Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

[paulr5604]

HI does anyone have experience of this lens and does it work with the teleconverters Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens

[Paulstw]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

When I was looking into it Paul the lens will work with the 1.4x converter no bother. The 2x will still work, but only cameras like the 5D mkIII and 1D series can AF with it. That's why I got the 2.8. So that if I wanted a 2x it would reduce it to f5.6 and still AF.

[paulr5604]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

Yeah I read somewhere that if I wanted the 2x with it I would have to manual focus but the price difference between the 2.8 and the 4 is quite big

[EOS_User]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

HI does anyone have experience of this lens and does it work with the teleconverters Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens

Yes; I have this lens, it's one of the oldest in my bag, and still serving me well. IQ is very good. Add the 1.4x and you won't see any notable degradation in IQ, but it will slow it to f/5.6. Add the 2x and not only do you lose AF, it will also be super-slow at f/8, and IQ is horrible!

Yeah I read somewhere that if I wanted the 2x with it I would have to manual focus but the price difference between the 2.8 and the 4 is quite big

Agreed; the price-difference is huge, so you need to decide what you will be using the lens for in general terms; will you need the speed of the f/2.8?

Cheers;

Lee

[Hereford_EOS]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

The IS version is a superb lens.
The f/2.8 version will accept the x1.4 and x2.0 extender and still maintain AF.
If you want to use this with a x2.0 extender then consider buying the EF 300mm f/4L IS which also takes the x1.4 extender giving 420mm f/5.6.
There is always a small cost to IQ when adding an extender.

[Paulstw]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

To give you an idea of whether you need a 2.8 lens or not Paul. I can offer some assistance. You probably don't. I was shooting at f/4.5 or f/8 most of the day yesterday at ISO800 to get most of the birds in focus. The birds on my Flickr that were perched were at f/2.8 and it was far too shallow a DOF for that type of thing. Their back ends were so OOF that in LR they were being destroyed in editing.

The f/2.8 lens IMHO is really only to totally isolate people from a busy background in portraits, it does really well with it, and even shooting at f/4 I'm not really sure I'd notice. However, on a crop body the DOF of f/2.8 is actually the equivalent of f/4 on a FF so it's all really pointless to worry about f/stops on lenses. On bright days especially. I think you use flash too so nothing to worry about.

If I was to go back, I'd have bought the F4 IS and another lens with the change lol

[paulr5604]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

Paul i was thinking the same that I wouldn't really need the 2.8 so might look into the 300 F4 and the 70-200 f4 and see what I think, however I will have to start the lens fund first. Just wanted to know what to aim for with regards to funding.

Thanks to everyone for your input

[Hereford_EOS]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

The 70-200mm f/4L IS is superior to the non-IS version as is highly regarded and giving very good IQ.

[Paulstw]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

What I would assess Paul is what do you need it for? I find mine, too tight for some things, and not long enough for wildlife. For street stuff I tend to be about a road width away from folk to be able to use the 70-200 range. Any closer and the 200 end is redundant.

[paulr5604]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

I would like it for a bit of portraiture and wildlife and am now thinking of the canon EF70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM but I have read that at 300mm you need to have it set at F8 to keep the IQ acceptable. Which would make it the same as the 70-200 f4 L with the 1.4x Converter but will take time to get, is the IQ that much better?

[Paulstw]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

I had a wee shot of the 70-300L from my mate in work. It's marginally better on IQ at 100% than my Tamron. Also, the AF was faster, the image was more contrasty too. I think the 70-300 and 100-400 are round about the same price.

[MX5]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

Trouble is there are too many lenses that do the job ... even from just Canon. So selecting one is always going to be a tough decision to get right first time. So make use of renting or try-before-you buy ... that way you can mitigate some risk.

[Dave61]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

The 70-200mm f/4L IS is superior to the non-IS version as is highly regarded and giving very good IQ.

I agree with, as I have only had my 70-200mm f/4L IS for a few months and I love it, pin sharp on all the settings.

[supergeeman]

Re: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens Opinions

Had the non IS f4 and loved it, pin sharp, but for me, it didn't have enough reach, and I didn't want to fork out on an extender, so sold it and purchased a s/h 100-400L and haven't regretted it at all

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