It's Here...Finally - the Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM Mark-II!

[Aryan]

It's finally here; the wait has been worth it. I've been wanting to get a good zoom lens for almost an year now.

FINALLY, the day came for which I had saved religiously. Ladies and gentleman, presenting the Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM Mark-II. The absolute BEST piece of glass (in this focal length) that your money can buy! :-)

P.S: I am sorry for the lousy images, but I just can't help it! I am DARN excited. :D

Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM Lens
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/569/IMG_1152.jpg

Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM Lens - the box compared to the 400D's box!
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/569/IMG_1180.jpg

Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM Lens and the Canon EF 50mm f1.8II lens (size comparison).
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/569/IMG_1164.jpg

Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM Lens and the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5 - f5.6 "kit" lens (size comparison).
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/569/IMG_1168.jpg

Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM Lens - Image Stabilized.
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/569/IMG_1177_s.jpg

Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM Lens
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/569/IMG_1153.jpg

Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM Lens - The Glass!
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/569/IMG_1179.jpg


Sample Shots
Sample shot - 200mm, f2.8, ISO 200, 1/15 seconds, hand-held, IS ON (Mode-1). I purposefully made the background extremely cluttered just to see how the lens handles all the scene and boy O boy!
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/569/IMG_1190.jpg

Sample shot - 170mm, f2.8, ISO 200, 1/10 seconds, hand-held, IS ON (Mode-1)
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/569/IMG_1183.jpg

Sample shot - 200mm f2.8, ISO 400, 1/25 seconds, hand-held, IS ON (Mode-1)
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/569/IMG_1141.jpg

[KrishnenduKes]

-Oh Man! What have you been up to all night? You look dead beat!

-I have just been testing the IS Modes in varying situations of my new acquisition.

-How varying?

-Oh, from a table lamp light in my room at 1/30s in my room to the street light in front of my balcony at 1/10s!

-That is interesting experimentation!

-Interesting? That is an understatement! Wait till you see the results...

Gleefully Approved

[powerslave]

Congrats! This is big!

[anvancy-(macro analyst)]

now you can take stealth street portraits with this!

My guess was spot on!:p

Anvancy

[Nakul]

Congrats on the new purchase :)

[surya@64]

Congrats Aryan on the New Glass...good luck and looking forward to see some lovely pic. for you with this new Canon.

A word of caution...that filter which is plonked on your new glass may ruin you pic. Go for a Hoya (ORIGINAL) if you are particular about it.

[Aryan]

@Ken Da: :D
@PS: Thanks.
@Anvancy: :D I hope to catch some nice candids with this. ;)
@Nakul: Thanks. :)
@Surya: Thanks, Surya. I did inquire about HOYA original UV Filters, but it wasn't available at that time and I didn't want to leave the glass exposed to 'elements'. Hence, a Marumi for the time being. Rest assured, a HOYA will be coming shortly. :)

[KrishnenduKes]

A word of caution...that filter which is plonked on your new glass may ruin you pic. Go for a Hoya (ORIGINAL) if you are particular about it.

Hey Surya, firstly, welcome back! :)

Secondly, how badly can a filter ruin a photo?

[Bibudesh]

Holy Cow!. Man how did my guess went wrong so badly. I thought you are totally in for an ultra wide.

Congo for the longo !..

Now share some serious shots buddy. How about a 1.4x or a 1.7x TCs??

This is awesome. The circular bokeh in the last shot is flooring me.

[Cyclops]

Aryan, congratulations on your newest acquisition. A wonderful piece of glass & I simbly can't imagine the amazing pictures you will capture with this baby. Will be waiting for your new works! :)

[surya@64]

@Kris, here is an example of how a filter can ruin ur pic. I have learnt the lesson the hard way...I have some good pic. with this distorted BG.

The pic. shows diagonal lines on the defocussed area. This vanished after I started working without filter...

@ Aryan, Nice to know U will be replacing the filter. Any lens manufacture will not appreciate US putting a cheap filter especially in front of a L glass.

