Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8 IS II USM VS F4 IS USM

I’m managed to toy with Canon EF 70-200 mm F2.8 IS II USM and Canon EF 70-200mm F4 IS USM.

As usual, I will not write the review of both lenses, which you able to get the answer from Mr.Google.

I just want to try out what is the different between F2.8 IS II USM and F4 IS USM besides the price and size.

If you plan to know the performance of the lens such as image quality, brightness and sharpness. You are in the right place.

I m uploaded 3 images. All shot without tripod as I’m hardly use tripod in Portraiture and Sport.

Image 01: taken with Canon EF 70-200 F4 IS USM with Canon EOS 7D (Download Original size)

Setting: 189mm, 1/100, F4, ISO 3200 with IS on.

Next Image, Lens: Canon EF 70-200 F2.8 IS II USM.

Guess this image setting please! You might think I use same setting but the Aperture already turned to f2.8 so you see the brighter image here. If so, please check out the setting yourself.

Image 02: taken with Canon EF 70-200 F2.8 IS II USM with Canon EOS 7D (Download Original size)

Setting: 200mm,1/100, F4, ISO 3200 with IS on.

Same setting and same aperture but the F2.8 IS II USM able to produce brighter image.

In next image, I will show you the same exposure of Picture 01 by using 70-200mm IS II USM.

Image 03: taken with Canon EF 70-200 F2.8 IS II USM with Canon EOS 7D (Download Original size)

Setting: 200mm,1/200, F4, ISO 3200 with IS on.

As you can see, EF 70-200mm F2.8 IS II USM able to get faster shutter as compare to F4 IS USM for same exposure and same aperture.

To compare the detail and sharpness, I found F2.8 IS II USM able to capture more detail and slightly sharper than F4 IS USM.

Download the Original size of these 3 files (exif included). Check out the sharpness of the Golden Circle and compare between image 01, 02 and 03.

If you ask me whether which lens is much noisy when IS turn on. I would say f4 IS.

If you do not have much budget, most of the time go for outdoor shooting, not expecting creamy bokeh. You may consider F4 IS USM, this lens still able to produce very sharp image. I m quite satisfied with this lens in Super GT 2010 event. Lightweight Lens allow you to pan shoot the subject easily.

Needless to say, F2.8 IS II USM perform pretty well but the price and weight need to take into consideration.