70-200 L Which one F4 or F2.8

I have the 70-200 2.8L and my g/f has the 70-200 4L and both are great. I'd say if you dont need the extra speed and dont wanna spend the money, go for the F4. They are both great lenses.

Money was an issue for me, so I got the f/4.0. It has worked wonderfully for me outdoors and I even used it at several indoor basketball games and concerts with great success. If money is an issue, get the f/4.0. If money is not an issue, get the f/2.8

I JUST bought the 70-200 f/4. Why, price, weight, and value. Ive used the 2.8 L IS, my favorite lens too.

Ill upgrade if I have to, I willing to give this lens a shot, since resale value is TOP DOLLAR, I had no problem buying this lens.

For me the 70-200 family a bit too big and noticable to use indoors e.g. family events etc. I got the 70-200 f/4 for outdoor use and portability at almost half the weight of the f/2.8. I really like the f/4.

I find f/2.8 a bit slow indoors anyway, and I generally use my primes inside. I use the 50 f/1.4 a lot so I think even 70mm indoor might be a bit long.

Malcolm

The focus speed of the 70-200L f/4 cant be THAT much slower, can it?

Id figure canon AF speeds are typically very fast on their L lenses. I had tamron glass which I found to be "slow" Even my 17-40L and my 10-22 show lot faster AF speeds than average. I havent gotten me lens yet, but how bad can it be?

And can anyone else confirm this lens hunts in low light? I hope it doesnt!

There's always manual focus if it hunts in low-light. I find my 17-40 doesn't hunt too badly, so I imagine the constant F/4 of this lens will be about the same.

That being said, the F/4 70-200 will be my next purchase as bumping up ISO and using a tripod cover my low-light needs.

I believe the camera is able to focus faster with glass that has a minimum aperture of 1/2.8. The 70-200 f/4.0 focuses slower not because of poor manufacturing of the lens, but a limitation of the aperture size.

I have the 2.8 as well, I went with it for the low light shooting capability.

Just to quote Steve's Digicams:

"The sophisticated 9-point autofocus system has a high-precision cross-type sensor in the center position. This new design seen for the first time in the 20D provides full cross- type performance with maximum apertures as small as f/5.6, yet it achieves up to 3 times the standard focusing precision when used with EF lenses featuring maximum apertures larger than or equal to f/2.8. A new, convenient Multi-controller provides fast and easy AF point selection."

From: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_revi​ews/20d_pg2.html

If you get the EF200 f/2.8L you will have the best of both worlds.

1 reason that I wanted the 2.8 over the f4 besides the obvious was the fact that I could use extenders on it (1.4x and 2x even) and not loose as much light or autofocus. Just a bonus that for a couple hundred bucks more your 200mm becomes a sweet 280mm with the 1.4x @ f4

you can use a 1.4 TC with the F4 and still retain AF . IQ is still excellent too.

ed rader

Ed, do you lose the ability to shoot at F/4 wide open with the 1.4 TC?

true, but you aren't shooting at f4 anymore your stuck at 5.6 max.

if you go to a 2x with the f4 you loose autofocus

sounds like you want the f2.8....and i would never use a 2x TC. if i needed that much reach i would buy a different lens.

ed rader