Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM

[Nick]

Telephoto lens boasting high image quality and carrying ease. With two UD-glass elements and rear focusing to correct aberrations, image delineation is extremely sharp. Background blur is also natural-looking, as was simulated by Canon. The lens comes with a dedicated, detachable hood.

[traveller]

Rating: 9.5/10

Pros: Uber sharp! Fast focusing! Great bokeh and colours! Value for money. Good build quality, small and light!

Cons: A 200mm prime is pretty restrictive...

It's an extremely sharp lens. As far as I know this is one of the sharpest lenses in the Canon line up that I have ever used so far, only losing out to the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II and Canon EF 135mm f/2L. For the same price, the Canon 70-200mm F4 L is a good buy but it loses out in image quality plus it looks cheap next the the 200mm. Even the Canon EF 70-200mm 2.8L loses out in clarity at 100% crop. Coupled with a 1-Series body, this lens is uber fast on AI Servo and it's spot on all the time. Even on another body, the lens is still fast compared to the others and it does not hunt which is a good thing. The only let down is being a 200mm the lens is not one that you will use every day. On a 1.3x crop, it's already 260mm and on a 1.6x crop, it's 320mm. Not a versatile lens at all! Secondly, it's minimum focusing distance is 1.5m which is not good when getting close to your subject.

[Michael]

Image Quality: 8.5/10

Sharp and fast, able to work quite well in low light.
The subject in focus really jumps out as compared to the background.
Bokeh is somewhat creamy wide open. No vignetting or CA observed when wide open.

Build Quality: 8.5/10

Sturdy and tough. Able to withstand knocks and dings.
It's got a smooth finish and weather-proof.
The focusing ring is well damped, easy go manual.

Usability: 9/10

The 200F2.8 is an extremely light lens and is very different from the 70-200F2.8 counterpart.
Focusing is a lot faster on the prime, weights a lot less, easier to handhold.
Quite spot on, and rarely hunts.



Purchased Price: SG$1000

Similar to the cost of Canon's 70-200F4L or Canon's 135F2L.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

I'd give it a recommendation if you are often using the tele end of any 70-200 lens.
Its image quality is a lot sharper, focusing is faster, easier to handhold than any of them zooms.
However, the focal range in my opinion is neither here nor there.
Not to mention you loose the versatility of the wide end on a zoom lens.
For portraits, get the 135F2 instead...