Good luck Aryan. Happy photo shooting.

[KrishnenduKes]

@Kris, here is an example of how a filter can ruin ur pic. I have learnt the lesson the hard way...I have some good pic. with this distorted BG.

The pic. shows diagonal lines on the defocussed area. This vanished after I started working without filter...

@ Aryan, Nice to know U will be replacing the filter. Any lens manufacture will not appreciate US putting a cheap filter especially in front of a L glass.

Good luck Aryan. Happy photo shooting.

Thanks Surya for the insight. Honestly, I did not think Marumi could be that bad!

[powerslave]

I didn't want to leave my 10-22 open to the elements (lot of pollen/dust) and didn't want to put on any junk filters on it. Had to cough up $60 for a Hoya Pro1 Multicoated, which just about qualifies as entry level in the quality department.

[Vicky]

FINALLY, the day came for which I had saved religiously. Ladies and gentleman, presenting the Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM Mark-II. The absolute BEST piece of glass... ..that your money can buy! :-)

WOW! Congrats mate!

Like the famous Indian proverb goes.. "sau sunar ki... ek lauhar ki"

I really loved that line or yours! It made me checkout the price online and with US prices around USD 2.3k it sure is EXPENSIVE as hell.... Even the old Mk I seems to have gone up in price. Last year when I bought my 70-200 f/4 IS, the 2.8 IS were going around 1.6k US prices... now even these are at 1.9k:eek:

However, with this acquisition, you have now literally fallen into a pit!

Its called "The 'L' Pit"

Once you start shooting with an L, you get into that habit of zooming into each shot and checking out the point of focus at 100% magnification.. which always leaves a smile on your face:p

But, the problem is that you quickly get into the habit of doing this with all your shots... and for the ones taken with 'ordinary' glass, you end up shaking your head in disappointment:o

Looking forward to some great photos from you....



A word of caution...that filter which is plonked on your new glass may ruin you pic. Go for a Hoya (ORIGINAL) if you are particular about it.

+1 on that.

A poor filter can adversely impact the photo in the following ways:

- add color cast
- cause flare
- increase CA
- reduce contrast
- rough bokeh
- and even effect proper AF

I had learned this the hard way after having bought a Rs.300 "Digitex" UV filter for my Canon 70-300 IS :eek:

I didn't want to leave my 10-22 open to the elements (lot of pollen/dust) and didn't want to put on any junk filters on it. Had to cough up $60 for a Hoya Pro1 Multicoated, which just about qualifies as entry level in the quality department.

Yes, you should get yourself either a B+W or Hoya Super Multi Coated (S-HMC)

[powerslave]

Yes, you should get yourself either a B+W or Hoya Super Multi Coated (S-HMC)

That's the one I have. SMC.

Shedding some more light (pardon the pun) on this, when I got my 10-22 I did some tests with and without filter and the difference wasn't really big in terms of image quality, but I think the IQ suffered a bit. But given how dirty my filter's got in less than a month, I'm guessing "naked" lenses are just not for me.

[nelson_sanjoy]

Congrats mate ... Now lets see some m(L)agic :)

[robin234]

Many many Congratulations :D

[Aryan]

@Vicky: Thanks for those words. :) Yes, the 'L' pit is a dangerous place to be, especially if you want to get all the L glasses available! :P However, with the kind of work I do, the 70-200mm range will serve my purpose really well. Hence, I wanted the absolute best, because professional level of work just cannot do with 'mediocre' images (say with the f3.5 - f5.6 lenses).

I sure hope to get some good images from this and make my client(s) happy in the process. ;)

@Robin and Nelson: Thank you mate. :)

[KrishnenduKes]

When are the test photos, review coming?

[Aryan]

When are the test photos, review coming?
I have been traveling all through last week dada, and even this weekend I am traveling (you know where!) ;)... So, it'll take a few days, but a few shots will be uploaded, for sure.