Canon EF 200mm f/1.8L USM, reviewed by airbutchie

Having this glass since 2011, I've taken it though its paces from professional sports, to landscape captures, to glamorous world of high end fashion photography, and everything else in-between... So here is my assessment after many uses on several photography applications...

PROS:
- Super sharp wide open
- Wonderful colors and contrast levels
- Blazing fast AF speeds
- Versatile for many applications (sports, portraits, wildlife, fashion, etc.)
- Takes TC's very well, both singular and stacked

CONS:
- Not serviced by Canon anymore
- Big, wide, and thick barrel construction
- No rubber weather-sealed rear mount
- Definitely attracts attention
- Price (since it's not serviceable anymore)

Originally purchased to shoot sports photography (NBA and Surfing), it's now mainly used for high fashion and editorial workflows... Color replication and contrast levels are spot-on... AF is amazingly fast and quick for the age of this glass (mine has a date code from 1999)... Works well on all of my bodies, from full frame (1Dx), to croppers (1D4 and 7D2)... You'll definitely turn heads when using this glass, but the results will take your images to the next level... Shooting wide open ( f/1.8 ) is amazingly sharp... Combine that aperture with the image compression at 200mm and you've got yourself a winning combination that's hard to beat...

Of course, when there's good, there's also bad... Canon has stopped servicing this glass for several years now and has since released an updated version with a max aperture of f/2 and a 4-stop Image Stabilization (IS) system... It's also not weather sealed like the current model and certainly attractions attention when used in public... Lastly, the price on the secondary market is pricey considering that if anything goes wrong, you'll have limited resources available to have it serviced...

Overall I am pleased and sometimes blown away with what this vintage glass can do with the modern dSLR camera... I've thrown it in many photographic scenarios and each time it has passed with flying colors... I do, however, have concerns about serviceability if it does breakdown... I have a few 3rd party vendors that I know of that may be able to fix, but that could be a crapshot at best... Nonethless, I will continue to use my 200 1.8L and embrace the amazing captures it produces until its last breathe!!!

With that, here are a few sample images below with this glass... Enjoy!!!

1D3 + 200 1.8L + 1.4x ...

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