Too many telephotos? Contemplating 70-200mm f/2.8 IS

[LongLensPhotography]

Something has gone very wrong with me :bang: and I ended up with a crazy collection of longish lenses:

70-200 f/4L USM
85mm f/1.8 USM
100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
200mm f/2.8L II USM (on the way)
1.4x mk1 TC.

100mm is definitely staying, and 85mm seems very lovely. Now would it make sense to think about replacing some for the ultimate 70-200mm f/2.8L IS? I care about IQ (at both pixel level and overall look), usability, versatility, and only then weight.

Any thoughts? How well does 70-200mm f/2.8L IS take 1.4x compared with 200mm L?
I can't justify longer lens yet as I just don't shoot wildlife often enough, and haven't got the patience to wait for it.

 

[Duncan.F]

Hi,
I have recently aquired the 70-200 2.8L IS but sold the 70-200 F4. I couldn't really justify keeping it, sure it is very light and is supposed to be sharper than the 2.8. I am not sure in the real world where conditions are rarely perfect it matters at all! The 2.8 IS is brilliant, I have used in some really challenging low light and its great, I have got shots that would have been nigh impossible with the F4.
I have used the 1.4 convertor and it works well, not used the 2x but apparently IQ suffers a lot.

Depends on what you shoot I guess!

Dunc

 

[HoppyUK]

I have been in a similar position and swapped the lot for a 70-200L 4 IS and a set of tubes. Would have loved the f/2.8 but I would rarely use it and didn't want the weight. I quite fancy adding an 85 1.8 for shallow DoF portraits but overall I'm pleased with the change.

So from that, I guess you can conclude I would say get rid of the lot and buy the 70-200L 2.8 IS. And cancel the 200L 2.8 (which doesn't have IS).

Check out this site, it's a pixel peeper's delight and I think their long lens tests are very good. You can load up all sorts of different combination to compare. This link is directly to the 70-200L 2.8 IS and 200L 2.8 with 1.4x Canon extender. Make sure you make comparisons using the same camera and bear in mind the bottom sections are outside the frame of a crop sensor camera like your 40D. http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...meraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=1&APIComp=3 TBH they look very close to me, pretty much identical on a crop camera I'd say.