Point: 60/70
DuyTom’s evaluation: Great!
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM Price
1488.4 – 1777 USD, second-hand models (price in 2015)
1760 – 2464 USD, new models (2015)
Manufactured year: 2010
Target: professionals
Match: portrait, landscape, architecture, sports, birds/animals.
Introduction
It isn’t random that the lens is usually in the professional’s bag. Whether the object of photos is: portrait, sports, landscape, animals ... When you need the best possible tele-zoom lens, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM is the lens you need. Even if you have ever used the best lens of the Canon L, the Canon EF 70-200mm f /2.8 L IS II USM still impress you in many ways. Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM creates super-sharp images, the best sharp images that Canon’s zoom lenses have ever been produced. Besides, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM focus is extremely smooth, also extremely fast, even canon 6D is considered as an amateur in sports shooting, now, it can capture racing very well.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM hardly has distortion or chromatic aberration. The image stabilization (IS) function helps to leave your cumbersome tripod at home. Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM replace 70-200mm f/2.8 IS, the first version which was produced in 2001. The early version was very good so that there is no doubt that the second version is even more impressive.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM is optimal for full frame cameras. Definitely, this lens works well on Crop 1.3x & 1.6x cameras.
With the price range of $2000, there is no surprise that the lens comes with luxury accessories, including hood ET-87, worth 57.2 USD and bag LZ1326, worth 52.8 USD.
Accessories accompany with the lens
Strong points:
- Extremely beautiful color, good contrast.
- Best sharpness in Canon zooms lenses.
- Focus super fast and accurate.
- Hardly have image distortion.
- Versatility, suitable for almost anything.
Weak points including:
- Expensive price.
- Heavy & bulky.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM price:
8 point- The lowest price is 1.474 USD. However, it is still truly worthy!
1.474 USD – 1.760 USD, second-hand models (price in 2015)
1.760 – 2.464 USD, new models (price in 2015)
Specification
Symbol
- L: Luxury lens of Canon
- IS: Image Stabilization
- II: is next version of 70-200mm f/2.8 IS. The first launch was launched in a period of 2001 - 2010.
- USM: using Ultra-sonic motor (works silently when focusing)
Focal
70-200mm.
On the 1.3x crop, focal length is equivalent to 90-260mm on full-frame.
On the 1.6x crop, focal length is equivalent to 115-320mm on full-frame.
Aperture
f/2.8
Filter Size
77mm.
Closest Focus
1.2m
Size
88.8 x 199mm
Weight
1,599.85g
Hood
ET-87
Case
LZ1326
Performance
Sports/High speed: 9x2 points
If you stand in a sports stadium with Canon EF 70-200mm f / 2.8 L IS II USM, you have nothing to worry about. Cause this is one of the best lenses you can use when capturing sports. Super focus speed + flexibility focal + suitable weight which make Canon EF 70-200mm f /2.8 L IS II USM is the first choice of many professional reporters. You can take almost any sports from athletics, swimming, tennis ... or races. Canon EF 70-200mm f / 2.8 L IS II USM will satisfy you 100%.
Exceptions, if you need to take impressive images of the top world class sport like WorldCup, Olympic, you should invest in super zoom bosses like: Canon EF 300 f / 2.8 IS II Canon EF 500 f/4 IS, Canon EF 800 f/4 IS... Each lens costs from $5000 to $12000. For almost normal photographers, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM is really enough for all needs of every sport.
Canon EF 70-200mm f / 2.8 L IS II USM focuses extremely fast and sharp, even when panning the camera follow high-speed motorbikes running at 60km/h, you can zoom and read the cards of staff members as illustration below (the distance from photographer position to motor-bikers is about 60 meter).
This image is cut from a small part on the above image, showing organizers card. This shows the ability of focusing is extremely fast and well.
People/ Portraits: 8.5 points
Lens EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM is the most sharpness and detailed one which Canon has ever produced
Portraits quality of Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM is simply amazing. The image is very sharp, brilliant colors and very detail. What kind of lens which are most wedding photographers using? The answer is the series 70-200mm. Focal length 70-200mm is very suitable for a portrait, from a headshot, half body to the full body style. Canon EF 70-200mm and f/2.8 L IS II USM lens is the best in the series 70-200mm (including Sigma and Tamron lenses). We can say that the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM is the boss of sports and portraits. Image is so sharp and detail that even experienced users would be impressed.
Here, we should leave a small comment that it is “the boss” in less than $2,500 range. If we look up a little bit, it will be a surprising world-class, super prime lenses which are worth ten thousands dollar such as Canon EF 200 f/2, Canon EF 300 f/2.8 IS II, Canon EF 800 f/4 IS... These are the real “bosses”
The Boker of the lens is very nice, and the quality of blurring background is smooth, comfortable. This lens absolutely doesn’t have any chromatic aberration.
The quality of blurring background is very good.
The lens doesn't have purple fringing
Architecture / landscape: 8.5 points
the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM absolutely isn’t much less than 16-35mm f/2.8 or 35mm f/1.4 in color and detail aspects. The main weak point of Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM is the focal length, which isn’t wide enough. In focal 70mm, the photo is a little distorted, and it’s almost negligible. Let’s see the following photo to see how beautiful color sharpness and details of the lens are.
The section cut from above image shows that the details are extremely good, however, as 70mm focal length, the lens is still somewhat distorted.
The moon photo (cut from above photo) illustrates the granularity of the lens
When the aperture is f/11 and smaller, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM creates 8 wing sun stars on the bright light sources. Of course, when we spend more than 2000$ on a lens, it should be good.
Wild animals: not scoring
The birders rarely use the 200mm focal, the focal is never enough for them, and they usually use lens 400mm and above.
Macro: 8.5 điểm
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM take macro photos so well, less detailed than any L lens
Ergonomics
8.5 points
When buying Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM, you certainly would want to take portraits and sports. In the field of sports, weight 1.6kg is quite ideal (the super prime lens can weigh up to 5 kg). Zoom circle and focus control are rather easy to manipulate. In autofocus mode, you simply rotate the focus ring to override. Besides, there’re several different buttons on the body.
From the left: 70-200 f/4, 70-200 f/2.8 IS II and 300 f/4 IS
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II attaches a teleconverter 2x – super-long, super big.
Recommendation
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM is made for difficult duties. Whether you prepare to take portraits for super discerning customers or prepare for extremely important sports tournaments, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM will make you feel confident. This is also a favorite lens of thousands of professional photographers worldwide. Until now, there may be only Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II USM which is the better zoom lens. However, it cost a thousand bucks more.
You will choose Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM if:
- You require the best image quality, sharp from center to edges, excellent color, no distortion, no purple fringing.
- You specialize in portrait/sports at a professional level, or a serious enthusiast.
In the following case, you should consider:
-Your budget is around $880: You can buy the first version Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS.
- The budget is only from $352 to $660: Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS or 70-200 f/4 nonIS is reasonable choice.
- If you only specialize in portrait only, then Canon 135mm f/2 or Canon 85mm f/1.8 will save you a lot of money, but the photos are still very beautiful. With the spare money, you even can set up a new studio at home.
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