The EF 70–200mm lenses are a group of

telephoto A telephoto lens, in photography and cinematography, is a specific type of a long-focus lens in which the physical length of the lens is shorter than the focal length. This is achieved by incorporating a special lens group known as a ''telephoto ...

zoom full-frame lenses made by

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

. The lenses have an EF mount to work with the

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line of cameras. The lens comes in seven different versions, all of which have fixed maximum

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

at all

focal length The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system converges light, while a negative foc ...

s, and are L-series lenses. * f/4L USM * f/4L IS USM * f/4L IS II USM * f/2.8L USM * f/2.8L IS USM * f/2.8L IS II USM * f/2.8L IS III USM The latest iterations of both the f/4 and the f/2.8 variants were announced on 7 June 2018. The f/4 is currently under production and the original

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was increased from US$1,299 to US$1,499. In March 2021, it was reported that Canon had decided to discontinue the lens.

Common fields of application

The f/4 USM is popular among weight-sensitive landscape photographers and hobbyists who want L lens quality without spending thousands of dollars. The f/2.8 versions are popular among event photographers and photojournalists where the lens's lower light capabilities are required. Some portrait photographers also prefer this lens because the fast aperture produces more background blur and

bokeh In photography, bokeh ( or ; ) is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in out-of-focus parts of an image. Bokeh has also been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light". Differences in lens aberrations and ...

. The non-IS f/2.8 version was released in 1995 and replaced the EF 80–200mm f/2.8L. The lenses use nine- or eight-bladed, circular diaphragms which maintain a nearly circular aperture when stopped down. The f/2.8 and f/4.0 image-stabilized versions also feature weather sealing when mated to a weather-sealed camera to such as the Canon EOS 1D-series bodies. These lenses are compatible with the Canon Extender EF teleconverters. Due to its internal zooming mechanism, the lens does not creep or zoom when pointed downward.

35-mm-equivalent focal lengths on cameras with smaller sensors

When used with a Canon APS-C (1.6x crop) DSLR camera or APS-H (1.3x crop), the 35-mm-equivalent focal lengths of these lenses are 112–320mm on an APS-C sensor and 91–260mm on an APS-H sensor. This is due to the

crop factor In digital photography, the crop factor, format factor, or focal length multiplier of an image sensor format is the ratio of the dimensions of a camera's imaging area compared to a reference format; most often, this term is applied to digital ca ...

inherent with APS-C or APS-H (crop) sensor digital SLR cameras.

Switches

A frequently pointed-out problem with this lens is the placement of the IS and AF switches, which make them prone to accidental flipping during hand-held shooting. Some photographers solve this by covering the buttons with a piece of

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. In recognition of this issue, starting with the f/4L IS USM model and f/2.8L IS II USM lens, Canon uses switches designed to reduce the incidence of accidental switch activation.

Specifications

References

External links

;Official links
Canon EF 70–200mm 2.8L IS III USMCanon EF 70–200mm 2.8L IS II USMCanon EF 70–200mm 2.8L IS USMCanon EF 70–200mm 2.8L USMCanon EF 70–200mm 4L IS II USMCanon EF 70–200mm 4L IS USMCanon EF 70–200mm 4L USM
{{DEFAULTSORT:70-200mm lens Canon EF lenses Canon L-Series lenses