 Well, it’s replacing one of the most popular professional level zooms ever made, so it better be good. The EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM features one fluorite and five UD elements for increased optical quality and reduced chromatic aberration. It has a minimum focusing distance of 3.9 ft. at all zoom settings, which is quite nice for those who use this for closeup work. It does have a clearly improved Image Stabilization system, with a 4-stop IS compared to 2 stops in the original version. Roger’s take: Before I ever used this lens I was predisposed not to like it. The original version is excellent and one of the best zooms made. I wanted Canon to upgrade 12.5 other lenses (the 50 f/1.4 only counts as half a lens) before they turned their attention to redoing the already excellent 70-200 f/2.8 IS. Now that I’ve used it, I’ve changed my opinion somewhat. Sorta. To a greater or lesser extent. I haven’t changed my opinion that the original lens is excellent. However, the II version is clearly better: sharper in the edges and corners for sure. Probably sharper by a hair in the center, and the IS is clearly, definitely improved. Handholding at 1/30 a second at 200mm is possible, which definitely wasn’t something you could do with version I. So kudos Canon, you made nearly perfect even better. No question it’s a better lens. Would I upgrade from a Mk I to it? No, I wouldn’t, but that is because of the way I shoot. It might be very different for someone else. For me the 70-200 f/2.8 is a sports/action range, so corner sharpness isn’t a big thing, and better IS doesn’t matter (in fact, the NON IS is fine). But for other people using it for other purposes, those things can be critical and make this clearly a better lens. If I were using it for low-light work where the subjects aren’t moving much (say concerts or plays), then it would clearly be worthwhile. Specs:
Links:MTF Chart:
Thick lines: 10 lines/mm; thin lines: 30 lines/mm. The darker black lines represent the MTF characteristics at maximum aperture; the blue lines at f/8. The solid lines trace the radical S (sagittal) curve, while the broken lines trace the tangential M (meridional) curve. If you are bored and don’t understand MTF charts, you can read about them HERE Lens Diagram
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