Reviews for Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

Canon 70-200mm F4

Strengths: Light weight, wonderful color, extremely sharp, excellent build quality

Weakness: For the price, none.

For less than $600, this is the best Canon telephoto zoom lens on the market. Picture quality is almost as good as primes. Autofocus is extremely fast and quiet.

I have both this lens and its bigger brother 70-200mm F2.8 IS. I took some test shots on both lenses. From F5.6 and up, there is absolutely no difference in sharpness or color between 2 lenses.

For people cannot decide among 3 different versions F4, F2.8, F2.8 IS: Get the F2.8 IS if you have the budget, or F4 for its low price and light weight.

This is the least expensive L lens, but probably the best one to start your L glass collection.

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Canon 70-200 f/4L - worth every penny

Strengths: Great color and sharpness, USM, lightweight compared to the f/2.8L, lens hood is included

Weakness: Tripod mount is expensive if you need it.

This lens has been an absolute pleasure on my Canon Rebel XT (350D) body. I find that I use it for wildlife and sports more than anything, as the 1.6x crop on my 350D makes the short end of this lens pretty long for most other shooting that I do.

If you're looking to blend in with the crowd, you won't with this lens attached to your camera body, unless if you're with a crowd of fellow photographers. The white color and size of this lens compared to what most people are used to seeing will make you stand out. I don't mind this, as I find it amusing when people come up to me and ask which newspaper I'm shooting for, when I just take photos on my own as a hobby that I'm not paid for. Stealth isn't exactly a feature of this lens, unless if you camouflage it... :)

I don't think you can find a better lens in this focal range at the price they sell this for. This lens is a bargain for being a Canon "L" lens, along with it's great sharpness, color, and build quality. I highly recommend it. If you don't end up liking it, the resale value of used Canon "L" lenses is pretty high and consistent, so you'll get most of your money back if you decide to sell it (like after upgrading to a 70-200 f/2.8 IS :-) ).

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Excellent Deal.

Strengths: Fast and quiet focus. Crisp photos at 200mm. Manual focus override.

Weakness: For the price, none.

This lens is fantastic. An L-series lens for approximately half the price of others in the series, with almost no loss in performance. Great for wildlife photography, as it focuses almost instantly and accurately.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

Strengths: Clarity, flexibility, silent USM focusing, fast focusing, weight vs. size

Weakness: no tripod ring

This lens has great clarity at all focal lengths. I use it on my Digital Rebel and consider myself a "casual" photographer. I've used the Canon 70-200mm f/4 mostly for outdoor wildlife shooting thus far. It's proven fast enough to capture great pictures at dusk, though you need a steady hand and some luck. In low light, the tripod ring that isn't included, (a whopping $115.00 extra) would be really handy. Besides that, this lens is wicked good and has convinced me to save up for more L-Series Canon lenses.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

Strengths: Very sharp. Fast focus. Quiet. Solid. Great value for the money.

Weakness: A little heavy, but reasonable considering its range

I bought this len for my canon 20d before leaving for a trip to Grand Circle. I have been very satisfied with its performance. It's not only good for Landscape but for portrait. The len has very solid construction, weight is reasonable and good reach. If you are looking for a good value for the money and very good performance, this is the len you want. Final note: the len does not have IS, but I can leave without it.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

Strengths: Excellent optics and build quality. Lighter and cheaper than many other high-end telephoto zoom lenses. No front rotating or extending lense elements. One of the best zoom lenses on the market.

Weakness: Lens hood can be a tad awkward, especially with filters. Extra controls for locking focus and zoom would be nice. Can be tricky to balance, and tripod colar not included.

Calling this a great lense for its price would be a bit unfair given that this lense can deliver higher quality images than many more expensive zoom and even many prime lenses. It's lighter and more compact than its F/2.8 sister lenses, has a closer focusing, and delivers comparable, if not better, image quality. For those who really need the wider aperture and/or IS, this isn't the right lens, but for most people, the lighter weight alone makes this a more practical option, not to mention that it's the cheapest 'L' lens. After suffering through mediocre optics for a while, the image quality of this lens blew me away, and there's no looking back.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

Strengths: quality construction great optics

Top quality at a reasonable price. I use this with a Canon D60 EOS Digital camera and results are professional in quality. Would be nice to have image stabilization and a 2.8 vs a 4 but these come at a high cost. If you can live with F4 then this is the lens to buy in the 70-200mm range! With the 1.6 ratio of the D60 it turns into a 112-320mm lens.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

Strengths: Great optical quality, relatively light, solidly built

Weakness: Tripod adapter sold separately, no IS (Image Stabilization)

I was going to buy the Canon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS USM Lens, but after reading the reviews on that lens and the 70-200mm f/4.0L USM I decided to buy the latter. The lens build and optical quality are outstanding. You could upgrade to the f/2.8mm IS version, but with greater cost and more significant weight. For me, this was an outstanding purchase. The focal range is good, and can be increased with the addition of a 1.4x extender. I have not found the need for IS on this lens. I purchased the optional tripod adapter which seemed expensive for the amount of material.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

Strengths: L quality - Excellent sharpness, contrast and color. Good AF speed, build quality. Internal focus.

