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.	. Canon EF70-200 4L IS USM Telezoom for the Shaky Hand Peter Kun Frary . The 70 to 200mm range is ideal for portraits, landscape and outdoor sports, yet is still hand holdable. The EF 70-200 4L USM was my favorite telezoom for years: sharp, fast focusing and sturdy. The only thing missing was Image Stabilization (IS), a feature I came to appreciate on my normal zooms. By nature a telezoom is more difficult to hold steady than shorter lenses, thus IS in the EF 70-200 4L IS USM makes perfect sense. So my faithful EF 70-200 4L USM hit the auction block and a new EF 70-200 4L IS USM landed on my doorstep. Moku Ahi • Honolulu Harbor • EOS 5D2, EF 70-200 4L IS USM Construction & Feel The optical design and antireflection coatings of today's best zooms rival prime lenses. Unfortunately, most zooms are flimsy plastic with silk-screened symbols and coarse zoom and focus action. Canon's EF 70-200 4L IS USM bucks this trend and combines modern optical design and ultra fast AF with durable construction and silky zoom and focus action. At $1300, it ain't cheap but is more affordable than its F2.8 siblings, while offering similar build and optical quality. The hybrid metal (barrel) and polycarbonate (trim) construction and seals on switches and mount make it tough as nails, but it's reasonably light. Build quality is better than the EF 24-105 4L IS USM and very similar to the EF 300 4L USM. Both zoom and focus mechanisms are internal. Internal mechanisms are less prone to sucking in dust than front extension designs. Aloha in Bondage • EOS 5D2 & EF 70-200 4L IS USM The EF 70-200 4L IS USM is a classic two-touch design: focus ring near the end of the barrel and zoom ring near the mount. The large twist action zoom ring is smooth and fast. Unlike most AF lenses, the manual focus ring is large, ribbed, rubberized and nearly as smooth turning as the manual lenses of yesteryear. The focusing ring feels too far out on the barrel. At least I never confuse it with the zoom ring! Once you get used to the design, handling is nimble and decisive. The off-white finish is elegant and the overall appearance similar to the EF 70-200 4L USM and EF 70-200 2.8L IS USM. The off-white finish screams "L glass" and draws attention. However, this lens stays cool even in the blazing Hawaiian sun. Unfortunately, my black EOS bodies aren't nearly as cool. Canon EF 70-200 4L IS USM • Photo courtesy Canon Inc Auto Focus This lens sports a ring-type USM (Ultrasonic Motor) that drives a lens group between the front element and diaphragm. The combination of internal focus and ring-type USM yield very fast AF. The front element does not rotate nor does the barrel expand or contract during focus or zoom operations. The motor of the EF70-200 4L IS USM is silent during AF, but in a quiet room I hear a pianissimo "rolling" sound as the elements move along the gear train. It has FTM, allowing you to manually focus without switching out of AF mode. If you prefocus manually, the distance window in meters and feet is extremely useful. It also sports an AF limiter. However, AF is so accurate I found little use for the limiter. The zoom's AF worked flawlessly on my EOS 7D and 5D2 bodies. That is, AF is fast, accurate and decisive. Moreover, the maximum aperture of F4 is sufficient to fully enable the center AF cross sensor on EOS 3, 1V and 1D series bodies. The filter size is 67 mm, making filters expensive and difficult to share with most Canon lenses. However, two normal range zooms, EF 24-85 3.5-4.5 USM and EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM, also use 67 mm filters and pair well with this lens. Old Honolulu Police Station • EOS 5D2 & EF 70-200 4L IS USM Image Stabilization This would be a really good lens without Image Stabilization (IS). However, IS propels this zoom straight into freakin' hog heaven. Small gyro sensors coupled to a CPU detect the degree and direction of camera shake and counteract this vibration by moving a compensating optical group. Subsequently, I nearly always get a sharp picture, even three to four stops below my normal hand held shutter speed (e.g. 1/15 sec instead of 