Great telezoom, even better for a cropped frame camera
Written: Mar 07 '08
Product Rating:
Pros: Light, sharp, well built, image stabilization, and smooth operation.
Cons: The tripod collar is not included, but is available as an accessory.
The Bottom Line: A great addition to a landscape/wildlife photographer's bag that values light weight, quality equipment which can be transported by foot over many miles.
ncphototrekker's Full Review: Canon EF 70-200mm 4.0L IS USM Lens
There is nothing that screams “professional photographer” more than a white or light gray lens hanging off of a Canon SLR body. That is just the surface cosmetics though, as all real photographers know, what makes a true professional grade lens is much more than the color of the barrel. Does the Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens measure up to what people are thinking when they see this lens, I believe it does.
As a rule, when the lens’ zoom range increases, the optical quality suffers. That is why you will find a plethora of photographers that swear by their prime lenses (those with a fixed focal length, and no zoom). Technology has improved when it comes to optics, however, and we are starting to see zoom lenses with equal, or in some cases better optical performance than the primes. However, as that range increases, more compromises must be made to the optics to allow the lens to perform at ranges from 18mm well up to and beyond 200mm. While these mega-zooms have astounding optical quality (considering), they are not equal to the primes..not even close. The zoom lenses with a more conservative range, however, don’t have to make near as many compromises, allowing them to go head to head with the prime lenses when it comes to optics.
I had to keep that in mind when choosing my lens collection. I knew I needed zooms because I prefer to frame my photographs as precisely as I can and not rely on resolution robbing post production cropping. I also needed the coverage of a large range of focal lengths without having to carry a ton (figuratively and literally) of lenses in my bag. Most of my lenses are quite conservative in their zoom ranges and I’ve found the optics to be nothing short of amazing. My largest range zoom lens is my Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM which covers a range of 112-320mm when the 1.6x crop conversion is figured in for my crop framed 40D. I was concerned about quality on the short and long end of this range, but after reading several reviews, as well as several Subjective Quality Tests on this lens, I felt comfortable with this lens…enough to spend nearly $1000.00 on it.
Build Quality…
Let’s start out by taking a quick tour of how this lens is put together. As I mentioned early on, the first thing you will likely notice is that the barrel is a light gray color. Some might be asking why Canon did that, as their camera bodies are not that color. The reason is quite simple when you think about it. At 6.8 inches this lens is quite long, and it contains 20 elements in 15 different groups. All of this has to remain perfectly aligned to keep the image quality that Canon intended. When shooting out in the sun, the sun’s warmth has a tendency to heat up darker surfaces, which will potentially cause slight warping as the barrel is heated. To combat that, Canon chose to make their long lenses a light color that will keep temperatures down while shooting in the sunlight. Now even in the blazing sun, you are likely to maintain the high quality images that this lens is capable of delivering.
This lens is heavy, but considering the size, the 26.8oz seems just about right. Compared to its faster brother, the f/2.8, this lens is a lightweight. This was a huge consideration for me as I carry all my gear in a backpack over many miles of trails. I didn’t really need the speed of the f/2.8 as I concentrate mainly on landscapes where a large depth of field is desired. The weight savings for me is well worth the speed tradeoff.
I’ll go ahead and say it; this lens is built to the typical Canon “L” standards with a metal barrel with a nice textured finish. The lens mount is metal as well, which is a big plus with the length and weight of this lens. The zoom and focus rings are both equally silky in operation and well dampened. There is no slop at all in any of the adjustments. While talking about the focus ring, you can use the manual focus at any time to fine tune the auto focus, as with other Canon lenses. Auto focus is accomplished through Canon’s USM (Ultra Sonic Motor) technology. This provides very quick and quiet focusing. You can also select manual focus from a switch that is on the body of the lens. This will deactivate the auto focus completely and let the photographer choose where to focus more precisely. You will find another switch near the AF/MF switch that allows you to prepare the lens for the potential focusing distance when used in AF mode. You can choose to tell the lens that you will be focusing close in, or at a distance. While the auto focus will work regardless of which is selected, you will see a faster response if the switch is positioned correctly for the subject.
