*UPDATED* 70-200 f/2.8L IS Discontinuation Confirmed?
UPDATE
Helen Oster issues an apology:
Actually, I have a BIG apology; I completely mis-read an email from our purchasing department. We have NO official notification that this is discontinued – we just can’t get any at the moment.
I do apologize for any misunderstanding or concern that this has caused.
__________________
Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
helen.oster@adoramacamera.com
www.adorama.com
From Adorama
*Poof* and I'm gone!
Helen Oster, the Adorama customer service ambassador has confirmed that the 70-200 f/2.8L IS has been discontinued.
No word on the replacement.
Hopefully this isn’t some kind of inside joke I don’t know about.
From DPR
CR’s Take
I placed a call to Canon Canada’s national order desk and they have none in stock. There was also no ETA on a new shipment. No ETA on a current product from Canon is a rarity.
Thanks Ed
cr
July 20th, 2009 at 11:04 am
So this means that a 70-200 2.8L IS II is not far off?
They would never release such a beefy lens in connection with a 2000D/T1 – it would have to be the 60d or perhaps this could be more fuel to the 1d4 fire.
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Very interesting. Good find. I wonder whats in store, since this is a hugely popular Canon lens. (and my fave!) hah
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Discontinued?
I just had my photo store call Canon Austria for an ETA 70-200 2.8L IS. I was quoted “August 3rd, but there’s a long list of backorders”.
So should I wait with my purchase for a revised edition of this – already awesome – glass?
Or maybe Canon just wants to jack up the demand and price?
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Wohhh… this is intriguing… !
If its gonna be a new replacement for it, I guess its gonna be together with some major camera body launch..
1DMkIV ? 60D ? 7D ?
… now time to offload that old lens in anticipation of the new one ! (*irony*)
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Maybe, just maybe… Canon is going to take the IS out of the Lens and finally move it to the body. One could hope.
Reply
Anonymous Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Never!
Reply
Zac Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
especially since even if Canonadds in body IS they should still keep in lens for macro and telephoto, since it is much more effective in lens at longer focal lengths. (at shorter ones it makes no difference, and the additional elements add the opportunity for optical degeneration compared to a non IS redesign
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
I think I read somewhere Pentax simply disables the body IS when a lens with IS is attached, not sure though. Canon could do something like that or allow people to choose which would best suit their needs at the moment.
Reply
Zac Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
that would be ideal. since in lens stabilizers are significantly more effective than in body at longer focal lengths. having both and the in body disable when in-lens is detected would be ideal.
Reply
John.B Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Zac, the only problem with that logic is that Canon doesn’t have *any* macro lenses with IS. (I know, I own both the 100mm and the 60mm.)
Even *Nikon* has a 105mm VR macro (but I’m not bitter or anything…)
Reply
Zac Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
true, but they haven’t been updated in nearly 10 years. they’re due for it and you can bet your @$$ that when they’re updated they will have IS.
Reply
John.B Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 11:45 am
I don’t know.
A few weeks ago I spoke to a Canon field rep (n.b. a Canon employee) at a Macro class he was teaching. When I brought up this *exact* topic — specifically the handhold-ability of my 100mm f/2.8 Macro — he explained that stabilization is only designed to counteract camera shake around the x and y axises. He claimed a proper IS design for macro lenses would also require z axis stabilization.
Whether true or not, that was his reasoning why there wasn’t IS on either the 100mm or 180mm L macro lenses. And he didn’t hold any hope that would change any time soon (regardless that the Nikon 105mm macro lens already has VR).
I’m not saying you are wrong, in fact I hope you are right. But I *am* saying I didn’t get the impression this would change any time soon.
Reply
John.B Reply:
July 22nd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
As if on cue: http://www.usa.canon.com/templatedata/pressrelease/20090722_hybrid_is.html
Reply
Stark-Arts Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I never have heard anyone tell me why this makes any sense. Not a sony or olympus rep…and certainly not the two biggest camera companies in the world. Just why would we want that? Are Canon and Nikon both wrong? And before anyone does the “so they can sell more expensive lenses” song and dance -
Sony 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8 are both either more expensive than Nikons (which are more expensive than Canons) or the same…
Reply
Shane Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Not sure which one doesn’t make sense to you… but here is my reason for the stabilization in the body.
The more moving parts (focus, zoom) and smart moving part (auto-focus, IS) the more likely something is going to break or wear out over time. It is my understanding that the IS also make the lens a bit more delicate.
In the time that I have owned my 70-200 2.8L IS, I have worm out 3 bodies. The lens could last forever if it didn’t have the IS. But at some point in time they will come out with a much better IS and there will be the need to upgrade.
Now if the IS was in the body, two things would happen. More time and money would be spent on improving IS technology and each time I bought a new body, I would have better IS technology. Also, by default, every lens would have IS.
