This lens have made photography which was a hobby into my passion. Top notch premium stuff from canon

The Best

A bit heavy

The Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS II USM comes as a welcome update for Canon's professional fast telephoto zoom. While we liked the old version when we reviewed it two years ago, the rapid increase in pixel count on the latest generations of cameras (coupled, it must be said, with Canon's insistence...

Exceptional image quality; Superb build quality; including dust- and water-sealing; Highly effective image stabilization; Excellent autofocus and manual override

Relatively harsh rendition of out-of-focus areas of the image; Somewhat susceptible to flare with direct light sources in or close to the frame; Inconvenient design of tripod mount ring (can't be detached without taking lens off camera

Canon's update to its professional fast telezoom may look much the same on the outside, but internally it's been updated to give image quality that's quite simply the best in its class. Effective autofocus and image stabilization systems, plus full weather sealing, round off a compelling package.

Professionals and advanced amateurs demanding the very finest image quality from a telephoto zoom;

Applications for which portability or discretion is more valuable than outright image quality;

If you want to be a pro photographer, there are a number of must-have lenses. Exactly which you need depends on what you shoot, but of all the pro lenses the 70-200mm f/2.8 is probably the most popular.

Gary Wolstenholme reviews the latest incarnation of Canon's 70-200mm f/2.8 lens.

Excellent weather sealed build; Lightening quick focusing; Effective four stop stabiliser; Very sharp at all apertures and focal lengths

Price may be beyond some people's budget; Falloff of illumination towards the corners at 200mm

Improving on the popular EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens, Canon's new EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM comes with a next-generation image stabiliser that claims up to four f-stops of shutter speed advantage at all focal length settings.

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM ($2,499) is a lens that you'll often see attached to the cameras of wedding and event photographers, photojournalists, and sports shooters. It's got a very useful short telephoto to telephoto zoom range, a maximum f/2.8 aperture throughout its focal range, and...

Sharp from edge to edge; Optically stabilized; Constant f/2.8 aperture; Includes hood and tripod collar

Some distortion at 70mm; Heavy; Expensive

If you want to be a pro photographer, there are a number of must-have lenses. Exactly which you need depends on what you shoot, but of all the pro lenses the 70-200mm f/2.8 is probably the most popular.

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM ($2,499) is a lens that you'll often see attached to the cameras of wedding and event photographers, photojournalists, and sports shooters. It's got a very useful short telephoto to telephoto zoom range, a maximum f/2.8 aperture throughout its focal range, and an image stabilization system. It puts all this in a package that, while on the heavy side, is compact for a telezoom, and its sharpness is impeccable. It's priced according to its performance, but Canon shooters who rely on their equipment to pay the bills will recognize the value packed into this lens. It's a clear Editors' Choice winner for telezoom lenses. The 70-200mm($2,199.00 at Amazon) clocks in at 7.8 by 3.5 inches (HD) and 3.3 pounds, but its diameter is increased if you opt to use the included tripod collar. Its front element accommodates 77mm filters; it doesn't rotate, nor does the lens extend, when adjusting zoom or focus. The zoom ring is placed toward the base of the le...

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens is the go-to telezoom for many a pro shooter; its excellent optics make it a clear Editors' Choice.

Sharp from edge to edge; Optically stabilized; Constant f/2.8 aperture; Includes hood and tripod collar

Some distortion at 70mm; Heavy; Expensive

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II lens has been around for nearly a decade now, but it remains one of the best 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses on the market. In fact, when Canon recently updated it with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM III, they kept the mark II's optical formula and only added new...