1/200). If I brace myself or shoot a volley of shots I can get away with another stop or two! Like most modern Canon zooms, this model includes both standard and panning IS modes. One minor gotcha with this IS design is it is audible. Sound levels are pianissimo so I can only hear it in a quiet room--never in street or field--but it grinds and clicks more than both my EF 24-105 4L IS USM and EF-s 17-55 2.8 IS USM. The only louder IS unit I've heard was in the EF 75-300 4.0-5.6 IS USM. Dark Water • EOS 5D2 & EF 70-200 4L IS USM Optical Performance Paired with my EOS 5D2, the EF70-200 4L IS USM proved to be an extremely sharp, contrasty and flare-free zoom, a level above my EF70-200 4L USM in terms of sharpness and flare control. Images were sharp edge to edge, even at F4. The contrast and snap of this optic is apparent even through the viewfinder. After all, there's some fairly exotic glass in there: 1 Fluorite and 2 UD elements. Image magnification is a little less than my EF 200 2.8L USM, leading me to suspect this zoom is just shy of 200mm. There is little distortion and flare control is the best of any zoom I have owned. I assume Canon has improved its Super Spectra coatings and interior flocking as suppression of flare and ghosting in blazing Hawaiian sunsets is extremely effective. Realize this zoom has 4 more elements than the older EF 70-200 4L USM, so reduced flare and ghosting is an impressive feat. Sand Island Sunset • Honolulu Harbor • EOS 5D2 & EF 70-200 4L IS USM Extenders Most L series telephotos and telezooms are designed to use L series Extenders. The rear of these lenses have a space for the protruding element of the Extender (that's why Canon didn't use the faster focusing rear element focus group). The EF 70-200 4L IS USM sports 20 elements, so I'm not excited about adding 5 to 7 more elements with an Extender. Extenders are best used with prime lenses as there is less degradation of image quality. Nevertheless, the Canon Extender 1.4x yields a reasonably well performing 98-280 F5.6 zoom and bests the EF 75-300 4.0-5.6 IS USM I previously owned. Tripod Collar The EF 70-200 4L IS USM has the option of using a tripod collar, i.e., Tripod Mount Ring A II W (white). Although this lens is so light a tripod collar is unnecessary, a collar makes tripod use easier, especially verticals. The tripod collar is interchangeable between the EF70-200 4L USM, EF80-200 2.8L, EF200 2.8L USM, EF300 4L USM and EF400 5.6L USM. I probably would not have bought the Tripod Mount collar for this lens, but already owned a Tripod Mount Ring A (W) left over from an older lens. Tripod Ring B will not fit. Our Lady of Peace • Honolulu HI • EOS 5D2 & EF 70-200 4L IS USM Final Words I love the EF 70-200 4L IS USM as a "walkaround" and landscape optic on my EOS 5D2. The 70mm end is close enough to a normal perspective for snapshots while the longer end yields reach and isolation of detail. A major advantage of this lens over consumer zooms is it exhibits little degradation of image quality at large apertures or the long end. In other words, it's sharp wide open and across the zoom range. Top image quality wide open is essential if you frequently hand hold your camera or work in poor light. If you're normally tied to a tripod, you can save $600 by buying the EF 70-200 4L USM (non-IS version). However, if you need a telezoom with IS and weather seals, this one is among the best, and even edges out my old EF 70-200 4L USM in terms of flare control and sharpness. For discriminating hikers, travelers and amateurs this zoom deliverers quality without breaking their shoulder albeit at a fairly beefy price point. Specs Focal Length: 70-200mm Aperture: F4 to 32 Lens Construction: 20 elements in 15 groups with 1 Fluorite and 2 UD elements Min. Focusing Distance: 1.2 m/3.94 ft Diameter & Length: 76 x 172 mm Weight: 760g Included Accessories: ET-74 Lens Hood, E-67U Len Cap and LP1224 Storage Bag Cost: $1350 Interested in a cheaper telezoom? Click here for a review. More Images taken with the EF 70-200 4L IS USM (click to enlarge) 12/01/2011 ©Copyright 2011 by Peter Kun Frary • All Rights Reserved	.
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