This MAY drive the body cost up, but it WOULD drive the lens cost down. Why? Canon would only have to have 2 builds instead of 4 for the 70-200 line. Economies of scale dictate that the prices would go down. The body cost could go up but with other companies (Sony, etc) having competing bodies, most likely they would not increase that much.
I could be wrong, but those are my thoughts.
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
The K-7 has body IS and it’s only $1300 so it couldn’t be a huge cost factor.
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Why fix something that isn’t broken??? Especially when there are so many other lenses in need of an update, like the 25 year old 50mm f1.4?
chris
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
The non-IS 2.8 version is sharper than the IS one, and they have new IS tecnology called Dynamic Stabilization so can they improve an already great lens? Absolutely, especially one of the most popular and useful zoom they make, smart move IMO. They are not likely going to release Dynamic Stabilization on slower selling lens not many people would be interested in, it makes sense they’d do it on what is basically one of their flagship zooms.
Reply
Christopher Robinson Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Sure, but on a scale of 1 to 10 the lens doesn’t *need* improvement as much as many others. Some telephoto lenses don’t even have any IS yet.
Do we really need Dynamic Stabilization so that yahoos can run around while taking photos? Best to save it for a future update, and get to the ones that are in need.
cheers,
Chris
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I hear ya. But I would think Canon is looking to stay on top of the DSLR video thing and the competition is releasing lenses designed to work well for video and stills. It would be very smart of Canon to release something of a video friendly updated 70-200 2.8 L IS II with Dynamic IS and sharper so they can prep for the next generation of high MP bodies. They’re a big enough company to update more than one lens at a time so maybe we’ll see other updates too.
Reply
Christopher Robinson Reply:
July 22nd, 2009 at 12:09 am
That make sense Dave. I didn’t consider the video factor, but yes — now that you pointed it out — Canon will no doubt be working on a Panasonic like lens with continuous iris and silent focussing etc.
cheers,
chris
Reply
denz Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Nikon also “will” have the VRII lens. go search in the NR and web.
Reply
Anonymous Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Because $$$ talks.
Reply
Malte Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Is there allready a lens with this dynamic Stabilization or is it a new technology?
Could the new lens be called: EF 70-200mm F/2.8 L DS USM?
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
It’s new technology just introduced in the Canon HF S11 camcorder to counter walking/running, and as DSLR’s are the new hot video systems, I think we’ll see that added to SLR lens IS systems.
Reply
Q Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
yeah.. or how about an update to the 300 f4L IS as well? … and a new generation of 100-400 with rotating action instead of push pull and current level IS as well?
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Sounds good to me!
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 11:57 am
It would be awesome to have IS for prime lens and wide angle zooms. But i fear that putting the camera’s sensor on a “spring” or gyroscope would make to whole body more delicate. The sensor would just have to come a little bit out of whack and every shot would be out of focus. Unless you could deliberately adjust the sensor like the rear standard on a 4×5 camera. That would be cool. Super Unlikely but cool.
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Sony, Pentax, and Olympus use sensor-shift stabilization, and the new K-7 Pentax is already considered one of the toughest bodies out there.
Reply
Zac Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
that may well be true, but that’s the camera’s exterior, not the innards, I should like to see the result of a significant impact to a k-7 while the stabiliser is active, I suspect that having the sensor on a gyro might actually make it more likely to survive as opposed to less.
Reply
Dave Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Actually, the new Pentax K7 has a feature, where if you have the camera locked down on a tripod, and want to move the frame slightly, but not the mount on the tripod, you can just move the sensor inside the camera.
The new weather sealed Pentax K-7 is impressive, Canon needs to open their eyes.
You can see this on youtube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNCHdsZI88g
Dave
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I saw that too. Not sure I’d ever use it but it might be a nice feeling to know you could move the sensor yourself.
Reply
Zac Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
that is cool, the sensor shift. personally I would be very careful about what lens and f/stop I used that with because if the lens is prone to vignette you might end up with an uneven lens vignette (yes, I know you can take it out in software, but if I’m on a tripod I’m going for max quality so I would try to avoid it) It is cool that it turns every lens in your bag into a shift lens to some small extent, unfortunately its probably not enough to be useful, but still nice :D
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Haven’t seen any drop tests on the K-7 but that’s pretty much a bad thing for any camera body and lens IMO.
I’ve been shooting since 1976 and have yet to drop a camera.
