Day 1

Canon CPS was kind enough to send me a loaner 200mm f2 L IS USM, and I just came back from using it on a shoot. Unfortunately for my bank account, I think I’m in love.

I photograph people. 90% of my work is weddings, and the remaining 10% is wedding-related (engagement sessions and the like.) I already own the 70-200 f2.8 L IS USM mk II. Both are excellent lenses, but since I work primarily on primes I’m spoiled in the IQ department. (IQ = image quality. I heard you snerking!) That coupled with the fact that some most churches simply have terrible lighting has always kept me curious about the 200mm f2.

It’s hard to imagine a lens that delivers better IQ than Canon’s 85mm f1.2 L mk II, but this just might be it. Glowing skin tones, wicked sharp, and perfectly controlled CA all wide open at f2 – this lens is sexier than Marilyn Monroe on a steaming manhole cover.

Yup, it’s big. Without hoods, the length is only slightly longer than the 70-200 f2.8, but the girth of the 200mm prime… well that’s something else entirely. It makes the 70-200 look like a scrawny little pencil.