Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

The grand appeal of this prime is that offers the telephoto reach and fast f/2.8 aperture of Canon's 70-200/2.8 professional lenses, but at far less cost and size. In practical terms, the 200/2.8 is fast enough to shoot nighttime football games that would have slower f/5.6 consumer zooms struggling to reign in motion blur.

Unlike consumer zooms, it also takes well to a 1.4X teleconverter, giving the equivalent of 280mm at f/4. The USM autofocus system is quick, silent, and sure in almost any lighting, and because this 200/2.8 is essentially a longer version of Canon's legendary 135/2, it's plenty sharp all the way from f/2.8. Finally, because it's small and black, the security at sporting venues is far more likely to let you take it inside.

It's not all roses though. 200mm on a 1.6X crop body is a 320mm equivalent in view angle. That's a lot of lens to handhold without stabilization. Pure sharpness doesn't stand for much when the whole frame is blurred by handshake. Despite the fast f/2.8 aperture, it takes a lot of light to keep the shutter speeds up, and this lens isn't all that forgiving below 1/400; good technique and proper bracing are essential. My copy suffers further from color fringing around highlights and loss of contrast in sunlight to a greater extent than any other lens that I own. Shooting into the sun, or with the sun just outside the frame, is not a forte.

If you want versatility, there are also better choices than the 200/2.8. Framing options are limited, and you'll rarely find the composition afforded by 200mm exactly matches what you intended. While the 70-200/2.8 series are no stronger optically than this lens, they'll get the shot every time purely by the ability to track an object at 70mm and rapidly zoom to 200mm to take the picture. The addition of IS (image stabilization) alone doubles the number of keepers on the 70-200/2.8 IS. If your livelihood depends on your results, that's worth the price of admission.

But if you're not molting fifties, and you just want a sharp and fast telephoto that'll manage better shutter speeds, sharpness, background blur, and contrast (in most circumstances) than a consumer zoom, this 200/2.8L is a great choice.

Canon L lenses are known for their great optics and priceyness. This fast tele is an excellent value. Some pictures I took at the Phoenix zoo with this lens are superb. Use your tripod and get tack-sharp images. The only thing that would improve this lens would be the addition of the image stabilizion feature found on a few Canon optics. Of course, the advantage of large aperature lenses is that you can set a fast shutter speed and still have enough light for a shot. This lens is surprisingly compact, (as long focal length teles go). The autofocus is very fast and quiet. Comes with a hood, too.

Buy Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras Now

This lens is Canon's biggest bargain and a rather well kept secret. The 200 f2.8 L lens is an amazing value and has the "red ring", Canon's professional rating. One shoot will convince you of it's value.

Photos taken with this lens are extremely sharp, with colors rich and deep; it takes the 1.4x teleconverter well, adding range. The lens takes sharpening extremely well. I find it easy to handhold, and rarely use my tripod. In comparison, the Canon 70-200 f2.8 was simply impossible for me to use without a tripod; it's size and weight defeated me regardless of the IS. A direct comparison of shots between the smaller 200 f2.8 and the large 70-200 showed the prime in my case to always be superior.

Although the zoom lens are a convenience I personally find I am always at the long end of the telephoto within the 70-200 range. I own 9 Canon lens, owned the 70-200 f2.8 IS L and sold it, keeping this lens in its place. The advantages are many I find it much sharper, easier to handhold than the white lens at 200, it is possible to take it to affairs where they will not allow the big white lens, and much, much, MUCH less conspicuous. My husband uses the camera on autofocus only, and his shots are outstanding with this lens. He is an artist and has a great eye; matched with this lens he gets what he wants.

The price is outstanding for such high quality;this amazing lens is a genuine bargain in today's camera world. Let's hope that Canon doesn't wise up and price this according to it's quality. Have owned it for several years, definitely a keeper. Buy it you will not regret it.

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Interestingly, the price has crept up a bit on this lens in the last few months. It's value must be becoming more apparent to more folks. Nice to have bought before it went up instead of vice versa.

Nevertheless, this is the most reasonably priced of the Canon L Primes & is a perfect one to start out with, if you don't own any yet. This lens is tack sharp, has very true, very vibrant color and high contrast. In all these areas, it is probably just shy of the 135mm, 85mm and 50mm lenses, but this is a discerning eye speaking, and these are subtle (although modestly notable differences). The difference between this and an ordinary Canon lens will be much greater.

