The dangers of f2.8 L glass

Well, having been using the new 70-200mm for some time now I must say I am very satisfied with this lens. Sure its heavy and expensive but its worth every penny if you are serious about your photography.

However, if you are coming from the average f4.5-5.6 world of consumer lenses, going to f2.8 kind of glass can make you do some mistakes. Once you have such a light sensitive lens its tempting to keep shooting at f2.8 without thinking about the concequences. Although I have been used to this aperture with my 100mm macro lens, the macro was often used in more planned shoots, closeups and tripod shots. The 70-200mm has IS and it works brilliantly handheld. However, if you are not careful, shooting at f2.8 can ruin your pictures. You have to remember that the Depth Of Field (DOF) is very shallow, which also means your focus has to be spot on. Fortunately this lens is both quick and accurate when it comes to focusing. However, there are many times I have focused at an area that was deep into the object I wanted i focus, effectively rendering the front part of the object unfocused. Unfortunately you cant see this on the LCD since everything looks alright there. You just have to think about it and make sure you focus at the foremost part (or actually a little bit further than that might work too).

Just so that you were warned! It takes practice to shoot at f2.8 and get good results. You especially need to think quickly when shooting on the move.