Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II General overview

Right after unboxing this bazooka, it's time to take a closer look at its build quality, feel and general appearance.


From top to bottom... or better.. mount to hood:

First thing that you can't help but notice, is the weight of this lens.
At 1.5kg it's no lightweight. But considering its large aperture (and thus big glass) and full metal housing, it's not hard to see where that weight comes from.

The mount is Canon's EF-type, making it suitable to fit both crop as FF bodies. The large opening catches the eye, compared to other lenses I own.

Around the mounting ring is a rubber seal for weather proofing.


The base near the mount is ribbed for good grip when attaching the lens to the body.

The tripod mount is locked in place, than clamped. The inner of the ring has Teflon lining for smooth rotation.

Next big thing is the zoom ring. Rubber ribbed 33mm wide and very smooth in operation. Very little resistance difference is noticable when zooming in or out while holding the lens vertical. Its extremely smooth and precise. The zoom action is all internal, so no outer moving parts (besides the zoom-ring) or extending of the lens.

On the left-hand side of the barrel, between te zoom and focus ring are 4 switches.
Top is the AF-Range switch, there to limit the AF range from 2.5m to infinite. Usable to reduce AF time and hunt, to obtain an even quicker focus.
Next one is the AF-MF, switch, when auto-focus is unwanted.
Than comes the IS on/off switch, different shaped than the other switches. This makes it easier to identify without having to look.
Next switch is an add-on for the IS mode, numbered 1&2. "1" is full IS, "2" is used for moving subjects, and allows the IS to detect panning, both horizontal as vertical.

On top at the same distance is the focus distance window. There are red markings for 100mm and 70mm zoom.

Than comes the focus ring. Build very generously 41mm wide. It does not move when activating the AF and you can operate after the AF has stopped working, to fine-tune the focus if desired, without having to switch to MF. General feel and operation is again extremely smooth and accurate but firm enough the not accidentally get bumped out of focus. The AF-ring has no stop, when reached the limit of the focus range, there is slightly more resistance to it, but keeps turning. I assume this has to do with the tweaking possibility in the AF mode.

Near the and of the lens is the distinctive red ring.

The hood itself locks in place and must be unlocked with a press-button. It's locked very securely in place and can cary the weight of the lens (+body) when placed vertical.
The inside of the hood is covered in matt black felt, talk about detailing?