Lens Impressions

I used a Canon FD 70-210 F4 lens between 1982 and 2003 with my A1 and T90 bodies. It was a lens I was very fond of and with which I took many good photos. After I made the move to digital in 2004, I was keen to invest in the EF version of this lens so bought the non-IS F4 version (an IS version being unavailable at the time).

I was pleased with my purchase but the third EF lens I bought - a 300mm F4 L IS - made me realise just what an amazing feature Image Stabilisation is. The 1.6x crop factor, although very welcome for telephoto, made hand-holding the non-IS lens even more difficult.

When the IS version of the 70-200mm F4 lens was announced I upgraded almost immediately. Apart from the obvious advantage of IS, it is a far better lens than the non-IS version. I can only imagine this is because of newer lens coatings, etc.

It focuses particularly well on the 10D and produces the best images of any lens I have ever owned. For its size and weight, it is truly remarkable.

The f/2.8 version is undoubtedly a fine lens with superb optics but for me it is just too big, bulky and heavy. When I carry my 300mm lens around all day, weighing 1190g, I invariably come home with backache and the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS - at 1470g - is even heavier. It's a beast of a lens, especially up against the F4 L IS which, at 760g, feels as light as a feather in comparison.

After using Image Stabilisation, it is very difficult to go back to lenses that don't have the feature. Pressing the shutter button half-way has the same effect as a giant pair of hands coming out of nowhere to help steady the lens.

The latest generation of IS is claimed to give a four-stop advantage and this is quite believable. Although not the best photos I have taken, some of the photos above were taken hand-held at 1/15s and they are quite useable without any real visible camera shake. The IS mechanism in this lens is significantly better than that used in the 300mm F4 L IS.

The lens works particularly well with the Canon EF 1.4x II extender showing little, if any, degradation in image quality. Focusing is also very good with the extender - even with a 10D - whereas I haven't found this to be the case with the 300mm F4 L IS.

The maximum reach with the extender is 280mm, therefore close to 300mm but with a very useful zoom range that extends from 98mm. At the bullfighting event shown in the photos above, the 300mm was too long for many shots but the 70-200mm plus 1.4x extender proved to be very versatile.

The image quality of the 70-200mm used with the 1.4x extender was better than the 300mm prime without the extender and the focusing was much better resulting in a lot more keepers. It is no longer the case that prime lenses give better image quality than zooms.

This particular zoom lens will leave most prime lenses dead in the water in terms of image quality and the focusing is spot on almost every time. My feelings towards my 300mm prime have changed immensely since buying the 70-200mm.

I expect I will keep the 300mm for the time being but it will go if Canon announce an update to the same lens or the 100-400mm. The 70-200mm is a great example of what modern technology can achieve with lens quality.

With the Canon EF 1.4x II extender

For more image samples of this lens when used with the 1.4 extender, see: Canon EF 1.4x II Extender/Teleconverter

Post-Processing

Images were shot in RAW format and converted with Adobe Camera Raw. Noise was reduced using Imagenomic Noiseware Professional. Small amounts of image enhancement were applied using Adobe Photoshop CS2 (curves, levels, saturation) before sharpening using the Smart Sharpen filter (Amount: 30% - 120%, Radius: 0.2px - 0.3px, Remove: Lens Blur).

The large JPG images that open if you click on a thumbnail were saved with a 'High' quality setting of '8' on a scale of 0-12.

Lens Details

Weight: 26.8 oz; 760 g
Filter Diameter: 67mm
Closest Focusing Distance: 3.9ft; 1.2m
Minimum Aperture: f/32
Serial Number: 201788
Lens Code: UU1000
Date Manufactured: October 2006
Date Purchased: December 2006
Supplier: Cathay Photo, Singapore
Price: 1,863.75 Singapore dollars
Lens Hood: ET-74 (included)
Soft Case: LP1224 (included)