Weakness: Not f/2.8, No Image Stabilizer, No tripod mount

I have been using this lens for almost 3 months, it the the best quality tele lens in my set right now.
I compared this lens to the EF 75-300 IS, this lens is way better wide open across the zoom range.
I needed to stop down the 75-300 2 stops to get similar sharpness. However, it still couldn't match the color contrast and saturation of this lens.

This lens is Canon L series lens, as other L lens, you will get supplied hood and carrying case in the package and also the red stripe on the lens barrel! ;)

So much good things to say about this lens, however there are many things i don't care much. It is somewhat long make sure your have a large bag to carry it around. It is white, for some people like me, I just don't like capturing people attention. It has no IS, so it is a bit hard to take picture handheld without having enough light. If canon releases the IS version of this lens, I will be the first in line ;)

Overall, I can say that this lens is the best bang for the buck if you care about the quality.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

Strengths: - incredible glass - built like a tank - and so many more, as mentioned in other reviews.

Weakness: - lens hood is huge! - white color makes it harder to blend in especially when taking street photography. (athough this can be a plus). - odd filter size

This is one great lens. Its my first 'L' lens, but from using this lens, I hope its not my last. There are many pluses that others have already pointed out, so I won't mention them again.

I will mention a few negatives, so hopefully it will stop all you photo junkies from clearing out your accounts getting 'L' lenses. First off, the lens hood is huge! Its hard to use polarized filter when on. Nor is there a real substitute. When not using the hood it can be reversed on the lens, but then it covers the focusing ring. Little annoying, but can be lived with.

One other negative, although not a big one (and in all fairness mentioned by Canon), when the focus distance selector is placed on the 3m selection, the focusing (especially on object around 3m) can be a little slower than some other lenses. But then again if you are going to focus on 3m then just leave it on the 1.2m selection.

Even with the negatives listed, I would buy this lens any day. It is a great walk around lens (although a little heavier than consumer models) for taking incredible pictures. Now if I could only afford other 'L' lenses....

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Fantastic telephoto lens at fantastic price

Strengths: Price, image quality, build quality, did I say price?

Weakness: No tripod collar

I've owned this lens for over 6 months now and this is by far one of my most favorite telephoto lenses. Image quality is superb, lens build quality is superb, handling is superb. It's one of the best lenses among Canon's lenses and considering its modest price, I think it's a bargain. It's not as fast as its other variant, but I personally never cared for a fast lens, so f/4 is not a problem for me. It also does not have an image stabilizer, which for me is not an issue either (especially considering that the same lens with IS costs $500+ more). I would recommend buying a tripod collar if you intend to use the lens mounted on a tripod. I compared this lens to a couple of other Canon L, Sigma and Tamron lenses (see www.slrlensreview.com for some stats) and it is clearly at the top of the 'food chain' (figuratively speaking).

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Great Lens!

Strengths: Crisp sharpness and amazing color with this lens. Nice lens hood and case are included.

Weakness: Tripod mount ring not included (Canon brand is expensive to purchase)

From the first photo I took with this lens, I was hooked! Amazing clarity compared to Tamron zoom lens I purchased previously. I will be using this lens for wildlife, marine and landscapes mostly. I use the lens on my Canon Rebel XSi and love it after having it only one day! Hats off to Canon for an L-series lens at a remarkable price for the quality.

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probably the least expensive L lens out there

Strengths: 1. L lens build-quality 2. pictur quality is one of the best you can get 3. price is unbelievable

Weakness: only if you could afford the f2.8:)

It's probably the least expensive L lens you could get out there. However, the build-quality is still "L". Weather-proof with super pictur quality.

Well, if you could afford the f2.8, go for it. Otherwise, it is one of the first zoom lens you should get for your Canon camera.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

Strengths: sharp, focus speed, quality, outfit

Weakness: none so far

I purchased this lens for my Canon Rebel XT. Together, they deliver great pictures. I couldn't be more satisfied with the picture quality. This is probably the most inexpensive L lens from Canon. With the high quality of this lens, it is worth every Penny that you spend.

Final note, this lens is quite big. If you plan to have 3-4 lenses and a flash, you will definitely need a large camera bag to hold them all.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

Strengths: Light weight, price

Weakness: F/4 not 2.8

I finally upgrade to L series. This lens is probably the least expensive one in L series. And it is not as heavy as it looks like. The quality is superb. Image is very sharp from center to edge, although I don't have a chance to compare it with 70-200mm F/2.8. But for only half the price who cares:)

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM Lens is a solid build but light in weight (705 grams) “L” Lens, as compare to Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L Lens, and Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM Lens.Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM Lens combines professional design with optical quality. Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM Lens has 8-blade aperture , which opens at constant f/4 at all focal length ranges,...

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Best Budget Telephoto Zoom Lens

Bestcovery experts have rated the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens as a best pick for the Best Budget Telephoto Zoom Lens. Bestcovery's experts recommend the best products and services for a particular need based on extensive research and evaluations. Click below to see Bestcovery's full review of this product.

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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L IS USM

Testseek.com has collected 14 expert reviews for Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L IS USM and the average expert rating is 88 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

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