Advantages: Speed, weight, excellent image quailty
Disadvantages: you have to buy the tripod mount seperately

...Before i brought this lens i was debating whether to buy the f2.8 version but as it is about double the price i decided to purchase this lens. When i first recieved the lens i was very pleased with it. 4 months on and i am still very pleased with it. The reason for this is the lens is the lens is a decent weight. Also the inner focusing is good as the length of the lens doesn't change. The lens is quick to focus and the image quality is really good. The image sharpness is good in all conditions i have experienced. The lens also has a 1.2m - infinity or 3m - infinity focusing button, this is a usefull feature as you get more flexibility when taking photos. I have taken many photos with this lens from birds, car racing, landscapes and i have been very pleased with this lens and the capabilities it has. Just to note you have to buy... Read review

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Advantages: Pin sharp, rugged build, comaptibility with extender
Disadvantages: Expensive and heavier than the standard 75-300

...I picked up a second hand (although mint example) of this Canon 70-200mm f2.8 'L' series lens 3 weeks ago at my favourite camera store. Although I had just upgraded my camera body I knew that to get much better pictures I needed to spend money on the lens and not the camera - and I was still using the standard 75-300mm f4.5-5.6 USM which gave me soft pictures and vignetting on wide angles. This lens is completely different to the standard Canon lenses. If you have not seen or used an 'L' series lens close up then you'll be surprised when you do - I was. The big white lenses you see the pro's use at sporting events are all 'L' series. OK lets talk specifically. This lens covers the 70-200mm mid range zoom. It can be used for portrait, wildlife, sports, close up and even some landscape work. It is compatible with the Canon 2x... Read review

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Advantages: Larege aperture, high quality glass, cheaper than Canon.
Disadvantages: It's still a big, pricey lens.

...Big f2.8 aperture lets in more light, allowing the use of faster shutter speeds to freeze movement, especially useful in action sports. Of course the best lens for me to have bought for my Canon system at the time would have been the Canon L series 70-200mm f2.8, but these lovely lenses are just too expensive for many amateurs (who have to pay for their own equipment, like me). The Sigma offering compares very favourably in reviews in the camera press. Optically, it is not too far behind the Canon lens, and price wise, I would say 2/3 of the price of the Canon lens, although Canon have recently introduced a version of the 70-200mm f2.8L with Image Stabilisation, and that is a very nice lens indeed ! I bought my Sigma through ebay, and paid £450 for a mint example, with the box, case, instructions etc. I had decided that I wanted... Read review

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Advantages: Superb build quality, image quality and incredible image stabiliser
Disadvantages: Big and heavy and very conspicuous. It's blinging. Eats batteries too.

...binge. IS vs Non-IS vs the EF 70-200 f2.8 L ----------------------------------------------------- Given the price difference, is it worth the extra £200 for the IS version of this f4 lens? It's a tough call. If you don't need the IS because your subjects tend to move a lot or you routinely use a tripod or have arms made from steel, then the non-IS version is a good option. Plus with the extra saved dosh you could buy that gym pass. Where it gets really nail biting is when you realise that the f4 IS costs pretty much the same as the EF 70-200 f2.8 L (non-IS)! So you could have the f2.8 that has a 1 stop optical advantage over the f4 but loose the 4 stop IS... Only, if you thought the f4 was big and heavy, you'll have to break out the anabolic steroids down at the gym to take the f2.8 out for a day in the countryside. It weighs... Read review

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Advantages: many
Disadvantages: None

...This is a good quality product that offers good value for money in the very short term. Although as with most electronic products, the value will deteriorate over time and should be able to get a cheaper version next year. It's a great little device with plenty of features that I would highly recommend. This really is a wonderful piece of kit that should go well with many accessories because it really looks good. However, always think carefully as to whether you actually really need something before you buy it. We buy so many things nowadays that we don't really need. Aperture: f/4 Focal Length: 70-200mm Mount Type: EF Camera Compatibility: Canon digital No Lens Adaptor No Image Stabilisation Manual Focus: Yes Focusing Range: 1.2m to Filter Diameter: 67 mm Weight: 0.705 kg Dimensions: 76 - 172 mm... Read review