Cell phones I drop often though, probably because they don’t have a direct print button on them, hehe
Reply
Zac Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
true, but I was hoping to see that used as an extreme example of the repeated shocks (putting bag down roughly, having camera in trunk and slamming on breaks, having your shooting neighbor hit your camera with their 400/2.8 [I have seen that]) that cameras are exposed to throughout their life. I guess that test would be better if you put it on a paintshaker and left it for an hour…
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
that paintshaker would be a good test! I’m sure the 1D line would hold up well, not sure the 5D2 and below would last too long even without the sensor IS, but it’d be neat to see which lasted longer! Someone donate a K-7, a 50D, and maybe a D300 (to keep the price range roughly equal) and I’ll do that test, hehe.
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 11:57 am
IS nets Canon too much money. Not going to happen unless Nikon does it first.
I can’t imagine how much the MKII is going to cost though. $1900-2200 is my bet. Ouch!
Reply
No kin Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
VR nets Nikon too much money. Not going to happen unless Canon does it first.
Reply
Anonymous Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
you think? maybe it’ll stay the same price since the old one is discontinued…or maybe I’m being hopeful
Reply
Stark-Arts Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
see my above comment – but for those that didn’t read it =
Sony and Olympus both make some nice high end glass without IS that costs…drum roll…MORE than Nikon/Canon equivalent…
That argument holds no water
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Hope we get MKIIs for both 24-70 and 70-200. Wonder if the 70-200 will still be white? I always thought it should be black and that white should be left to the super teles. 70-200 is such a standard walk around lens. Does it really need to be white? It’s not like the rationale to make it white could be cinching Canon more advertising.
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Yeah, I kinda agree. I consider the 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8 a matched pair, one on one body and the other on another body and I feel ready for most anything, and have always wished they’d either made the huge 24-70 white or the 70-200 black…
Reply
Zac Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
actually Canon claims they make them white to avoid as much heat expansion of the lens barrel, and therefore mis-alignment of the lens elements. I buy this because every other current manufacturer of 35mm lenses always make super tele’s white except for nikon, who at least used to offer a ‘light grey’ option for them. Personally if this is true then I guess all lens barrels and cameras should be a matte white, but its most relevant in telephoto lenses. I’m for effectiveness over color matching, if this is important, then leave the 70-200 white, since its also a matched pair with a 300/2.8, 400/2.8 500/4, 600/4 at almost every professional sports event :)
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
White makes sense to me for the heat reason too. If it was my company I’d have made all L lenses white.
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
This sucks ! I got mine just two week ago from Adorama. Would they take or back as payment for the new version ? What do you think?
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I find it hard to believe. Discontinuing one of the most popular lenses without a new version being announced is somewhat strange.
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
It’s gonna be pink with neon green focus ring & day-glow yellow zoom ring. The direct print button though will still be black.
Reply
B.R. Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Couldn’t agree more. Direct Print button will take place of the IS aswell. Who needs IS when you have Direct Print??
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Not me!
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
What I’m curious about is how this will effect it’s value? I certainly can’t afford it at its current price, nor its successor. But if it were to take a massive price drop because of being discontinued, then It would be far better than most of the other lenses I can afford.
But I’m thinking the price drop to clear out stock (if there is one) won’t be that massive.
How has being discontinued effected other lenses prices in the past?
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
All the people who have one already or just bought one will say:
“No way, the lens is perfect. If it aint broke don’t fix it” etc.
Everyone who want one but can’t get it yet, is excited. ;-)
I fall in the second camp… which is good. :)
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
well anyone with the current version can be sure they got a great deal on a great lens because if this new one comes out it’ll probably be $500 more.
Reply
Stealthy Ninja Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
That’s true. :-)
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I wonder if this means Nikon is coming out with their improved 70-200mm lens. Canon surly doesn’t want Nikon to one up them once again.
The lens can be improved, it can be made lighter, sharper, and have improved IS. This will come at a cost, of course, and availability will be way out there. It will also boost sales and Canon’s profit, since there will be a very long line of buyers wanting one.
BTW, I see a clarification, that says Adorama did not mean to say they have been notified of a discontinuation, just that they cannot get the lens.
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
yeah but it’d make sense to run production out on that lens before introducing an updated one – or, they might have cut production numbers months ago in light of the economy and have now been caught with their proverbial pants down ;)
Reply
Helen Oster Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 1:06 am
http://www.lensrentals.com/news/2009.04.24/state-of-the-slr-industry-2009
Reply
David Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 1:19 am
That’s fairly speculative
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Ef 70-200 f/2.8L IS is an excellent lens. However, there is a lot of room for Canon to improve this high end lens which is very popular with professional sports and event photographers. This model is a cash cow for Canon.
