Sweet spot for an EF 200mm 2.8L prime?? I use a Canon 6D II camera.

[gdotts]

My 1st Prime.... a Canon EF 200mm 2.8 L whic I bought off Ebay yesterday.  What is the sweet spot for this lens?  All my other lenses are zooms.  PLease advise.

Thank you!

[wq9nsc]

The digital lens review does pretty good reviews of various Canon lens models so you might take a look at his review.  Most, but not all, lens achieve their best image quality one to two stops closed from wide open aperture but on a good lens that difference is very little and unless you are a "pixel peeper" you will find the 200 2.8 is quite good across its range.

I haven't tried the 200MM F2.8 because I have the F2 200MM and it is very sharp across its aperture range but it is a tad sharper at when closed down to F2.8.  But I bought the 200MM F2 primarily for indoor sports and it is generally wide open and provides excellent quality and as is true of many Canon lens, although the quality improves a little when stepped down it is so good wide open that if there is a problem with the image the fault doesn't lie with the glass.

With a lens in this category, it is critical that you calibrate this lens to the camera using the micro AF adjustment process.  After you do this, make sure to put the focus point exactly where you want it because you will often be working with a very shallow depth of field with a 200mm wide open. 

Rodger

[ebiggs1]

You need to test it yourself. I always thought the ef 200mm f2.8L was a lens that didn't have a home.  With the very outstanding ef 70-200mm f2.8L II zoom available and now version III. If the prime is sharper it isn't very much so.  The prime may focus a bit faster as it has less mass to move but here again not by much. I never noticed any real difference except you don't get 70 to 199mm with the prime.

Go run some tests! 

[Waddizzle]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

You need to test it yourself. I always thought the ef 200mm f2.8L was a lens that didn't have a home.  With the very outstanding ef 70-200mm f2.8L II zoom available and now version III. If the prime is sharper it isn't very much so.  The prime may focus a bit faster as it has less mass to move but here again not by much. I never noticed any real difference except you don't get 70 to 199mm with the prime.

Go run some tests! 

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I think the main advantage of the prime is that is much shorter, and is only half the weight of the zoom.  

[Waddizzle]

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@gdotts wrote:

My 1st Prime.... a Canon EF 200mm 2.8 L whic I bought off Ebay yesterday.  What is the sweet spot for this lens?  All my other lenses are zooms.  PLease advise.

Thank you!

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Your first prime.  Is this your first L lens, too?  If so, you are in for a treat.  You will be impressed with the IQ and build quality compared to most consumer lenses.  

Some of Canon's L series lenses are not "fully weather sealed" until you use a protecto filter on the front.  Check your owner's manual.  You can download a copy from Canon Support.  

If you need a protecto filter, then I recommend the B+W Nano Clear filters.  I have one on all of my L lenses.  It helps to keep my front element of all of my lenses clean.  I have never cleaned the front glass on any of them.  I install a filter when they are brand new, right out of the box.

[gdotts]

Yes...this is my first prime lens bought yesterday....today I bought a EF 85mm 1.8 USM also a prime. I'm diving into this pool!!

[jrhoffman75]

I think Rodger meant The-Digital-Picture website. I like his reports since he posts all the hard info to support his conclusions.

"Image quality from the Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens is excellent. Wide open (f/2.8) sharpness is excellent from corner to corner and only slight improvement can be seen through f/5.6. Contrast and colors are excellent. The very minor pincushion distortion present will be noticeable in very few shots. Some light fall off can be seen in full frame corners at f/2.8, but stopping down quickly eliminates this. Flare is very well controlled. "

[wq9nsc]

Thank you for the correction John!  He does a nice job with lens info.

Rodger