Is the Canon 70-200 F2.8 MKI worth picking up ?

Jwar1976

Jwar1976

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Hi All,

I have been asked to do a few Weddings over the next couple of years and so I have been looking at lenses which other photographer use, one that often props up is the Canon 70-200 F2.8 II. Now due to the price of the lovely MKII, I was wondering if it is worth picking up a used MKI ?. Other than weddings, I would probably use the lens for possibly some outdoor sporting events, but the majority of time it will be for Weddings and other social gatherings.

Other lenses I have in my Kit bag are the Canon 100mm 2.8L, Canon 24-105 F4L, Tamron 17-50 F2.8, Canon Nifty Fifty. The bodies I use are the Canon 5D MKIII and the 7D MKI.

Many Thanks
 
i bought two differnt mk1 70-200 and I just didnt get on wiht them ..especialy in low light... not sure what it was........ got the mkII and wow.. best thing i ever did.. fantastic lens..

if your doing weddings and presumably being paid then you owe it to the customer to do the best job possible.. get the mkII :)
 
KIPAX said:
i bought two differnt mk1 70-200 and I just didnt get on wiht them ..especialy in low light... not sure what it was........ got the mkII and wow.. best thing i ever did.. fantastic lens..

if your doing weddings and presumably being paid then you owe it to the customer to do the best job possible.. get the mkII :)
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Thank you for the fast reply, the wedding this year is a freebie as it is my gift to the couple involved. The other weddings are 2019 onwards, so payment is yet to be arranged. I have only done a couple of receptions in the past and that was a few shots, nowhere near the main thing.
 
Others may swear by the mkI veriosn.. or by third party 70-200 lens... But ahve they tried the mkII ? :)

Anywy its all about opinions and mine is that the mk1 was dissapointing for me and the mkII is stunning :)
 
I've not tried the Mk2, but have the Mk1 IS. I think it's a great lens. I used to use it a lot at f2.8 for sport to isolate players and it worked brilliantly, all weather, all light conditions.
 
Byker28i said:
I've not tried the Mk2, but have the Mk1 IS. I think it's a great lens. I used to use it a lot at f2.8 for sport to isolate players and it worked brilliantly, all weather, all light conditions.
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Byker28i said:
Another thought - rent one for the wedding weekend, see what you think?
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Thank you for reply, I must admit I am tempted to pick up the MKI as have seen it for around the £700 region for the IS version, I will consider renting either the MKI or II as well.


DerekL said:
I also have the non IS Mk1 lens. I use it mainly for football and have had no issues with handling or image quality even wide open. For me it gives me what I want so see no need (for me) to upgrade to the Mk2.
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Thanks for the post, I would need to have the IS version, especially for the sporting events .
 
I had a mk1 and always felt it was slightly soft.... got the mk11 and found it so much better..... maybe I had a poor copy but I’d put the hire money and your £700 towards a good used mk11 ... you might get one for just over £1k on the right day...[emoji106]
 
My understanding is that Canon UK no longer support or repair the Mk1 anymore, so if it breaks you will need to get it repaired by a 3rd party, who may or may not have the required parts.
The 70-200 F4 is still supported (afaik).
 
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Jwar1976 said:
Thanks for the post, I would need to have the IS version, especially for the sporting events .
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Most sport would be shot with a shutter speed that negates the need for IS......I have my IS switched off when shooting sport.

Bob
 
Thanks for the replies everyone, it does look as tho the MKII will be the winner, I did also look at the Tamron G2 but reviewers stated that while image quality was great, the focusing speed lock wasn't as good as the Canon's, so there goes the option of a third party one. Looks like I have some saving to do.
 
Jwar1976 said:
Thanks for the post, I would need to have the IS version, especially for the sporting events .
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eeerm I shoot sports for a living. almost every day of the week (although this weather is playing havoc) . never turned the IS on .... neither should you....
 
MatBin said:
My understanding is that Canon UK no longer support or repair the Mk1 anymore, so if it breaks you will need to get it repaired by a 3rd party, who may or may not have the required parts..
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good point.. i dont know how I keep forgetting this when I have problems with my 400...
 
KIPAX said:
eeerm I shoot sports for a living. almost every day of the week (although this weather is playing havoc) . never turned the IS on .... neither should you....
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No disrespect ment KIPAX, as the sports thing is completely new to me, I wasn't aware with switching off the IS for it. I appreciate any advice given on here.
 
