New 70-200 f/4 and f/2.8 lenses

Canon releases two new lenses that are sure to delight anyone in the system. I will be getting the f/4 version myself, I use it a lot for landscape and event work. The f/2.8 will be a super nice lens, but weight is a factor for me, if you are doing studio and or portrait work though, the f/2.8 will be a killer solution.

Canon EF 70-200 f/4 IS II

Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 IS III 

With better optics, lens coatings and image stabilization, you can't go wrong getting either of these lenses, its just choosing which best suits your needs.

DPReview 70-200 f/2.8 here

DPReview 70-200 f/4 here

Ross 

Images In Light

New Canon Lenses

This is why Canon does so well, they produce top quality lenses that we drool over. the system is what its all about, its not just a camera, or a spec. I shoot Nikon, Canon and Fuji and I prefer Canon and Fuji glass, that's why I'm vested in those systems. Nikon is not far behind and Sony has a ways to go. Its about the system.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Specifications  $1599

• Lens construction: 10 groups 14 elements (1 aspherical lens)
• Coating: ASC, fluorine coating
• Number of diaphragm blades: 9 (circular diaphragm)
• Shortest shooting distance: 85 cm
• Maximum shooting magnification: 0.12 times
• Filter diameter: 77 mm
• Maximum diameter × length: φ88.6 × 105.4 mm
• Weight: Approximately 950 g
• Image stabilization effect: about 4 steps
• Ring type USM

Canon TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro Specifications $2199

• Lens construction: 7 groups 11 elements (2 UD lenses)
• Coating: SWC, fluorine coating
• Number of diaphragm blades: 9 (circular diaphragm)
• Shortest shooting distance: 48.6 cm
• Maximum magnification: 0.5 times
• Filter diameter: 82 mm
• Maximum diameter × length: φ88.5 × 139.1 mm
• Weight: Approximately 1,110 g

Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Macro Specifications $2199

• Lens construction: 9 groups 9 elements (UD lens 1 piece)
• Coating: ASC, fluorine coating
• Number of diaphragm blades: 9 (circular diaphragm)
• Minimum focusing distance: 39 cm
• Maximum magnification: 0.5 times
• Filter diameter: 77 mm
• Maximum diameter × length: φ86.9 × 116.5 mm
• Weight: Approximately 915 g

Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro Specifications $2199

• Lens construction: 9 groups 12 elements (2 UD lenses)
• Coating: SWC, ASC, fluorine coating
• Number of diaphragm blades: 9 (circular diaphragm)
• Shortest shooting distance: 27.3 cm
• Maximum magnification: 0.5 times
• Filter diameter: 77 mm
• Maximum diameter × length: φ86.9 × 114.9 mm
• Weight: Approximately 945 g

Ross

Images In Light

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II

 Here is a lens a lot of people have been waiting for, I look forward to trying this one in Yellowstone.

The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L II USM Super-Telephoto Zoom Lens is scheduled to be available in December 2014 for an estimated retail price of $2,199.00

 Order it here

DPReview here

The Digital Picture here

Review here Lens Tip

Review here Photozone.

Review here ePhotozine

Dustin Abbott here

Canon CPN

• EF Mount L-Series Lens/Full-Frame Format
• One Fluorite and One Super UD Element
• Air Sphere and Fluorine Lens Coatings
• Ring-Type USM AF Motor, Internal Focus
• Optical Image Stabilizer with 3 Modes
• Rotating Zoom Ring & Torque Adjustment
• Weather-Sealed Design
• Detachable, Rotatable Tripod Collar
• Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm

Ross

Images In Light

Canons new EF16-35 f/4L IS

 A new wide angle for Canon shooters:

 A direct response to the Nikon Version ? It will be nice to have IS in a wide angle lens but I would still like to have an f/2.8 lens in this focal range, lets see how it performs, its 25g lighter than the EF 16-35 f/2.8L II that's a plus.

