Canon 70-200 - IS or no IS?
- Thread starter nickbeef
- Start date
Andrius Simutis
Veteran
This.
If you're going to buy a nice lens, this is the one.
JPNola
Veteran
don't be afraid of pre-owned
don't be afraid of pre-owned
Some of the purists may find this blasphemous, but the variations between a "good" copy and a "poor" copy are minimal. That is to say, even with a "poor" copy you are going to be thrilled with the images. The differences between a "good" and "poor" copy are usually technical minutiae.
There are always risks when purchasing pre-owned kit. No warranty being one. But as far as getting a "good" copy vs a "poor" copy you are rolling the dice just as much purchasing new as you are purchasing new, are you not? There is even an argument to be made that purchasing pre-owned from someone whose word you trust increases your odds of obtaining a "good" copy.
To be honest I don't know that I would be able to distinguish a "good" copy from a "poor" copy of the 70-200mm. I doubt most would be able to. And I know numerous individuals who purchased the lens but not one of them, to my knowledge, has decided they received a "poor" copy of the lens. All are quite satisfied with their 70-200's.
_________________
As to the legendary performance of the 70-200mm, I was shooting BTS on a feature film using the Canon 70-200mm when, in between takes, the DP of the film, Oliver Stapleton, made a b-line directly over to my position some ways away from the production. My immediate thought was "oh, sh*t. He's coming over here to chew me out, to tell me to buzz off.". Shooting BTS is always a tenuous proposition and I've had Directors, actors, and DP's become annoyed by the BTS camera. Stapleton marched over and as he approached said "Is that the Canon 70-200mm? That is one of the greatest lenses ever made!". He proceeded to have a conversation with me regarding the lens and sing its praises. And Stapleton is obviously a man who knows his glass, a man who has the budgets to use any lens he wishes. ( He was using Hawk V lenses on that particular film. ) Anyway, Oliver kept going on and on about the loveliness of the Canon 70-200mm to the point where the production had to send a P.A. over to tell him that they were ready to shoot and needed him back!
For anyone building an EF glass kit, the Canon 70-200mm is a must. And yes, you want the mark II f/2.8 with IS.
don't be afraid of pre-owned
Some of the purists may find this blasphemous, but the variations between a "good" copy and a "poor" copy are minimal. That is to say, even with a "poor" copy you are going to be thrilled with the images. The differences between a "good" and "poor" copy are usually technical minutiae.
There are always risks when purchasing pre-owned kit. No warranty being one. But as far as getting a "good" copy vs a "poor" copy you are rolling the dice just as much purchasing new as you are purchasing new, are you not? There is even an argument to be made that purchasing pre-owned from someone whose word you trust increases your odds of obtaining a "good" copy.
To be honest I don't know that I would be able to distinguish a "good" copy from a "poor" copy of the 70-200mm. I doubt most would be able to. And I know numerous individuals who purchased the lens but not one of them, to my knowledge, has decided they received a "poor" copy of the lens. All are quite satisfied with their 70-200's.
_________________
As to the legendary performance of the 70-200mm, I was shooting BTS on a feature film using the Canon 70-200mm when, in between takes, the DP of the film, Oliver Stapleton, made a b-line directly over to my position some ways away from the production. My immediate thought was "oh, sh*t. He's coming over here to chew me out, to tell me to buzz off.". Shooting BTS is always a tenuous proposition and I've had Directors, actors, and DP's become annoyed by the BTS camera. Stapleton marched over and as he approached said "Is that the Canon 70-200mm? That is one of the greatest lenses ever made!". He proceeded to have a conversation with me regarding the lens and sing its praises. And Stapleton is obviously a man who knows his glass, a man who has the budgets to use any lens he wishes. ( He was using Hawk V lenses on that particular film. ) Anyway, Oliver kept going on and on about the loveliness of the Canon 70-200mm to the point where the production had to send a P.A. over to tell him that they were ready to shoot and needed him back!
For anyone building an EF glass kit, the Canon 70-200mm is a must. And yes, you want the mark II f/2.8 with IS.
puredrifting
Major Contributor
For me, it would be still photos (I use many of my lenses for video and for stills) or 4k or above shooting with a RED or other higher end 4k cameras. For 1080 shooting and viewing, I agree, you would be hard pressed to see the difference between poor and good but in stills, it's very apparent and IMHO, shoot with a 6k or 8k video digital cinema camera and then you are closer to taxing the capabilities of the lens. I do believe in the law of diminishing returns, a typical $30-50k cinema lens looks better than the $2k 70-200 lens, but not a whole lot better to most people in most situations. To me, with lenses, it's like "i know it when I see it" you can almost sense it when you shoot with a superior lens and it's a lot more than just the sharpness, it's the color and contrast rendition, the bokeh, etc. That crappy Nikon 24-70 I owned had beautiful color and contrast, it's just that on 9x13 enlargements, they were soft even when I knew I had perfect focus.