Canon Announces New 70-200mm Lens

Although the 70-200mm lenses are not really supported for underwater use, it is among the most popular focal range for professional shooters topside and so I thought it was worthy to post about.

In addition to it's other CES announcements, which include new still and video cameras,  Canon has released a second generation EF 70-200mm f /2.8 IS II USM lens.  

The new lens remains high quality fast lens with a constant f/ 2.8 maximum aperture and a dust and weather resistant body, but has some upgrades over the old version.

The new Canon 70-200mm features Canon's next generation optical image stabilization, which is supposed to offer four stops of camera-shake correction as opposed to old system that offered three.

The second generation lens also gets a fluorite element and a fifth UD element in its construction which is supposed to minimize secondary chromatic aberrations and produce improved overall image quality across the zoom range.  


Additionally, the minimum focal distance also is shortened to 4.6 feet. This is still too far for underwater use, which, among other reasons, keeps it from being useful to underwater photographers, but it is a top of line topside lens. Price is yet to be determined, but the old version sold for about $2,000, so it won't be cheap. It will be available in April.