 Specifications

Focal Length & Maximum Aperture: 16–35mm 1:4.0
Lens Construction: 16 elements in 12 groups
Diagonal Angle of View: 108°10′ – 63°
Focus Adjustment: Inner focus system
Closest Focusing Distance: 0.92 ft. / 0.28m
Filter Size: 77mm diameter
Max Diameter x Length, Weight: 3.3 x 4.4 in., 21.7 oz. / 82.6 x 112.8mm, 615g

  

Ross

Images In light

Filters in the digital age

Image: Canon 5D and 17-10 F4 L, Lee 3 Stop GND filter, f11 at 17 mm, no crop.
 Larger Image

Filters are still required in the digital age of photography, not as much as they where in the film days, but in order to get proper exposure on a lanscape that has a very wide dynamic range or to remove reflections from water, we still resort to using filters.

The main filter system in my bag is the Lee Graduated Nuetral Density filter or GND for short. The main task of these filters is to reduce the amount of light contacting the camera sensor while still being able to use the lens aperture you need. Graduated filters, as the name implies, start the transition from the center of the filter and graduate to the edge in varying degrees, measured in stops.

The top photo is an example of where a GND filter is needed, if a filter was not used and you where to meter on the sky the land would be under exposed or if you metered on the land the sky would have been over exposed, in this image a 3 stop filter was used to even out the overall exposure. The filters I use are made by Lee and Singh-Ray I use the foundation kit with 4 x 6 filters, for wide angle I use there special wide angle hood with one filter slot. I carry a 1, 2 and 3 stop GND a 3 stop reverse GND and an 8 stop variable ND. The reverse filter is for shots like a sunset or sunrise where the brightest part of the image is closer to the middle of the image. The variable ND is a great filter for shooting seascapes, this is a filter that I will talk about in another blog.

 The Lee Big Stopper a 10 stop ND filter for maximizing the effect.

Circular Polarizer: The CPL is another filter that is still required for reducing reflections and a good quality filter should be used to prevent color cast's. B + W is my choice, I use the slim 77mm and reducing rings when needed. These filters also increase the color saturation of trees and blue skys and add contrast to clouds, there should be one in every photographers bag. A word of caution on CPL and wide angle landscapes, if you have a lot of blue sky the CPL will only cover part of the sky and you will end up with un-even polarization that will ruin your image.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Sharpest zoom ever ? - Canon EF 70-200 f4 L IS

Larger Image

Photo: 5D MkII and 70-200 f/4L IS, 2 shot panorama

Maybe,
One of the eternal questions for Canon owners is which 70-200 should I get ? Of the 4 to choose from, they are all very good, but with a range in cost of $500 to $1700 how does one choose ?, I have had the 70-200 f2.8 L, 70-200 f2.8 IS L and presently the 70-200 f4 IS L. All three of these len's where sharp. I purchased the original back in my film days and enjoyed it, at one point it was stollen so my re-purchase was the 2.8 IS version (at the time there was no f4 IS), the "IS" or image stabilization is an amazing feature that works exceptionally well. So I had a trip comming up and this caused a problem, which lens's to take with me ? I realy wanted to take the 17-40, 24-105, 70-200, 300 f4 and one body, but these would not all fit in my bag of choice, not to mention the weight would be prohibative to pack around all the time. My solution ? buy the 70-200 f4 IS, try it out and sell the loser. keep in mind that for me the bokeh of the f2.8 was not that important, I have other lens's for portrait shots and the 1 stop differance between f2.8 and f4 is not enough to matter for low light shooting, for that you want f1.4 len's. So after recieving the f4 IS version and trying it out on a skyline shot of Seattle I became convinced, at half the weight, a $600 savings, one stop better image stabalization and getting a sharper lens, to me there was no competition, I sold the f2.8 IS version, in a perfect world I would have kept both, but in these times of economic turmoil, not going to happen. Oh and this allowed me to fit all the lens's I wanted in to my carry on bag, and made my life a lot easier.
So if you want one of these lens's you need to juggle, weight, cost, speed and image stabilization, as far as IQ is concerned, they are all very nice and you can't go wrong there. If its portrait work, its got to be one of the 2.8 versions, I think for most other applications f4 should suit most people fine. Photography has always been about trade offs, this is just another one those.

My recommendations are as follows:

for portrait work: 70-200 f/2.8L IS II

for all other work: 70-200 f/4L IS

for cost saving: 70-200 f/4L



Update: the newest member, the EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS II, at around $2300 trumps them all, yes its worth it, I upgraded to the EF 24-70 f/2.8L II and it is also well worth the money.

Kai says it all here 

Ross Murphy

Images In Light

The Digital Picture Review