70-200 4 IS or 70-200 2.8 II IS? Quality vs weight? I know 2.8 is quite heavy?

[skoobey]

I have a question, what about the tripod mount ring... Just noticed that it doesn't come with the F4?

How crucial is it for tripod stability? I don't notice that it's prone to leaning more than any other lens I've used, perhaps 85mm is the exception?

Canon is asking 145$ for Canon Tripod Mount Ring A II??? That is crazy!

I choked at the price for the Canon ring too. I got the Vello Tripod Collar A instead. It is only $50 at B&H and is available in white to match the 70-200. I haven't mounted that lens on a tripod so I can't comment on the stability; I used the collar with a BlackRapid strap, which allows the camera and lens to balance horizontally when I'm not holding it.

The Vello mount seems pretty well made and I have had no problems with it. It doesn't rotate as smoothly as the Canon ring on my 70-200 f/2.8 II IS though, so if you like to switch between horizontal and vertical shots a lot that could be an issue. I haven't compared it to the Canon f/4 ring so I don't know if it is any better in that regard.

Will check it out. Rotation is not a problem, as my tripod has that option, and that's the way I'm shooting now.

 

[GAS]

I went through the same dilemma in the past after I got the Canon 5D mkII, 24-105L. Originally I picked up the 100L as a portrait and macro lens due to the IS feature. Soon after that I picked up the 70-200L f/4 IS for traveling because it is smaller and lighter than the f/2.8 IS II version, and GAS got the better part of me so I sold the f/4 version to finance the 70-200L f/2.8 IS II upgrade.

If you have the money then buy both, but IMHO it is not worth the extra cost specially the extra weight because the f/4 IS is just as sharp, contrasty, and nice background blur as the f/2.8 IS II when both are at f/4. Except that the f/2.8 is faster and can blur the background a bit more because of the wider aperture. And, if you have the bad case of GAS then I would go with the 70-200L f/2.8 IS II other wise you will always yearn for the bigger and faster lens.