For most photographers, a high quality 70-200mm f/2.8 image stabilized lens is one of the most important and most frequently used lenses in the kit and Canon’s current version of this lens is always at the top or very close to the top of our most popular lens list. The reasons for this popularity include usefulness, performance and affordability.
For many photographers, the 70-200mm focal length range is second only to a general purpose normal zoom lens in terms of need and usefulness. Canon’s flagship 70-200mm lens is optically impressive and its excellent autofocus performance ensures that the full optical impressiveness is realized. Image stabilization adds to the already-great versatility and, on top of that, a great build quality – including weather sealing – makes this professional-duty lens reliable and fun to use. The relative affordability of this lens, especially compared to longer focal length f/2.8 options, is the reason that many choose this lens and the size and weight difference is similarly compelling.
Canon’s flagship 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Lens has long been one of my most-used lenses and my first choice for a great variety of needs.
When Canon introduces a replacement lens, it has always improved upon its predecessor and that is again the case with this lens. However, the advantages of this lens are not going to be wildly-compelling in convincing version II lens owners to make the upgrade to the version III option. Canon called it a “refresh” and it is just that. Still, it is an excellent and useful lens.
Focal Length Range
I have long-owned two Canon 70-200mm lenses and both of these zoom lenses are, individually, among my most-used, despite the fact that I also have other lenses covering significant portions of this focal length range. That this focal length range is so incredibly useful is the reason that I so often choose a 70-200 lens for whatever my need is.
What is a 70-200mm lens useful for? The list of uses for a short-mid-telephoto focal length range is incredibly long, but I’ll share some of my favorite uses.
At the top of my favorite uses for a 70-200mm lens list is portrait photography and if you are taking pictures of people, this lens has your name on it. Containing a superset of the classic 85-135mm portrait focal length range, 70-200mm lenses are ideal for capturing pleasing perspectives of people. This lens invites subject framing ranging from full body portraits at 70mm to tight headshots at 200mm and these mid-telephoto focal lengths naturally push the focus distances far enough away to avoid perspective distortion, including large-appearing noses, but not so far that communication with the subject becomes difficult.
A set of focal lengths illustrating portrait use is shown below (captured with a different lens).
The “portrait photography” designation is a broad one that covers a wide variety of potential still and video use at a wide variety of potential venues, including both indoors (home, church, school, etc.) and outdoors (yard, beach, park, parade, playground, etc.). Portrait subjects can range from infants to seniors, from individuals to large groups (if enough working distance is available). Engagements, weddings, parties, events, theater, stage performances including concerts and recitals, speakers, kids’ events, families, small groups, senior adults, graduating seniors, fashion, documentary, lifestyle … all are great uses for the 70-200mm focal lengths. There is often adequate space in even a small studio for portraiture with the angle of view provided by this lens. It is not hard to use this lens exclusively for portrait shoots.
Max Aperture
This lens has a very wide f/2.8 max aperture and that this fixed max aperture is available over the entire focal length range is a huge asset. What are the advantages of a wide aperture? More light reaches the imaging sensor, allowing action (both subject and camera) to be stopped in lower light levels via a faster shutter speed and/or a lower, less-noisy ISO setting to be used. In addition, a wide aperture permits a shallower, better-subject-isolating depth of field to be created.
While those photographing landscapes with this lens may not find the wide f/2.8 aperture mandatory (and those hiking to remote landscape destinations may not appreciate the weight that accompanies an f/2.8 lens), those capturing portraits or photographing low light events, including sporting events, will definitely appreciate the faster shutter speeds and/or lower ISO settings made possible by the additional light reaching their imaging sensors. F/2.8 is the widest aperture available in a 70-200mm zoom lens and, even with the improvements we’ve seen in DSLR cameras’ high ISO performance, f/2.8 remains the narrowest aperture I want to use when photographing many indoor activities. In addition to stopping action in low light, the wide aperture invites handholding the camera in much lower light levels.
Image Stabilization
Image stabilization has now been available in camera lenses for a long time, but I still love this feature and I often count on it making a clear improvement in my images. The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens receives the same IS system as in the version II lens.
Canon rates the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens’ IS system for 3.5-stops of assistance and that rating of course carries over to the III. I did not re-test the IS system in the III, but testing with the version II lens showed that I need a shutter speed of 1/80 to get a high percentage of sharp 70mm images when using the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. Turn on IS and my shutter speed requirement dropped to about 1/4 second which is slightly better than 4 stops of help. At 200mm, my shutter speed requirements were 1/160-1/200 without IS and 1/15-1/20 with IS, for between 3 and 4 stops of help.
My test results for this lens did not show a hard floor to the acceptable handheld-with-IS shutter speed but there is a definite diminishing rate of sharp images as the shutter speed lengthens beyond the just-reported speeds. I could achieve good 200mm results at 1/6 second but the sharpness rate was only about 10% in those attempts. Note: few awake people can remain motionless enough for a sharp photo at these shutter speeds, just in case you were thinking about that application.
This IS system makes an audible, slight-drawn-out click upon startup and again at shutdown with a faint whir heard while IS was active (in-camera audio recording will pick up these sounds). The image in the viewfinder does not jump at startup and shows very little drifting. That the scene in the viewfinder becomes motionless is highly desirable for composing an image and the camera’s AF system has better precision when seeing a stabilized image. Canon contends that this is true even with a subject that is in motion and at action-stopping shutter speeds.
