Minimum Focusing Distance For Canon EF 70-200 F2.8L IS MK2/3 Lens

[Secretariat]

Forgive the ignorance as I would like to ask a question about the 2 choices of Minimum Focusing Distances in the Canon EF 70-200 F2.8L IS MK2/3 lens which are 1.2M and 2.5M respectively. Anyway, what are the advantages of using the 1.2M Minimum Focusing Distance over the 2.5M Minimum Focusing Distance and vice-versa? In what shooting situations is it better to use the 1.2M Minimum Focusing Distance and in what shooting situations is it better to use the 2.5M Minimum Focusing Distance?
Thanks.

 

[Fred Strobel]

If you are shooting something closer than 2.5 M use 1.2 M . You can use the 1.2 M all of the time though. The 2.5 M is for things further away so that the autofocus is not spending time searching close focus.

 

[docsmith]

I believe you are referring to the focus limiter on the side of the lens. The real benefit of using the limiter is to speed up auto focus. Basically, if your autofocus is limited to a specific range, 1.2m-infinity, or 2.5 m to infinity, when set to 2.5-infinity, it will focus faster as it is working in a smaller range.