Note: Kirk is "the Affordable Full time Professional Wedding Photographer Winsdor, Ontario". Here is the Link to KW Masters Photography.
Introduction:
The two most common zoom lenses that we use are the trusty 24 - 105 mm and the 70-200 mm. Both are constant aperture F -4 . What this means is that as you zoom in and out, the F-Stop and your exposure will stay the same. Where ever possible that is something to look for in a lens. Both are classified as Canon "L" lenses which implies build quality and weather proofing.
- Lens controls IS and AF - Notice the different settings for distance to object
What to Look for in a Lens:
With a telephoto lens, you can compress the background and with lower F-Stops you get a tighter depth of field. You also look for bokeh of the lens. You also look at things like the sharpness of the image, what is the barrel distortions, how does it perform at it's widest F-Stop and racked fully out. When we purchased this lens, the F 2.8 model at twice the price was not nearly as sharp as this lens. The revised F 2.8 is now an excellent lens. Both make for an excellent portrait lens. IMHO, there is only a slight difference with the out of focus depth of field between F 4 and F 2.8. The winner here would be the F 2.8 but at twice the price you could buy another quality lens for your kit. But that is out of the camera. Tweak the bokeh slider in DXO and now you have the same, or if not much better bokeh than the F 2.8. The bokeh is rated as neutral. The F 4.0 is also much smaller and lighter. You also run a much better chance of getting your couple in focus as the DOF is not as tight as with a F 2.8. That is the most important thing when photographing anything. Another important thing to look at is the IS - Image Stabilization. How many stops do you get and what is the slowest speed that you can shoot at.
The Canon 70-200 IS F 4 is considered to be one of the sharpest zooms that Canon makes.
- At F 4
- F4 at 200 mm
- Distortions
Summary:
This is an outstanding sharp telephoto lens and one of Canon`s best buys. It does have some barrel distortion at 200 mm which can be corrected in DXO or PS. Buyers rate this at 9.9 so who can argue with that. You just might want to add this to your none FF bodies like the 50 D and get a 100 - 320 mm range out of it. And you might want to add a multiplier, like the 2.0 to boost this from 1.4 to 2 x`s more. At 640 mm, I would suggest that you use a tripod but the IS is highly rated. We even have gotten 200 mm shots at 1/10 of second, but recommend when shooting people to keep it above 1/50 second. As the F 2.8 weighs about 3 lbs and this one about 1 1/2 lbs, keeping on your belt is much nicer at the lower weight. As I have mentioned in the past, low light work is now not the issue that it was several years ago and the need to have a F 2.8 lens to work in these low light situations is not necessary.
Masters-Tip: Consider the F 4 for your telephoto work. Price, sharpness, lightness, performance is all tops. We do recommend the IS model, so watch out. IS should give you about 2+ stops or don't shoot slower than 1/50 second as a guide. It is currently on sale at Vistek. Price is approximately $1199. cdn + taxes. Ask for price match to Hen...
Masters-Tip: Use DXO to remove the distortions that all lens have and sharpen this even more. And don't forget the bokeh slider.
Our rating: Highly Recommended
Kirk is a Professional Wedding Photographer in Windsor Ontario Canada. In appreciation if you would be so kind as to give a G+ and a Facebook Like KW Masters Photography on his Facebook page.
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