed rader

--

'One often has mixed feelings about relatives, but few people could
identify serious problems in their relationships with dogs.'

-- Anonymous

I haven't played with the 70-200 f/4 IS, but from everything I've seen other weight, being 1.2 f stops slower, it's just as sharp. That said I can't say I find the f/2.8 version to be a burden because of size or weight; it feels light to me. Many times I do find that I'm using it wide open with the ISO kicked to 1600, even 3200. Inside shots can be done between ISO 800-1600 with no flash with normal lighting most times if you can go to f/2.8. People/animall pics with no flash, inside, is what makes things interesting.

ed rader · Oct 19, 2006

hey i didn't want to get the f2.8 guys in an uproar

.

my 17-40 is great wide open. it is another excellent lens.

ed rader

--

'One often has mixed feelings about relatives, but few people could identify serious problems in their relationships with dogs.'

-- Anonymous

JJMacks · Oct 19, 2006

Here are the MTF look at the blue lines there f8 the black lines in one case f2.8 and f4 in the other. The F8 performance seems close to me but the F4 looks a bit better. How will they compair at F4 ??? The F4 can't do f2.8. The F4 non is a bargin and light, however I feel the new F4 IS version is a bit over priced.
F2.8 IS

F4 non IS

F2.8 IS

F4 non IS

--
JJMack

Justme · Oct 19, 2006

candleJack said:
I have this lens and the Tamron 28-75 f2.8 to go with my 350D.
Unfortunatelly i have little experience in photography but i want
to get as good results as i can when i'm shooting.

That why i was hopeing someone who knows these lenses can give some
pointers about what they are best at and where they come short.

I have the 70-200L F4.

Good.

IQ, good contrast, sharp, fast AF, works well with a TC 1.4x (but does slow down AF a bit in situations like bird in flight photography), light, slim (didn't know when this slimness would come in handy until I had to shoot through a small square hole in a bird blind/shed photographing the Puffins on Machias Island...with a thicker lens I found myself knocking the lens into the side of the window when moving from left to right and vice-versa), smooth operation....buttery feel to zoom ring...great price, internal focusing.

Not so good.
?????

candleJack said:
Thx, Alex.

MY GALLERY: http://allydea.deviantart.com/

--

I know you mean well but please do not embed my images into the forum. Thanks for respecting that.
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/some_recent_shots
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/great_gray_owls

candleJack · Oct 19, 2006

this isn't exactly what i had in mind. I thank everybody who answered but what i was looking for was something more like "while shooting i found that the lens is good in these situations and not so good in these other ones". because i own it and know what it weighs and how it feels.. but i don't know how it focuses in real shoot situations and this sort of thing.

Thx again.

ndlaw · Oct 19, 2006

I have owned this lens for about 4 months. I purchased it along with the 17-40L. You can see some of my pictures taken with both lenses at:

http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/gallery.asp?memberID=125176

I have found the 70-200L great for candid outdoor portraits (and indoors with flash), outdoor sports, and (surprisingly) some macro photography. In my opinion, for the cost, it is the best Canon L lens you will find. I am sure others will have differing opinions. That's what makes life so interesting!

Justme · Oct 19, 2006

candleJack said:
this isn't exactly what i had in mind. I thank everybody who
answered but what i was looking for was something more like "while
shooting i found that the lens is good in these situations and not
so good in these other ones". because i own it and know what it
weighs and how it feels.. but i don't know how it focuses in real
shoot situations and this sort of thing.

I have found the 70-200L F4 to be good in the situations I have used it. Certainly the F4 is limiting when the light is very low but I didn't think I had to state that...situations where I would switch to a lens that is f/2.8 or faster. But you can always use flash with it in such situations. So, the only time I don't use the 70-200L F4 is indoors under low light because I have faster glass for that. But like I mentioned, that "slimness" of the lens barrel oddly came in handy one time shooting through that small window opening....who would have thunk it.

candleJack said:
Thx again.

--

I know you mean well but please do not embed my images into the forum. Thanks for respecting that.
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/some_recent_shots
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/great_gray_owls

Jim Cassatt · Oct 19, 2006

I have both lenses and use them on my 5D. For me they are almost an ideal combination, especially since they use the same size filter.