There are two other switches that can be found on the body of this lens. They both deal with the IS (Image Stabilization). There is the basic On/Off switch that pretty much does just that. The other switch will tell the lens the desired correction of the IS. You can let the lens correct for all movement (for an added 2-3 stops of hand held stability), or just for vertical shake. This is especially useful for panning whether tripod mounted or hand held. There will be no correction for horizontal movement allowing motion blur to be introduced into the composition, while correcting for any vertical motion (within the 2-3 stops). I have used the IS a couple of times, and have found it to work as advertised. It is a bit noisy, and has a bit of vibration, but after you get used to it, it isn’t a problem at all. You do have to keep in mind not to turn the camera off while the IS motor is still humming. It only lasts a second or two after the exposure. The initial press of the shutter button turns the IS on. It does reduce your battery life, so if you are intending to use this feature for extended periods, you might want to bring extras.
It is worth mentioning that this zoom lens is the smaller of the two standard Canon filter diameters at 67mm. I have found that with a 67mm-77mm step up ring, I have no problem at all using any of my filters with this lens. The front element is fixed and does not rotate as the lens focuses, and all zooming is handled internally as well. This is great news for those that use either polarizing filters or graduated filters.
As with other Canon lenses, there is a rubber gasket that is fitted to the mounting flange that is designed to keep out dust and moisture. Canon stands behind this part with a lifetime warranty that says if the gasket were to wear out, or tear, you could have it replaced free of charge at a Canon repair facility.
In the Field…
If you are using a cropped frame camera like the Rebel series, or the 10/20/30/40D, then you are in for a nice surprise with this lens. You will find that after you figure in the 1.6x correction factor for the sensor, you have a long end of 320mm instead of the marked 200mm. All of a sudden you have moved into the next level of zoom, for really no extra money…how nice is that? This is great for the wildlife photographer that likes to frame tight on distant animals. This lens is also compatible with Canon teleconverters that will give you even more reach out of this lens at the expense of some light.
As I mentioned before, this lens is heavy, but not so heavy that you won’t carry it in your bag. It has been said that the most expensive piece of gear that you own is the one that you don’t carry. For me, if I were to have gone with the faster (heavier) telephoto lens, it would have spent more time stored away either at home or in the truck to keep my bag weight manageable. The fact that I can reach 320mm, with Canon “L” quality for only 26.8oz added weight is pretty nice and well worth the price.
Here is a word of warning about this lens. Despite it having a price tag of nearly $1000.00, there is no tripod collar included. While this is not a tremendous issue with the larger camera bodies, if you are shooting with a plastic bodied Rebel, you will absolutely have to invest in the accessory collar for an additional $145.00 if you shoot on a tripod. Even though I feel confident that my 40D is capable of supporting the weight of this lens on its own, I still purchased the collar. I have found that things are much better balanced with the collar attached. Plus, it makes changing between vertical and horizontal compositions as easy as twisting a thumb screw and rotating the camera within the collar. Personally, I think this is a worthwhile addition to this lens, but if money is tight (what are you doing with this lens?), and you are shooting with a larger SLR body, then you can get away without it. This is actually my only gripe about this lens, and is not enough of a problem to prompt me to drop below a five star rating.
Final Thoughts…
I won’t bore you with the details of all the tests that have been run on this lens. They all say the same thing. This is the third generation of this lens, and is the sharpest of the bunch. You can find all sorts of different tests by doing some simple searches on the internet. Everybody seems to agree that from 70mm all the way to 200mm this lens performs excellently. I can vouch for that with my own use of the lens in real world situations. Whether isolating a section of the landscape, or photographing a deer in a field, this lens does it all with ease.
Considering the top notch build quality inherent with the Canon “L” series, the cost of the lens is actually quite reasonable, even when you factor in the tripod collar. As with other “L” lenses, Canon includes a lens hood as well as a nice lens bag for storage. The hood fits on the lens with a bayonet mount allowing for screw on filters. The hood is quite deep, so you will have to remove it to make any adjustments to a polarizer or graduated filter. This is a simple affair to do, and doesn’t pose any problems.
The image stabilization is a very nice touch for a lens of this focal length, especially if you plan on hand holding in low light. Keep in mind that you can usually only hand hold at shutter speeds faster than the reciprocal of the focal length. That means at the long end, 200mm, you would need a shutter speed faster than 1/200 sec without the image stabilization. If you are shooting with a cropped frame camera such as my 40D, then you are looking at an equivalent of 320mm for a shutter speed of faster than 1/320 sec. The image stabilization might just make an otherwise impossible shot a success.
I can’t recommend this lens enough. While it is not one of my widely used lenses, it is very nice to have when I need the focal reach that it provides. It is well made, and the optics facilitate some outstanding images that are sharp, contrasty, and free of chromatic aberrations. For a wildlife photographer, this would make a great all around lens as it is lighter than others of similar specs, allowing you to carry it further into the woods.
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