Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM is the latest addition to Canon's range of 70-200mm telephoto zooms and fills in the whole in Canon's lineup previously consisting of two faster f/2.8 variants (EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM) and another f/4 version (EF 70-200mm f/4L USM).

Gary Wolstenholme takes a look at how this compact telephoto zoom lens performs. Canon's EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM costs around ￡800 and has an Image Stabiliser, silent Ultrasonic focusing with full time manual override and is sealed against dust and moisture.

Excellent optical quality; Superb build quality; Very effective image stabilisation; Fast to focus; Sealed against weather and dust; Light weight

Sometime miss-focuses near minimum focus distance

Take one of Canon's most popular lenses, the Canon 70-200mm f/4 L , add an up-to-4-stop Image Stabilizer and you get the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Lens. If you don't need the subject-action-stopping and background-blurring capabilities of the faster Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS Lens , this lens...

The EF50/1.2L is a totally new optical design (there was an old FD 50/1.2L) and uses a molded aspheric rear element (the 50/1.0L used two very expensive ground and polished aspherics). It has a true ring type USM motor and a high speed CPU for fast focus.

Hands on

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 USM L IS is capable to deliver a near-flawless performance is all categories. The resolution figures are very impressive even at max. aperture. Distortions, vignetting and CAs are usually nothing to worry about either.

A compact telephoto zoom lens from Canon's 'L' series.

Excellent optical quality; Superb build quality; Very effective image stabilisation; Fast to focus; Sealed against weather and dust; Light weight

Sometime miss-focuses near minimum focus distance

I use this for outdoor sports and love the image quality and the ease of use. I upgraded from the non IS to the IS some time ago and IQ is just as good.

Great build and image quality, especially sharpness and contrast; Light enough to carry around and hand-hold

None I can think of practically

I just got this lens, I have taken some nature shoots, sport shoots, and portrait, all have exceeded my expectations! I am still learning this lens and the 6DMarkII I just bought but if you are indoubt go for it this is a huge step up : 0 ) A big plus in even higher ISO's the resolution is very...

This is a great lens if you want to spy on people or get shots from a distance. I don't spy on people but I just thought I'd point that out. This is a great lens though, but tbh, I am no expert. This was my first lens I ever bought so it's kind of special to me.