70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 70-200mm f/4L USM

[jackietan]

70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 70-200mm f/4L USM, 80-200mm f/2.8L USM.

Do you have any thing to say.

[natx]

personally own a 70-200 f2.8L IS USM. It's a great lens to have that produces very good bokeh. Depending on what you shoot, the f4 may be your choice for lightweight and sharpness. Do let us know your shooting needs =)

[10-Dee-Q]

i used to have :
-f4 L = great IQ but believe me you MUST have tripod to make use the most of the 200 tele end,
then i sold it and bought
-f/2.8 L = thinkin that the wider aperture will help me on the tele end, but still it's hard to use cause the vf shake figurously when you handheld and especially when thre's strong wind around. And worse still the lens is much bigger and MUCH HEAVIER than the f4L so in the end i trade it with
-f4L IS actually wanna go for f/2.8L but apart from the price issue, i feel that it's to big and to heavy to be carried around comfortably and hanheld.
the f4L IS is very very good, 4 stop IS is awesome, i love this lens , but dunno why maybe cause i'm lazy, i ended up using sigma 18-200 DC OS more than this :P

[Kit]

A whole bunch of people had said a whole bunch of things about these lenses. Do a search will you??

[10-Dee-Q]

anyway after some simple amateur non lab comparison
the f4L lens outperform f/2.8L in terms of sharpness and IQ.
and at those tele range i feel that f4L is good enough for bokeh as well.

[chalib]

Originally Posted by jackietan 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 70-200mm f/4L USM, 80-200mm f/2.8L USM. Do you have any thing to say.

What do you want to hear? Thousand of stories about these 4 brothers.......

[alternatve]

Originally Posted by jackietan 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 70-200mm f/4L USM, 80-200mm f/2.8L USM. Do you have any thing to say.

All are excellent, par none. Pick your choice based on your budget, uses and personal preference.

Samuel

[xyz123]

Originally Posted by jackietan 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 70-200mm f/4L USM, 80-200mm f/2.8L USM. Do you have any thing to say.

hahah very tactical way of asking. there will definitely some people who will say "it's been discussed so many times, do a search, blah blah blah". i don't really care. the forum is place for people to discuss things. also a quick way for people to seek opinions. If so many things have been posted, and not allowed to be discussed again, then the forum will become static and no active discussions will take place.

anyway, back to the topic. i have not owned other lens in this series. only got the f4IS one. it is rather pricy, but i feel the IQ is very good. just go with what you feel. any one of the four you pick, you can't be wrong. However, consider whether you are willing to carry the weight of the f2.8. If not, then get the f4. IS or not IS, if you dont intend to get a tripod, then get the IS, provided you dont mind spending extra of approx $700. If you are shooting in broad day light, IS is not so important..

[wdEvA]

i'm also planning on getting the f/4, but caught inbetween non-IS & IS.
Recently went to the dragontug with my sigma 70-300 f3.5-5.6, and the results were quite okie at 300mm.
shld i rent a IS version and test it out? haha

[Headshotzx]

Originally Posted by wdEvA i'm also planning on getting the f/4, but caught inbetween non-IS & IS. Recently went to the dragontug with my sigma 70-300 f3.5-5.6, and the results were quite okie at 300mm. shld i rent a IS version and test it out? haha

Yeah why not?

Get f/4L if on budget / shoot outdoors very often / use flash indoors / you are very weight conscious
Get f/4L IS if on a mid-range budget / don't like using tripod / you are weight conscious
Get f/2.8L if on a mid-range budget / shoot action & portraits very often / don't mind the weight / don't mind to use tripod indoors (or use flash)
Get f/2.8L IS if you have a good budget / want to shoot almost everything without tripod / love to shoot portraits & action / and have a big ego xD

Personally I'm getting the f/2.8L IS at the end of the year.

[mbasister]

Originally Posted by Headshotzx Yeah why not? Get f/4L if on budget / shoot outdoors very often / use flash indoors / you are very weight conscious Get f/4L IS if on a mid-range budget / don't like using tripod / you are weight conscious Get f/2.8L if on a mid-range budget / shoot action & portraits very often / don't mind the weight / don't mind to use tripod indoors (or use flash) Get f/2.8L IS if you have a good budget / want to shoot almost everything without tripod / love to shoot portraits & action / and have a big ego xD Personally I'm getting the f/2.8L IS at the end of the year.

The most complete, straight forward, no non-sense answer you can get to compare the four lenses

/ and have a big ego ...... definitely comes with a high premium doesn't it

[amokduke]

Hee,

a bit unrelated, but I got my 70-200mm f/4L USM 6 hours ago.. =)

[chalib]

congrat n enjoy snapping

[yamcake]

hey..

does the DOF differ alot when shooting portraits? i do know sure theres difference.
like at 70mm, F2.8 and F4 is the difference really substantial to justify the F2.8?

wanting to get the F4 for portrait shooting..

[alternatve]

Probably not.

If you're concerned, get in closer to the target at shoot at f/4. Remember the three factors of D.O.F and you can get nice DOF with whatever camera you're using.

Samuel

[natx]

Well for me, the f2.8 is for great bokeh and low light. It really makes a difference when you need the extra stop..

[alternatve]

Originally Posted by natx Well for me, the f2.8 is for great bokeh and low light. It really makes a difference when you need the extra stop..

I don't deny that but boken is not just determined by the f/stop number. I don't deny that in ultra low light circumstances, you need every stop you get, or a tripod. Pick your poison and cough up for it.

Samuel

[smirnon]

torn between getting the f4 and f2.8 version of this lense, intend to take photographs of other ships when sailing at end of this month... what would u guys recommend to get for this purpose?

[Headshotzx]

I suggest IS unless you're going to be capturing them in broad-daylight-- Photographing on a non-steady platform can be daunting at times.

[smirnon]

Originally Posted by Headshotzx I suggest IS unless you're going to be capturing them in broad-daylight-- Photographing on a non-steady platform can be daunting at times.

hmmm ic, but i think the ship wouldn't be that unsteady.. the ship is more than 100m in length