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Advantages: Good lens for the money
Disadvantages: Doesn't have Nikon stamped on it

...I certainly picked a hard review to beat for my first opinion, Nige has covered all the good points, but if I'm not mistaken, it was a Canon mount version he reviewed? I have been using Nikon for a few years, and one of the good points about the system is the continued lens interchangeability from the early days, through the classic models (FM, FE F3 etc), right to the present day, and hopefully into the future. The tec specs you can get from the other opinion, so I'll just give you my user perspective on how the lens performs. For starters, although it's an autofocus lens, I use it on my Nikon FE2 body (manual focus, for those who don't know the Nikon system). The lens is a good performer on a manual focus camera, as the focus ring is wide, and smooth in operation, like the zoom ring to the rear of the lens. The large f2.8... Read review

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Advantages: Fast writing, low light/high ISO setting, huge screen, robust
Disadvantages: Auto focussing

...a bunch of firefighters doing breathing apparatus training in a basement in Southwark using the 3200 ISO setting and the Canon 70-200 mm F2.8L image stabilising lens. A lovely combination and the results are outstanding. The down side - I didn't need to wait for the four months to realise that the autofocussing on this camera takes some getting used to. On occasions where I cover sporting events, I have found that despite playing with a number of different focussing modes on the 1D, I get better focussing accuracy when using the 20D and 5D models, both used by our team of wedding and event photographers. I love the results I have created with this masterpiece at the top end of Canon's DSLR's. It's a heavy bit of kit, but the weight appears to be relative to the quality of build in digital photography. It's certainly appears... Read review

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Advantages: Light weight, Sharp, Fast, Reasonably Priced
Disadvantages: Not Image Stabilised, Tripod Collar not included

...I have been using my 70mm-200mm F4.0 L for roughly 2 years on a 20D body. It is very quick to focus and is very sharp throughout the focal range. The bokeh is very soft at F/4 giving a soft, out of focus background. The lens is extremely light, making it easy to transport. I find it an extremely useful lens, due to the extensive range from 70mm-200mm and use it with a 1.4x converter to create a total length of 280mm. I personally use my lens to take images of motorsport and wildlife, which it lends itself to beautifully. The build quality of this lens is excellent - which means no wobbling and smooth controls. A few more specification details - The optical construction is made of 16 elements in 13 groups, including 1 CaF2 and 2 UD elements. The minimum focus distance is 1.32m resulting in a maximum object magnification of 1... Read review

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Advantages: Awesomely sharp. Wide Aperture gives great control. Great colour.
Disadvantages: A little fragile. Would prefer with Image Stabiliser.

...This is the professional photographer's portrait zoom lens of choice. The constant F/2.8 aperture across the zoom range provides excellent performance in low-light, and the best control over depth of field in any zoom lens on the market today. Lens performance is exemplary. If you take the time to use the full time manual focus, pictures of exceptional sharpness can be achieved at any aperture. Some users complain of getting "soft" copies of the lens, but always refer to the excellent and free Canon service of calibration (within warranty). My own lens doesn't suffer from this, I have to say, and I do wonder whether some photographers claim that they're not getting a "sharp copy" when they're not taking the time to focus properly. Commonly referred to as "the brick" amongst Canon users, this lens is noted for its heft. It weighs... Read review

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Advantages: fast autofocus, very fast autofocus, sharp pictures, did I say it was fast ?
Disadvantages: expensive, rare, heavy for some people

...as a NEW 24-70mm f2.8L zoom has just been brought out by Canon and stock is (December 2002) just beginning to appear in the stores (cost approx £1400), this could stimulate a reasonable amount of trade-in's and prices could drop as availability of used lenses increases. The 24-70mm is supposed to have improved dust and water resistance and a rounder front aperture ring for increased blur of background. Opinion is divided as to whether the quality is better, the extra 4mm is worth it if you don't have a wider zoom or prime lens.... Read review

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