As a side note if you already own either or both the teleconverters (1.4x and 2x), they work very well with this lens. It maintains AF with both, due to it's speed. And this is a small light lens, considering the focal length. With a 2x it becomes a 400mm f/5.6, yet it is much lighter, narrower, and more portable than any comparable variation (the 100-400mm L, or any of the 400mm L primes, of which there are two, plus a non-L DO prime that looks like an L, and might fool you). If you intend to shoot all the way out at 400mm mostly, this is probably the cheapest method, and the quality loss is less with the 2x on this lens than with many/most others.

Whatever your choice, this is probably the most reasonable L value on the market and is a very smart buy if you wish to see what all the fuss is about.

And Yes, the fuss is warranted. L's are that good.

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I am a hobbyist and only comment as one here this is the best lens I've used so far as far as IQ goes. On top, it's light weight, discreet, not too expensive. Somehow I felt the AF on this is not as quick as my 70-200/f4 non IS zoom. Maybe just me. But the IQ (color, contrast, sharpness) on this one simply blows me away, wide open or not. I use this lens shooting in-door head shots of my little 4-yr old. She simply springs to life from this lens! The 200mm on 40D is even better than 5D because it gives the kid more room to be herself. The AF on this lens is not the best in low light. This is true with 40D, 350D Rebel, and 5D. 24-105L under the same condition works much better. This is true even with the build-in flash emitting AF assist beams. With the 580EX however, AF is instant. And so does most other lenses I use. I suspect this has to do with this 200mm lens being of a much older design while the 24-105 is far more recent.

Update April 2011 -

After some years of use mostly on 5D mk1, I get to know more about this lens:

IQ is great, but not the best. Actually, both 100/f2 and 300/f4L IS seem to be better in many cases. AF is not the quickest either, worse in normal indoor light. Flare can be a problem for this lens if shooting with a bright window in the background. 300F4IS is quite a bit better. 100/f2 is much better. But under normal light, this prime is great.

Brother DS700D Compact Duplex Scanner - Retail Packaging

I just recieved this and it was easy to set-up even with a lack of instructions other than put disk in and load before plugging in the scanner. I tried various types of items to scan and all came out great. Color, b&w even a photo. It is small enough to fit in my bag next to my portable printer so I always have a scanner handy. I was very impressed with the double sided scanning which is fast and easy. I have already recommended this to my fellow sales people and i highly recommend it to all that are in need of a portable scanner.

I purchased this scanner to use with my iMac. Fortunately I also have a PC; otherwise I would return the scanner to AMAZON. The software works so poorly on my MAC that, in my opinion, it should not be sold as "compatible with Lion". If you are planning to use the scanner with a PC, buy it.

My Ratings:

For MAC: 0-Stars

For PC: 5-Stars

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I was looking for a document scanner for household use. This one had all the features I wanted, duplex, compact. So, I bought it. I was so disappointed by it's performance that I decided to return it the next day!

Pros:

1. Lightweight, compact.

2. Installs easy

Cons:

1. If you are feeding documents, there will be a black leading area at the top of the scan. Because it starts capturing the image even before the paper is into the scanning area. This is absolutely unacceptable. How does this thing make it to the market?

2. If you are trying to feed multiple documents, there is no way you can avoid the black area at the top of the scan.

3. The page is scanned kind of slanted, no matter how hard I try to scan it straight. The feeder won't eat the paper straight.

4. The PDF files generated are humongous! I understand these are image based PDF files, but my flatbed scanner does that too... but file sizes are manageable.

It was a total waste of my time.

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This duplex scanner work well and has a good price, but would be excellent if it had adjustable paper guide to keep document straight.

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Have been 3 hours tonight trying to make my first scan on MAC...have absolutely given up. Have installed drivers a dozen times and done full installations and MAC won't recognize scanner connected. Haven't tried with Windows yet, wait tip tomorrow, i'm ready to toss it in the trash, or take back to store in the morning. I hope the review for Windows are correct but I have been hoping to move completely to my mac but have 1000s of pictures to scan.

