Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11412 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Canon
• Model: 2578A009AA
• Released on: 2003-08-14
• Dimensions: 2.42 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Zoom lenses are very convenient. The equivalent of two or more fixed focal length lenses in one unit. The maximum aperture of some zoom lenses changes as you alter the focal length, but through-the-lens (TTL) metering takes this into account to give correct exposure.

This high performance telephoto zoom lens EF 70-200MM 1:4 L USM provides excellent performance for all general purposes. The compactness, maximum f/4 aperture and light weight make it an excellent travel companion.

Inner focusing and the ring USM enable quick and quiet autofocusing. Also, a circular polarizing filter can be attached and used without difficulty because the front lens element does not rotate during focusing.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Superb lens
The ef 70-200/f4 is a fabulous lens. It's very sharp, has good depth of field at f4 and is a joy to use.

The focus can be set to 3m to infinity or 1.2m to infinity. The shorter length is very good for close ups of flowers or similar. If its left on 1.2m it may hunt when trying to focus. You can also set to manual focus.

One issue with the lens is back focus, if you are shooting at something when there is a bright, or high-contrast background, you may find the camera has focussed on the background.

I use my 70-200 f4 on an EOS20D, I have taken thousands of shots with that combination, photogrphing; cricket, riding, birds, flowers, people, aircraft and stars. Other than the minor issue of back focus, I have had trouble free shooting. The lens is well worth getting.

Super lens
Bought this lens to work with my new EOS 40d.

Looks great on the camera, weight / balance is very nice and compliments the 17-85 kit lens very well. I like to use auto-focus but still be able to tweak the focus manually - this "full time manual" is not available on the cheaper 70-300 zooms which use gears in the focus mechanism.

Bear in mind that the "crop factor" on a 40d or similar means that this is equivalent to a c100-300 zoom on a film camera.

The lens focuses almost instantly and gives lovely pictures with really bright colours.

If you have a 40d, I'd recommend this as a very effective addition to a great camera.

You'll Never Go Back
What can I say that hasn't already been said? This most popular of Canon's L lenses is as good as anyone who has one says. Quite simply it's an L lens and all L lenses are the best.

My 70-200mm f/4 L lens is coupled with my Canon EOS 30D, a marriage made in heaven, and the difference from my 17-85mm IS lens is astounding. Colours are more vibrant, auto focussing is faster, mush faster, and the sheer quality of the image is brilliant.

I assume as you are reading this then you must be thinking about getting this amazing lens, well you can stop thinking now, make the decision and buy it - I promise you, you won't regret it, especially if this is your first L lens.

One word of warning, once you buy an L lens, nothing else will do! You have been warned.

One final word, about SimplyElectronics - be prepared to wait. In their blurb that say that any item in stock is usually shipped within 3 working days, often sooner. One of the reason I bought from them was the promise of a short wait. However, it took SE 17 days to send my lens, even though I sent many emails it made no difference. Each time I contacted the company via email, I had to wiat until the next day for a reply and always from a different person. I got my lens in the end, but feel very let down by the comapny - I shall NOT be buying anything from them again, I urge you to do the same.

Don't let SE's terrible performance put you off from buying the lens though, just get it elsewhere, unless you are prepared to wait - I waited 17 days when the lens was in stock, I cannot imagine how long it would take if the lens was out of stock!

Added 28th May 2009 - I've had this lens for some weeks now and it has hardly been off my camera. My problem now is that nothing less than 'L' lenses will do. I am still overwhlelmed by some of the photographs I have taken, the quality of this (and I assume all) L lens(es) is superb. I cannot praise it enough.