This IS system is tripod-sensing. IS modes I (normal) and II (panning) are provided.
As usual and perhaps more than usual with this particular lens, image stabilization greatly increases the versatility of the lens.
Image Quality
As mentioned, Canon has informed us that the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens has the same optical design as the II. That made predicting the III’s image quality easy, especially since I’ve used the prior version of the lens for over 8 years by this time.
When I am carrying the extra weight of an f/2.8 lens, I want that lens to deliver sharp images at f/2.8. Otherwise, what’s the point? Perhaps only that an f/2.8 lens can (often) be expected to produce sharper results at f/4 compared to a similar quality f/4 max aperture lens at the same setting.
Is the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens sharp? Yes, quite so. At f/2.8, this lens is very nicely sharp in the center of the frame, especially for a zoom lens, and that description works for the entire focal length range. F/2.8 center of the frame results at the ends of the focal length range are slightly less sharp than throughout the central range of focal lengths, but still quite good.
Even with an ultra-high resolution Canon EOS 5Ds R behind it, this lens shows only very slight sharpness degradation into the mid and periphery areas of the image circle at f/2.8. The 200mm corners look remarkably sharp at 200mm f/2.8.
Stop down to f/4 and sharpness improves slightly with the most noticeable differences seen at 70mm and 200mm. This lens is very impressively sharp at f/4 and razor sharp defines the entire f/5.6 experience with this lens.
In addition to our standard lab tests, I like to share some real world examples. The images below are 100% resolution crops captured in RAW format using a Canon EOS 5Ds R. The images were processed in DPP using the Standard Picture Style with sharpness set to “1”. These examples are from the center of the frame.
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| Year Introduced |
2018 |
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| Mounts On |
Full-Frame, APS-C |
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| Lenses / Groups |
23/19 |
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| Angle of View: Diagonal |
34° – 12° |
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| Angle of View: Horizontal |
29° – 10° |
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| Angle of View: Vertical |
19°30′ – 7° |
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| Aperture Range – Wide / Long |
f/2.8-32 |
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| Number of Aperture Blades |
8 |
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| Rounded Aperture? |
Y |
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| Manufacturer Specification Weight |
52.2 oz (1480g) |
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| Actual Weight |
50.5 oz (1430g) |
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| Lens Hood Weight |
3.4 oz (95g) |
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| Tripod Ring Weight |
4.1 oz (115g) |
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| In-Use Weight |
57.9 oz (1640g) |
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| Manufacturer Spec Size (DxL) |
3.5 x 7.83” (88.8 x 199mm) |
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| Measured Size (DxL) |
3.41 x 8.13” (87 x 206.5mm) |
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| Max Diameter at Tripod Ring |
3.4” (85.8mm) |
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| Max Length at Full Extension |
8.13” (206.5mm) |
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| Internal Zoom? / Extends with Zoom? |
Y / N |
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| Internal Focusing? / Extends with Focusing? |
Y / N |
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| Lens Hood Size (DxL) |
4.41 x 3.73” (112.1 x 94.8mm) |
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| Lens Length with Hood (Min-Max) |
11.59 – 11.59” (294.3 – 294.3mm) |
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| Size of Rings: Focus / Zoom |
1.71” / 1.57” (43.5mm / 39.8mm) |
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| Filter Size |
77mm |
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| Front Element (Filter Mount) Rotates |
N |
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| AF Motor Type |
Ring USM |
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| Full Time Manual Focus |
Y |
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| Focus Ring Rotation |
145° |
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| Focus Limiter? / Focus Limiter Ranges |
Y /
3.94′ (1.2m) – ∞
8.2′ (2.5m) – ∞ |
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| Distance Scale? / Type |
Y / Window |
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| Specified Min Focus Distance |
47.24” (1200mm) |
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| Tested Min Focus Distance (Wide / Long) |
47.01” / 45.75” (1194mm / 1162mm) |
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| Maximum Magnification (MM) |
0.21x |
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| Magnification Range with 12mm Ext Tube |
0.28-0.06x |
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| Magnification Range with 25mm Ext Tube |
0.36-0.14x |
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| Magnification Range with 500D Closeup Lens |
0.14-0.60x |
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| Zoom Ring Rotation |
62° |
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| Tripod Ring Included? / Removable? |
Y / Y |
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| Zoom Ring Lock Switch? |
N |
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| Lens Hood Included / Model? |
Y / ET-87 |
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| Weather Sealed? / Filter Required? |
Y / Y |
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| Image Stabilization? / Stops? / Tripod Sensing? |
Y / 3.5 / Y |
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| Extender Compatible? |
Y |
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| Case Included? / Type? |
Y / LZ1326 |
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| 47.25″ x 31.5″ Subject Framing Distance |
70mm = 8.59′
100mm = 11.79′
135mm = 15.80′
200mm = 22.14′
280mm = 30.12′
400mm = 42.56′ |
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| 1200mm x 800mm Subject Framing Distance |
70mm = 2618mm
100mm = 3595mm
135mm = 4816mm
200mm = 6747mm
280mm = 9180mm
400mm = 12972mm |
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*OCUXXX-camerashop
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