The IS system can certainly be upgraded to the modern “4-stop” version. The optics can be improved to match the increased pixel density on newer cameras like the 5D Mk II and the upcoming 1D MkIV. Some landscape photographers who do not need the f/2.8 have already switched to the 70-200 f/4L IS as the modern version of the junior 70-200 f/4L zoom has better resolution and contrast. With the high-ISO performance of 5D MkII, Canon may want to prevent more pros from migrating to the f/4L zoom…
It is also very likely that the price, at least initially, will go up to $2K range after these upgrades…
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
It was a mistake folks…
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=8312256&postcount=7
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Hey everyone look here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=8312379#post8312256
Helen Oster issues an apology:
“Actually, I have a BIG apology; I completely mis-read an email from our purchasing department. We have NO official notification that this is discontinued – we just can’t get any at the moment.
I do apologize for any misunderstanding or concern that this has caused.
__________________
Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
helen.oster@adoramacamera.com
http://www.adorama.com”
So there you have it.
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Way too funny, LOL !!!!
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Helen has gone on record stating “We have NO official notification that this is discontinued – we just can’t get any at the moment.”
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=8312256#post8312256
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
A blond moment? We know a man would never make such a howler. Womens place is definately in the kitchen. Can we keep them out of harms way?
Reply
Canondale Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
wow, simon, you now have half of the world’s population and most probably much more than that now in your way.
Reply
Justin Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Yeah you’re toast Simon.
Reply
Malte Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
You´re so f*cking right dude! They should talk about L-cooking pots and not lenses.
Reply
Anonymous Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
It takes a man to have balls like those
Reply
Your mom Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
BALLS OF STEEEEEEEEL.
Also where is my sandwich.
Reply
Anonymous Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
im full of sandvich and i am coming for uuuuuuuu!!!
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
EF 70-200mm IS f/2.8L It came out in Sept. 2001
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
yeah Helen spilled the beans and is now trying to put them back in the bowl…not gonna work
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
LOL, are you guys serious?
And this:
“No ETA on a current product from Canon is a rarity.”
What a load of bullcr*p, at this time there are around 50 different products which have no ETA from Canon, simply because stock is low or nil, and the planned production covers only 30-40% of the existing dealer orders, sheesh…
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
[...] the rest here: *UPDATED* 70-200 f/2.8L IS Discontinuation Confirmed? Share and [...]
July 20th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
It will be replaced by the 50 – 450 f/1.2L IS made with holographic lenses, it will measure about the size and weight of the current 17 – 55 f/2.8 and with electronic focus and zoom, the lens does not extend. Price, €1500, C$1550, and US$2000.
Reply
kubelik Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
… and three direct print buttons, with one on the front lens element for ease of access
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
and nine direct print buttons too!!!
Reply
mark twain Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
I forgot to mention that the British will be screwed as normal with a price of £2800.
Reply
David Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
not to mention the lens will be 30p and have no 25p for the EU, boy they get so screwed over there!
Reply
Anonymous Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 1:26 am
I don’t know…sounds pricey to me.
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Sold out in Sweden aswell. No ETA
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
This lens is being replaced.
Helen @ Adorama squealed early about it’s demise, but it’s replacement was inevitable.
Hell, it may have been slated for replacement back in August or December, but because of the unknown economic deterioration, Canon may have delayed it a bit.
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
[...] EF70-200 f2.8L IS discontinuation Confirmed?, [...]
July 20th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Calumet is also out of stock with no ETA at the Chicago warehouse. They only have 8 copy’s available in store (Oak Brook, Boston and New York) Maybe true
Reply
July 20th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
thats good news. now the can finally u pdate the lens by making it black.
Reply
zach Reply:
July 22nd, 2009 at 12:14 am
but white lens make you look pro…dont you know white lens + big lens hood= pro photographer
Reply
July 21st, 2009 at 3:24 am
walloper
Reply
July 21st, 2009 at 11:10 am
When (if) upgrade to 70-200 or 24-70 comes out, do you think it is safe to assume they will remain 77mm ? I’m just about to spend some cash on filters while waiting for some new lenses announcement…
Reply
Justin Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 11:40 am
I wouldn’t worry about future upgrades. First off the lenses are so hard to find at first (1st year). Second they are so expensive (50-100% more than their predecessor) that it almost becomes moot.
To your question: Canon likes the 77mm filter size so you should be safe.
Reply
July 21st, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Don’t understand what is all the fuss about? There are quite a few Canon lenses not available at Adorama or B&H with no ETA …the economy is screwed that’s why nobody knows when they will be available…Canon even delayed the building of a new factory ’cause the economy!
Reply
David Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 6:43 pm
The new factory is back on :) Hope they are processing lots of Florite there soon!
Reply
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:27 pm
[...] Could that be the reason why Adorama doesn’t have in stock the Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS ? [...]
July 28th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
[...] is going to take the IS out of the Lens and finally move it to the body. … Read more: Canon Rumors » Blog Archive » *UPDATED* 70-200 f/2.8L IS … Post a [...]