That Canon has discontinued production of the EF 70-200mm f/4.0 lens. A call from my local camera store to Canon confirmed it. Could this mean that an “IS” version is on the way, which could be great news, if it doesn’t take too long? Any idea when it might hit the stores and what do you think the street price might be?
At an event last month I had the chance to speak with a Canon rep and test some equipment and when talking about lenses I mentioned that there seems to be a lot of interest in a 70-200 F4L IS lens and the rep said "I definitely think you will see such a lens in the future". Take that for what its worth, but I'd be surprised if they discontinued the 70-200 F4L since it is such a hot seller.
A 70-200/4L IS would definitely get some attention. As long as they don't price it too high, that is. I think a lot of people have gone for the 70-200 because of the price/quality mix...
Uhh. Sorry for bringing up this old thread, but I just discovered that the vendor I ordered from is out of 70-200/4L's, so I remembered this thread. They said they don't know when they'll get more of those. Which might mean, if this thread is the truth, never!
What's your take? The thing is, I've prepaid my order to Germany from Finland...
70-200mm F4L is the best lens I have so far :-) And it's cheap, got it for around $560. I guess they figure people might be willing to pay a few hundred bucks more for a IS version.
The trouble here is, I really want/need new gear. Need to work on my portfolio so I get something useful for applying to certain photo schools. With my current gear I can't get all I need.
85/1.8 is one lens that interest me quite a bit, but I'd STILL lack telephoto. A 300D would give me 1.6x more telephoto, but I couldn't use it very much after January - I have mandatory military service beginning from then, and after the service is over I could get better ones, at a lower price.
Troubled...
I bought my 70-200 f4L online after my Pro-shop said Canon discontinued the f4 and they wouldn't be receiving any more shipments. He said they disappointed a few people who'd placed backorders which they weren't able to fulfill. Looks like a lot more online vendors aren't restocking the f4 as well (or at least they're having an unusual dry spell in their restocking).
I LOVE the f/4, but I definitely encounter it's limits... F/4 is just not bright enough, even though the lens is actually a little sharper than the 2.8's. An IS version of this lens would be simply awesome! I'd snap that up in a heartbeat.
I just bought the 17-40 F/4L today. I was planning on ordering the 70-200 F4 tonight because my local store wanted $755 for it and I knew that was too much. He did not say they were being discontinued of course. I am pretty sure they knew that it was because they called Canon after I had to convince them they made the lens. (Yes we need better camera shops in my city)
I remember thinking to myself how I wish it had would have IS. I hope this is true. I am going to hold off and wait.
Another store suggested they might have a 70-200/4L in ten days... I sure hope so, even though it's 40e more expensive there.
Gotta do some changes to my plan anyways now.
Thanks for the links, though not of much help for me. Gotta buy from Europe. I have one on order from the shop that said they'll get 'em in 10 days (I sure hope so!). Price? 788 euros... oh well, it should be well worth it, and the cheapest I've seen was 747e, in the store from which I originally tried ordering it from.
Also ordered the 85/1.8 (instead of 50/1.8), the 420EX, plus two filters (red, polarizer). Some film. Lots of money spent, but at least on classy stuff, not crappy/not-so-good like before! Gotta swap the 24-85 to a Tamron 28-75 at some point, probably when I'm in the military service, and can sell the 24-85 without the problem of not having the lens when I'd need it if I manage to sell it.
Rumours, rumours, rumours.. Would be nice to have a some sort of confirmation on this. Though like Teppo said, they hardly will be able to get a new model out fast enought for us impatient people.
IF there is new 4L IS lens coming, the price would be interesting thing to guess. Now the 4L is priced here as 740 euros and 2.8L (non IS) 1330 euros. I wonder would the new lens really take place from between these two, that I highly doubt, or closer to the price of 2.8L.
The 70-200/f 4 USM is still available. Try buydig.com. It's listed as in stock, but at $599 plus shipping - that's a little higher than B&H, Canoga and others by about $20.
On the other hand, when buydig.com is out of stock, they only charge $559.
