Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM

Cant beat the price! – Great lens, very sharp with excellent sharpness even wide open, the AF is very quick and the build quality is top notch. If your after a relatively light high performance lens for sports and you can live with out IS then this is the best your going to get.

It should be the second lens you buy for your EOS - The first is a 50mm prime – I am a professional but don't believe in wasting money. I have a 1D MkII, a 60D for video & a 1000D (plus 3 old 35mms). I bought this lens (non IS) when it was first released (you can buy it for under half the price now). It was worth every cent, especially if you cant afford the f2.8 which I have used & don't see the value for the extra $$. It comes with all the accessories as well ( a nice change for canon. I don'r believe the IS is essential as you will normally have plenty of light when you are using it. If you can hand hold at 1/30 you will have no problems in nearly all conditions. It works great on all my EOS cameras but in good light on the MkII it is sensational. Remember this is not a macro & you need a few meters from your subject to let it work well. That's what the 50mm is for!!

The Canon Tripod Mount is overpriced I got a good quality generic for 10% of the price Quality - Performance - Price especially now - Accessories included The Canon Tripod Mount is overpriced I got a good quality generic for 10% of the price

What can you say? – I have the IS version. Just more $$ and IMO worth it. This lens is just superb. I do not often feel smug and totally satisfied with what I buy: in fact I am a pain to those who are. But I never stop marvelling at the quality of this lens.I can take a shot and zoom in and read a umber plate at 100+ metres. I once took a shot at 70-80m and zoomed in to where you could see the digits on a watch: you could not read the time, but the face was clear.

AF is very fast. Weight is good. The 2.8 is obviously a faster lens,but it weighs a heap more and is not as sharp until f4 anyway, if that. The optics in this lens are sans pareil and will outlive cameras bodies for a long time. Sharper than most prime lenses, at any price and as sharp as any. The only lens to have been rated this was as far as I know. This kodel has no IS. Expensive, btu at this level of lens, pay it. If not make sure you steady the lens very well for every shot.

Excellent – There is nothing more to want with this lens except for Image stabiliser, which is now available at an extra cost. On a crop digital camera such as the 400D this lens gives you 98-320mm all at F4 and incredible image quality and only 700 grams. Highly recommended. Essentially, everything to do with image quality. Lightweight and very fast auto focus. Razor sharp even wide open. The ultra wide zoom and focus rings are a delight to use in the field. Owning this lens will make the rest of your lens seem pathetic in comparison, which they are unless they are the same colour. Auto focus can be too fast and will cause problems when used with some brands of teleconvertors. (AF only works with 1.4x TC) Tamron and Kenko are examples where the teleconvertor does not tell the camera/lens that it is present. When a teleconvertor is detected, the camera will slow the AF focus speed of lens such as this to prevent the problem which is the lens "hunting" for a focus point, rocking up and down and never achieving AF lock. But I guess you shouldn't be using a lens like this with a cheap teleconvertor.