Sydney Wedding Photographer, Indian Wedding Photographer, Sydney Family Portrait Photographer, Sutherland Shire, Cronulla

A Wedding Photographer’s Review - Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM Lens

by Jatin Valabjee

Having purchased the Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens about two months ago and photographed 3 weddings in Sydney with it already, I thought it would be useful to post my “newbies review” of the lens. I’m a Sydney wedding photographer and have been photographing weddings for about 3 years now.

This is not a technical review, just my impressions and thoughts on the lens based on the weddings I’ve photographed with it.

All of the images in this lens review are all from the same wedding, which I photographed in October 2008 at the beautiful Balmoral Beach on Sydney’s North Shore. Please ask if you wish to use them for your own purposes, it’s common courtesy!

No sharpening was done on any images, just a resize and save for web (70%). images have come through RAW in Lightroom with daylight white balance, and blacks at 5, contrast 25 (all Lightroom defaults).

Build Quality

This is one heavy bugger. It weighs over a kilo. I’m 5′10″, about 75kg (not sure what that is in pounds) and no muscle-man, and I find it fairly comfortable to use. If you wear this around your neck, beware - it will start to put strain on your neck and back in no time. I usually have it hanging from my right shoulder, and my second Canon EOS 40D with the Canon EF 16-35 2.8L II USM lens mounted. At the end of an 8 hour wedding I have no pain or tension at all.

The Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens is built like a tank. It has already taken some light knocks on walls and tables at churches and receptions and I don’t even stress about it. It balances well with my Canon EOS 40D with battery grip. Without the battery grip I think it would feel a little lopsided, though I guess that doesn’t really matter.

If you’re a dual body shooter don’t forget it’s on your shoulder - i’ve had to grab and hold it behind my back when walking through tight crowds to avoid knocking out small children. Also be careful when you’re near expensive shiny objects like cars - a camera with this giant lens mounted tends to swing around with the momentum of your body turning.

Focussing

I have a custom function set so that I can use the little joystick at the back of the Canon EOS 40D to set the top, right, bottom, left and centre focus points. This lens rarely hunts - only in low-contrast dark areas does it do this. Every other time it snaps into focus in a fraction of a second. Even after a few weddings I blindly trust the autofocus - it just works. I’ve had no frustration or missed shots whatsoever.

Image Quality

This lens produces the best image quality of any lens I own. Some images make me stop and stare. Even for the “pixel-peepers” out there who like to zoom in to 100%, every crease, line, pore and hair is clearly and faithfully rendered.

Skin tones are realistic with no colour cast. Background blur is really smooth and round - everything looks like it was taken in a dream.

Background blur from the Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens is smooth and creamy… like butter

Usefulness

The Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens gives everything an intimate and personal feel. You’ll notice a lot of TV shows and movies (such as the Bourne Identity) are shot with a telephoto lens. This focal length creates a feeling of closeness and immediacy which is hard to replicate with a wide angle lens. one of my favourite uses of the 70-200 is capturing expressions.

The focal range of the Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens is extremely useful for capturing people unaware. This shot would have been very hard to get with a wide-angle lens without being right in the face of the subject.

For the location shoot this lens is very useful. It flattens perspective so nobody has protruding noses or chins (they will thank you for this). For group shots you’ll need plenty of room to back up, especially on a cropped body like the Canon EOS 40D. For bigger groups and confined spaces I’ve had to bust out the 16-35, but I always try and use this 70-200 first because of the nice background blur, the sharpness and the flat perspective.

Everyone has their own shooting style, but for me I’m currently very happy with the Canon 16-35 on one body and the 70-200 on the other. I don’t find myself missing the 35-70 range at all, just taking a step backwards or forwards with either lens is usually enough to cover it.

The Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens is great for framing the bride and groom and getting in close for the ring exchange. It lets me shoot how I like to shoot - non-intrusively. In a church i can hide behind the lectern (is that what they’re called in churches?) about 2-3 metres away and still get in close on the rings and frame the faces nicely. I’m still getting used to the focal length so shoot with my 16-35 wide angle for the bride walking up the aisle.

The Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens lets you frame up the bride and groom, and quickly zoom in for the ring exchange and kiss - without moving!

Stabilisation

Image Stabilisation (IS) is a technology which prevents camera shake due to hand-holding. It is (to my understanding) a mechanism inside the lens which moves the opposite way to the way your hands are shaking, effectively countering camera shake from hand-holding the camera. In my experience so far I have found it indispensable.

I’ve landed a lot more “keeper” shots, such as in dark churches, because the subjects don’t move. Previously I used my 85/1.8 prime lens for those shots, but I would get a lot of shaky shots due to my hands shaking.

An important point about this, is that it does -not- change the fact that things (people) move. Even if the camera is steady and you are shooting at say, 1/60th of a second, if someone is walking or raising a hand, you will get motion blur. If not using flash to freeze motion, I usually try and keep my shutter speed no slower than 1/200. If you’re finding your shutter speed is slower than this, increase your ISO or open the aperture.

I find I can now shoot at speeds of even 1/30 at full 200mm zoom and still get super sharp photos. With the non-IS you’d have to have a minimum of about 1/350 (on a cropped sensor camera like the 40D) for the same result. You’re kidding yourself if you think you’ll be able to get that fast a shutter speed in all wedding lighting conditions.

Conclusion

I love the Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens. I find myself wishing I could go back in time and shoot all my weddings with this over one shoulder and the Canon 16-35 2.8L II on the other. It’s really useful for detail shots in the bride’s room, getting waist-up shots of the bride and groom at the ceremony while being able to zoom in for the ring exchange, the location shoot and getting candids at the reception. It will no doubt accompany me to every wedding I photograph from now on.

If you’re tossing up between the IS and non-IS version, for the love of God, get the IS! You’ll be able to shoot even at sunset (as long as you ask your subjects not to move around too much).

The Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens is great for capturing detail with breathtaking accuracy.

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