Jwar1976 said:
No disrespect ment KIPAX, as the sports thing is completely new to me, I wasn't aware with switching off the IS for it. I appreciate any advice given on here.
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haha none taken.. i said i do sports so you would know the advice was coming from someone who knows :) my thoughts on the mkII are my opinion but the IS thing isnt.. its pretty much a given
 
KIPAX said:
haha none taken.. i said i do sports so you would know the advice was coming from someone who knows :) my thoughts on the mkII are my opinion but the IS thing isnt.. its pretty much a given
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What I meant by the IS was for Photographing people, I do sometimes suffer from camera shake, which is why I have always bought lenses with IS on. it is great to know that someone on here does sports professionally, a friend of mine in another part of the country has the 70-200 MKII and he does the odd bit of Motorsports for a hobby, but he always swears by having the IS on Position 2 when horizontal panning with a Monopod.
 
Jwar1976 said:
What I meant by the IS was for Photographing people, I do sometimes suffer from camera shake, which is why I have always bought lenses with IS on. it is great to know that someone on here does sports professionally, a friend of mine in another part of the country has the 70-200 MKII and he does the odd bit of Motorsports for a hobby, but he always swears by having the IS on Position 2 when horizontal panning with a Monopod.
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you will find sport and motor sport are even given two seperate areas on this forum.... ok both sport but hmmm and yes you might use the IS here and there ..most i can think of is motor sport or cycling if panning.... unfortunatly where i am based there isnt any motor sport.. i ahve done about 60 different sports :) You mentioned outdoor sporting events in your first post and i never think of motorsport as being one haha ...so i based my reply on that :)
 
Virtually all my "normal" lenses have IS (the 24/70 being the exception) I find it helps me, but I''m an old sod that needs all the help I can get and rarely shoot motor sport. When I shot aviation I found the IS helped me.
Others may differ.
 
Jwar1976 said:
What I meant by the IS was for Photographing people, I do sometimes suffer from camera shake, which is why I have always bought lenses with IS on. it is great to know that someone on here does sports professionally, a friend of mine in another part of the country has the 70-200 MKII and he does the odd bit of Motorsports for a hobby, but he always swears by having the IS on Position 2 when horizontal panning with a Monopod.
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If you're using a high shutter speed then you don't need the IS, but it comes in handy when you're hand holding with a slow shutter speed. It's an option which is why theres a switch to turn it on or off.
The general advice is to also turn it off when on a tripod
 
MatBin said:
My understanding is that Canon UK no longer support or repair the Mk1 anymore, so if it breaks you will need to get it repaired by a 3rd party, who may or may not have the required parts.
The 70-200 F4 is still supported (afaik).
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I am not disputing what you say about Canon not supporting the MK 1. I do however find it strange as WEX and other suppliers are still selling this lens (at £300 more than I bought mine from WEX for several years ago)
 
DerekL said:
I am not disputing what you say about Canon not supporting the MK 1. I do however find it strange as WEX and other suppliers are still selling this lens (at £300 more than I bought mine from WEX for several years ago)
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I guess they take the view that if they offer 12 months warranty and they cant get it fixed they can send you another from their stock or hope it doesnt break in the 12 month period.
There's nothing wrong buying an old unsupported lens, many work for years after parts are no longer available, I just think it's good to know where you stand if buyng an expensive lens.
 
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DerekL said:
I am not disputing what you say about Canon not supporting the MK 1. I do however find it strange as WEX and other suppliers are still selling this lens (at £300 more than I bought mine from WEX for several years ago)
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MatBin said:
I guess they take the view that if they offer 12 months warranty and they cant get it fixed they can send you another from their stock or hope it doesnt break in the 12 month period.
There's nothing wrong buying an old unsupported lens, many work for years after parts are no longer available, I just think it's good to know where you stand if buyng an expensive lens.
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WEX are only a 20 minute bus journey from where I live and have bought the majority of my equipment from them. I know when it comes to repairs, they have a contract with Fixation as when my 24-105 F4L MKI failed, they sent it to Fixation and Fixation confirmed that the repair would be covered under the warranty.

I am in agreement with those that have said about the grey importers, there are many selling the 70-200 MKII for around the £1200 region, which is a bargain considering the price of the lens from a UK based company. I have been looking at the used suppliers and Interestingly CEX sell the 70-200 F2.8 IS MKI for £775 with 2 years warranty. I know CEX sell all kinds of products but they have been quite reliable in recent years for various products.
 
In a slight update, I popped into one of my local 2nd hand shops and in there was what appeared to be a Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS MK1, for £800 with 6 months warranty, but it was difficult to tell as some of the writing was worn. However I had my suspicions it was a MKII as before the USM it had a I written with something else next to it which could have been another I. Any how I went back home and see if I could run a check on the serial number, but couldn't find anything, so I went back to the shop with my Camera and took some pictures with it at different apertures to check for dust etc. Any how in the metadata section on Lightroom, it showed the lens as being a Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS MKII. Which has made it really tempting to purchase, especially as I can put down a deposit and pay it off.

I did make a note of the 10 digit serial number on the barrel, as there was no number behind the connector cap, so if there is a way of checking this somewhere, it would be interesting to know when it was made.
 
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