Odered first L lens 70-200L 2.8 IS

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and all the help deciding on what lenses to get to start my photography business. I am keeping my 40D and spending the 1699.00 on a 70-200l f.2.8 IS (ordered today from B&H) and a 17-55 f.2.8 IS (soon to come still .01% unsure on this one due to money issues) over getting the 5D MII.
OK so here is my question to everyone, how do I insure IQ on this or any other lens. I am not experienced enough and don't know how to test for IQ once I get the lens in Monday. I have read about some people that have had issues with "front focusing" on this and other lenses. So how do I check for that issue? How do i confirm sharpness over softness, and how do I confirm any front focus issues.
Any other issues I need to check for would help me out.
Thanks for your ideas and help.

Beautie is in the eye of the beholder. Look at the pictures and if they pass your test then that is the first step. Posting pictures on here will let you know where you stand when these people get done telling you if there good or bad.

Congratulation on your first L lens. The 7-2 IS was also my first L lens.

Enjoy the wonderful results you'll see from this glass!

congrats on the purchase! that is an awesome lens!

dont worry too much about having issues. just use it & enjoy!

the 17-55 IS + 70-200 2.8 IS L is an awesome combo om the 40D!

Still looking for someone to explain what a "front focus" problem is. I am a bit of a tech head and it is killing me that I still don't know. Guess I will also google it but I still want to hear from the good folks here and hear how to look for it.

ooooooh someone popped their L cherry. welcome and enjoy your new glass. and prepare for an addiction. im an addict myself. just a poor broke addict. gl in your ventures

I am still very new to photography but from what I have read front focusing is where you try to focus on something you want and the camera instead focuses in front of it (or closer to the camera) even though it clearly appears you focused on the correct area.

I have had this happen on a few wildlife shots of mine but it's certainly not a recurring problem and it is more than likely just me moving my aim around a little bit. I don't know when it might be considered a "problem", other than obviously if it did it every shot.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

front focus is basically this; the camera tells the lens to focus on a point, the lens doesn't quite focus on that specific point, instead it focuses 2mm in front of it. (in a nut shell) Now this can be cause by the lens being off a little or the camera being off a little or both. Which can be fixed. Newer models have micro adjustments for this. I suggest you don't worry about it right away, just shoot and be happy. If down the road when you really get a hang of your gear you notice when pixel peeping that it doesn't seem right, then come back on here. I've read a lot of threads about someone getting all this new gear and the pictures aren't sharp and they are quick to jump to the front/back focus thing instead of technique. (not saying that will be the case, I have no idea what your experience is)

Hope that sums it up. Happy shooting, and looking for ducks!

all i can say is i have the same set up. you will be so dam happy with both lenses. the 17-55 is great, fast and really sharp. the build quailty is fine compared to any of the non-L lenses. throw a UV filter on the front of it and you will have no problem with dust issue.

the 70-200 is f'ing great. it will make the 17-55 feel like a piece of crap build quilty, but then again its a 3.2 lb metal block...so take it with a grain of salt. the 70-200 shoots with a better IQ and sharpness, but not by too much. you will notice it shoot a bit warmer and color is better with it as well.

you really wont miss let alone realize the mm gap from 55-70 with this setup on the 40D. you will just love it. good luck.

Good choice on the 70-200 and 17-55 both compliment each other with the fast apertures. Personally I didn't need the 2.8 so the F4 is what i went for, but I did spend the extra 50% on the IS version. It's a killer good lens.

Thanks all and I did more research on the front focus, I feel I would recognize it if it was a problem.
Moew all I have to do is find me a sweet prime, oh there are to many to choose from ..... sigh lol

Tack sharp and wicked fast. The bread and butter of sports/event shooters.

Honey of a lens...

Congrats and Enjoy!!

(Don't forget to shoot a duck lest the Gods of Photonus will be displeased and the lens will fail you miserably...) Just sayin'

Pretty good for a first lense

Gratz thats a great lens.