Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Pro Reviews

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 USM L may be one of the oldest lenses in the Canon lineup by now but it is still an impressive one. The produced images are very sharp at all focal length across the relevant aperture range. The high resolution is also supported by low lateral CAs. You will notice some vignetting at max. aperture but this is about in line to what we've seen from other lenses in this class here. The Canon lens produces some slight barrel to moderate pincushion distortions which is probably no big deal for the typical applications of such a lens. At just a little more than a grand (EUR/US$) it is certainly not cheap in absolute terms but it's still affordable compared to its insanely expensive (but slightly superior) IS counterpart.

Although technically not the best lens optically, the high levels of centre sharpness will please those whose shooting style often results in their subject being isolated near to the centre of the frame. The reasonable price and excellent build quality should also ensure this lens is a good investment, being more than capable of taking the rigours of daily professional use in its stride. If however, you often shoot flat objects that fill the frame, or simply require excellent sharpness from edge to edge, say for landscapes, then this lens may not be for you. The lack of image stabilisation may also be an issue for some, especially those shooting in low light, where stabilisation can really help to increase your chance of producing a sharp image. Those who mainly shoot in daylight, or that shoot fast moving subjects such as sports can probably live without.

The Canon 70-200mm ƒ/2.8L USM performed very well in our tests, perhaps not as sharp as we'd like at 200mm and ƒ/2.8, but quite impressive at 70mm. CA tolerance is very good, distortion is low, and corner shading is very low. Build quality is very high, and autofocus performance is excellent. For the money, you can't go wrong with this lens.

The 70-200mm L lens family shows many genetic similarities aside from their obvious focal length range similarity. Top notch image quality with build quality to match is at the top of the list. All have constant wide apertures (f/2.8 or f/4) over their entire zoom range. All feature fast, quiet and accurate autofocusing benefiting from Ring USM (Ultrasonic Motor) and internal-focusing. All four are internal zooming lenses - the physical length of the lens does not change throughout the zoom range. All four share 8-blade apertures (though the IS lenses features a round aperture) for excellent out-of-focus blur quality.