Canon’s new 70-200mm f/2.8L II

Today Canon announced (months in advance) a new 70-200mm f/2.8L II. According to Canon’s press release, the new optical design improves image quality. Canon describes “a fluorite element and a fifth UD element”. So we can probably count on minimal chromatic aberration and other good qualities. Canon also states that mechanical design and durability are improved.

Worth noting is the close focusing down to a magnification of 1:4.76, which is considerably closer (and more versatile) than the un-versatile 1:8.3 of the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II. It will also be interesting to see if the Canon 70-200 plays the same troublesome focal length shortening tricks as the Nikon 70-200 at close range (documented in my review). With the Nikon design, one must move in much closer than a 200mm lens (more like 135mm).

With 23 elements in 19 groups, the new Canon design is a complex lens. I hope Canon’s quality control is up to the task. I expect to review the new 70-200mm f/2.8L II, but it won’t be available until April , and the price (unspecified) will surely exceed that of its predecessor.