| EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM | EF 20-200mm f4 IS | EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM | EF 70-200mm f 4 USM | |
| Image stabilization | Up to 4 Stops | Up to 4 Stops | no IS | no IS |
| One of the best things to have happened in photography. Earlier one was restricted to shoot hand held only in good lighting to avoid camera shake but with Image stabilization especially the new ones, one can get very good shots even at slower shutter speeds. Highly recommended to have. But if shoot only in the studio or controlled environment you can always go for the non IS versions and save the money for any other equipment. IS is very in unexpected unfavorable conditions when it is not possible to use a monopod etc. | ||||
| Maximum aperture | f2.8 constant | f4 constant | f2.8 constant | f4 constant |
| When we look through the viewfinder we actually look through the maximum open aperture even though we may have set the aperture closed down. (It closes only when the shutter is released) So, we will see a brighter image through the viewfinder in case of f2.8 lens compared to f4. Also f2.8 would have faster focusing in low light situations compared to f4. However, as the image quality at higher ISO is drastically improving compared to earlier cameras, one can even increase the ISO | ||||
| Glass | Good glass is important to help control secondary spectrum aberrations | |||
| Fluorite element | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ultra low dispersion | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Groups/Elements | ||||
| 23 elements in 19 groups | 20 elements in 15 groups | 18 elements in 15 groups | ||
| Diaphragm blades | 8 | |||
| 8 | ||||
| Tripod collar | ||||
| yes | optional | yes | ||
| Filter thread | ||||
| 67mm | 77 | |||
| Weight | ||||
| 1.49 Kg | 760 g | 1.30 kg | ||
| Minimum focusing distance | 3.9' (1.2m) | |||
| Focusing and zooming | ||||
| internal | ||||
| compatibility | ||||
| with the Extender EF 1.4x II and 2x II teleconverters (requires f/8 AF sensitivity with EF 2x II) | ||||
| f2.8 IS | f4IS | f 2.8 | f4 | |