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HDMI Cable VGA/Audio to HD HDMI Converter Adapter HDMI Input VGA Audio Output

Sent me an HDMI mini but shown as regular HDMI on screen and in order. Wasted time more than anything waiting on this. Took 2 weeks to send wrong product.

first and foremost, my issue was with the unit I received, not the device in general. I received a defective unit which despite passing the audio and video signals along, distorted the video signal while doing it. the result was the image being distorted and discolored to the point of causing me headaches. The company was not helpful in troubleshooting, and would not replace it, but gave me a refund without requiring a return.

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I ordered 5 of these to use w/Raspberry Pi single board computer. I expect it to work but I have not had a chance to test it. The Raspberry Pi is a low power low current device and I am not sure the Pi will source enough current to operate this converter.

One has to be careful because there is a difference between adapter (passive) and a converter (active). The Pi needs a converter to display on a VGA monitor. The Pi has a HDMI (std size) connector. The device advertised here is made with 3 different size HDMI plugs. This one is the HDMI **Mini**, not the HDMI (largest) plug. I notified the company and they responded in a courteous helpful way. They were willing to refund my money and pay to ship the item back to them. I needed these within a short time frame so I asked them to just refund the amount required to buy an adapter from HDMI plug to HDMI Mini connector. As it turns out the cost was about the same as the original shipping from them to me. We both came out OK because I have the items I need and they are out the shipping cost for their mistake in the description. I asked them to correct the description and refund the HDMI size adapter cost, then I would write a good review. They have done well but I see the description has not been changed yet. If I have power sourcing problems when I connect this to the Pi I will open the case and power it directly from the wall wart to USB 5 volts out after breaking the power pin from the Pi in this converter.

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SecurityMan 4 Channel Triplex Network DVR with 250GB USB Motion Detection (NDVR0400)

This is more a review of my experience with SecurityMan customer service, not this specific DVR. My model is the DVR-04.

I called today to order another power supply, and that's when I learned the DVR-04 had been discontinued. The person on the other end of the phone put me on hold to see if they had a power supply for it. After a couple minutes, he returned and said they'd have to look "in the warehouse" and call me back.

I asked two things; how long has this model been discontinued, and, how long until they'd get back to me after they check the warehouse?

Reasonable questions, right? Not so the answers:

I was informed the SecurityMan DVR-04 had been discontinued about a year ago, which means someone who bought one just about the time it was discontinued may very well not be able to get replacement parts after only one year. (And this is the *second* time in probably a year that my power supply has died.)

Granted, my unit is around 3 years or so old, but the point is that even someone who bought this model new just 12 months ago and has a problem with it, may have more of a problem than they may think! What's reasonable here? Should SecurityMan regard what they sell as simply disposable equipment, even if it fails only 365 days after purchase? I can get parts for my 6+ year old 52" Philips TV right now, but SecurityMan feels no obligation to stock parts even one year after discontinuance? (And this power supply seems to be unique, so you can't just pick one up anywhere.)

As to when they'd get back to me about the power supply, I was told "I don't know--no time frame". No time frame???? In other words, "Take a flying leap, my friend, we've moved on. Your problems with our old equipment mean nothing to us".

OK, everyone who thinks either one of these answers equates with even minimally acceptable customer service from SecurityMan, raise your hands!

______________________________

DECEMBER 2011 UPDATE: No real surprise here, but SecurityMan never did get back to me.

I'd suggest staying far away from this unit, or anything else by SecurityMan.

I have been using this for over a year now and it is working great with no trouble.

but as far as the software goes there is a lot of room for improvement (and it doesn't seem like they ever release any updates)

Pros

4ch with motion recording for each channel

adjustable sensitivity and areas for motion recording

large hard drive

easy to record images or video clips to computer or USB stick

software for viewing pretty good over networks

cons

software for playing back really hard to use and almost impossible to search for time or date recordings. you pretty much have to sit there and watch through everything backwards in 16x speed till you see what you want. you can't even jump to another day

motion detection picks up rain and snow (but that is so be expected)

overall i got a good deal on amazon and at the time there was nothing close to the price with network and motion recording so i would say pretty good but if i found another brand with the same features and some decent software i would get it instead

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