Will I see a difference upgrading from EF 70-200mm f/2.8 to the RF version?

[Anonymous]

Hello!  I'm new to the forums, but a long time Canon user of 22 years.

I have an older Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. It is the original version before image stabilization came around. I liked this lens on my DSLR for landscape work and other things. But now that I have upgraded to the R5 I'm wondering if an upgraded version of the lens will be any sharper?

My budget is limited to $1500. Do you know if the RF 70-200mm f/4 lens would be any sharper than this old version that I have? I get that I will lose a stop of light, but if this lens is noticeably sharper, it might be worth the tradeoff. I also understand the RF one is smaller and less weight, but the weight of the EF does not bother me at all because the lens is usually on a tripod. So the only thing I am looking for is better image quality.

Thank you for reading this post.

[jrhoffman75]

Post a few troublesome RAW files to Dropbox or One Drive so we can check them. 

[justadude]

"I switched to it several, I mean, many years ago"

😂
I'm glad that I'm not the only one saying things like this, Ernie.

 
Me: That was just a few years ago.
My best friend: Umm... that was 1992.
Me: Isn't that what I just implied?

[SignifDigits]

Thank you for responding!  One of my big failings, as I've been sifting back through a lot of my years of photos to clean out the cruft, is that I tend to not get close enough.   I'm just standoffish as a person, and it shows in my photos, sadly.  So it does NOT seem stupid at all!  My wife has a photo from Iceland that, as you said was "boring" until she just narrowed it down to a few matching crevasses.  I had had the same problem with people - not getting close enough to make the shot interesting.  It sounds like a lens issue, and a very frustrating one if a lens 1/3 the price is doing better.  I'm sure the real experts here will sort this out, and AGAIN thanks for posting.  Please let us know what direction you finally go on this and how it works out.  I notice that you are very kind in responding to every post.  You must be a very kind and considerate person.  Don't feel that you need to respond again to this one.  I'll just follow along and see how things go.  Thanks again!

[ebiggs1]

"Me: That was just a few years ago.
My best friend: Umm... that was 1992.
Me: Isn't that what I just implied?"

Sounds like my kids when I say, "Well just the other day I ....."

They say no dad (grandpa) it was last week or last month or perhaps last year. It's still "the other day" isn't it? 🤔

[justadude]

"It's still "the other day" isn't it?"


You are good, my friend.  They are wrong.  In my book anything between June 1st, 1980 all the way through to yesterday is "Just the other day".  Crazy kids don't know any better.  lol

[Anonymous]

Hello everybody. I would just like to thank everyone for being very helpful with my question on the lenses. We were across the state yesterday for business. I knew there was a camera store in that city so I brought my R5 and my EF 70-200mm lens with me. I tested it out in the store along with the RF 70-200mm f/4 lens.

The saleslady in the camera store thinks I had a bad copy of the EF lens when we looked at the photos on the store computer. The computer had dual monitors so we were able to pull both the EF and RF photos up side by side. While the photos looked fine at 70mm on both lenses, once I got past 120mm the RF lens was much sharper. She saw what I've been seeing with the soft focus. It was even more obvious when we zoomed in just a little bit, which was just enough to see what a 20x30 print would look like. This is a common size for me to sell, so that was helpful.

So I purchased the RF 70-200mm f/4 lens. They gave me a fair price as a trade in on the EF which they are going to sell as an "as is" lens in their used department.

Thank you all for your help.

[SignifDigits]

Sorry to hear you got a "bad-un"!  Hope you the new one works out like a "good-un" for you.  Thanks for your participating, kindness and especially for keeping us in the loop!

[Anonymous]

Thank you signifdigts.I can't complain about it though. I did get my money's worth out of that lens for 22 years. It didn't owe me anything at that point, and it more than paid for itself in the first two or three years. I just always thought it could be sharper. The new lens has been tested quite a bit in the short time that I have had it. It is one of the good ones.

Thank you.

[ebiggs1]

"They gave me a fair price as a trade in on the EF ..."

And much more, they gave you outstanding customer service and that is worth a lot. We no longer have camera shops and stores in the area but when we did I used them all the time. I got to know the owners and sales people personally. They had organized photo shoot outings where we all had a great time.  Yes, it might have cost a bit more than on-line but the hands on and talking with other is priceless. Those days are gone I'm afraid.

I also got to know a few sales people at B&H and Adorama later on.

[Anonymous]

Thank you ebiggs1. The customer service is always great at most camera shops. Actually I didn't pay a penny more than I would have online. Most camera stores know that many people shop online, so to stay competitive they either match the manufacture's current price - including sale prices - on new camera equipment. The few various shops in our state that I have been to also check to see if B&H is having a sale that is lower than the manufacturer's price, and will match that. There is also no shipping charge so often it's less expensive if the manufacturer charges shipping. I wish the shops were not across state, but we do travel to the other side at least once per month for family or business. But if they were closer I might spend more than my wife would be happy with.

Thank you.