The Tamron is a bit slow focusing compared to the fastest Canon ring USM lenses. I do not find this limiting. The lens is sharp even wide open and gets sharper when stopped down. I have compared it with my 50 mm f1.8, and even at f2.8 it is just as sharp.

The Canon 70-200 mm is a wonderful lens. I use it a lot for landscapes. As mentioned by others, it suffers when shooting indoors because of not being f2.8 and lacking IS. I took some pictures in the national Gallery of Art and could not use a tripod. I would have killed for IS. Results are below:
http://www.pbase.com/jcassatt/iso_3200

Jim
http://www.pbase.com/jcassatt

ed rader · Oct 19, 2006

if you think the f4 IS is overpriced you are putting one hell of a premium on f2.8.

the f4 costs about the same as the 16-35L or the 24-70L and neither of those have 4-stop IS.

i think the price is fair and sales will confirm that.

ed rader

--

'One often has mixed feelings about relatives, but few people could identify serious problems in their relationships with dogs.'

-- Anonymous

ed rader · Oct 19, 2006

candleJack said:
this isn't exactly what i had in mind. I thank everybody who
answered but what i was looking for was something more like "while
shooting i found that the lens is good in these situations and not
so good in these other ones". because i own it and know what it
weighs and how it feels.. but i don't know how it focuses in real
shoot situations and this sort of thing.

Thx again.

you own the lens and you are asking us?

you own the lens and ...........

candleJack said:
"i don't know how it focuses in real
shoot situations and this sort of thing."

i find this rather odd

.

ed rader

--

'One often has mixed feelings about relatives, but few people could identify serious problems in their relationships with dogs.'

-- Anonymous

blackhawk13 · Oct 19, 2006

candleJack said:
this isn't exactly what i had in mind. I thank everybody who
answered but what i was looking for was something more like "while
shooting i found that the lens is good in these situations and not
so good in these other ones". because i own it and know what it
weighs and how it feels.. but i don't know how it focuses in real
shoot situations and this sort of thing.

Thx again.

That's harder to quantify especially if the subject is moving. For optimum AF function a f/2.8 or larger is needed, low light AF will be the first to suffer. Tracking a moving target by the center sensor will not be as accurate. Beyond that is the problem of freezing motion; you can only compensate so far with ISO settings.

Torque124 · Oct 19, 2006

Asking us about something you already own...

Good thing is they don't pop up all that often

--
http://www.pbase.com/mariush

Beas · Oct 19, 2006

Why did you even ask the question?

VertigoM · Oct 19, 2006

ndlaw said:
I have owned this lens for about 4 months. I purchased it along
with the 17-40L. You can see some of my pictures taken with both
lenses at:

http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/gallery.asp?memberID=125176

I have found the 70-200L great for candid outdoor portraits (and
indoors with flash), outdoor sports, and (surprisingly) some macro
photography. In my opinion, for the cost, it is the best Canon L
lens you will find. I am sure others will have differing opinions.
That's what makes life so interesting!

You have some intereseting shots. But there is something off about your photos and I think I pinpointed what it is. Colour Balance. Your photos seem to be too green/blue and lacking reds, particularly your outdoor scenes with green grass and trees. Just looks odd to me. Was this done on purpose?

candleJack · Oct 20, 2006

well yes, i'm asking you guys because i haven't shot all that much, no sports type activity, almost no Av except f4, and although it sounds like i'm lazy and don't want to put in the work to find out, but i'm actually about to take a trip and i expect a lot of great subjects to come my way and i just wanna be as prepared as possible.

Thx yet again, Alex.

JJMacks · Oct 20, 2006

Just using B&H Prices why on a smaller lighter lens does IS cost $104 more then on the larger heaver lens?

F2.8 is twice as fast as a F4 the F2.8 lens cost $30 less then twice the F4. To me this means if you can carry the weight the 70-200mm F2.8 IS is the better buy.

Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/4.0L $ 584.95
Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/2.8L $ 1,139.95
Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/4L IS $ 1,249.00 IS 664 more then non IS
Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS $ 1,699.95 is 560 more then non IS
--
JJMack

70-200 f4 L stong points and limitations..

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