Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS II

Well well time for the first big camera news of the year. Canon is upgrading their work horse 70-200L F2.8 IS. This is one of the most widely used lenses in the press photographers arsenal.

Canon 70-200L F2.8 IS II

Opticaldesign
Well whats new then….. The lens has a bran new optical design consisting of 23 elements in 19 groups. The lens contains no less than 5 UD elements and a fluorite element this Canon says should reduce the chromatic aberration dramaticly, give corner to corner definition and high contrast.

AF
The AF system has got a new CPU and optimized algorithms to make focusing both faster and more quite.

Focus distance
The minimum focusing distance is reduced to 1.2 meters and the magnification is up to 0.21x.

Image stabilizer
The image stabilizer is upgraded and should give and shutter advantage equivalent of four stops.

External design
The external design has also been update, but thankfully no big news here. One thing about the old 70-200 was that you would hit the af and is buttons by mistake. With the new design these are flatter and should be harder to hit by accident.
The lens also sports a redesign and widening of the rubber elements this should give a better grip and make manual focus easier.

Accessories
The lens is ofcourse compatible with the Canon extenders both 1.4x and 2x along with the extension tubes EF12 and EF 25.
With the lens comes a new hood called ET-87, the ring-type tripod collar B and a news lens case LZ1326.

Specifications
Focal length: 70-200mm
Diagonal Angle of view: 34º – 12º
Maximum aperture: F2.8
Minimum aperture: F32
Lens Construction: 23 elements/19 groups — 1 Fluorite element — 5 UD glass elements
Number of diaphragm blades: 8
Minimum focus: 1.2m (47″)
Focus Motor Type: Ring-type Ultrasonic Motor — Full-time manual focus
Maximum Magnification Ratio: 0.21x
Image stabilization: 4 stops claimed benefit — Normal and panning modes
Filter thread: 77mm
Supplied accessories: Front and rear caps — ET-87 Lens Hood — Tripod mount ring — LZ1326 Lens Case
Weight: 1490g (3.28 lb)
Dimensions: 89mm diameter x 199mm length (3.5 x 7.8 inches)
Lens Mount: Canon EF only
Other: Dust and moisture sealing — Supplies distance information for E-TTL II flash metering