Canon EF 70-210mm F4 First Impression.

2009 December 30

tags: 70-210mm, canon, Canon EF 70-210mm F4, EF, ef 70-210mm F4, F4, fix aperture, Lens

by The Lone Urbanist

This is the old lens from the 80s that I just both from ebay for $175.00. It’s the Canon EF 70-210mm F4. Amazingly it’s still in pretty good condition both in functionality and appearance and it still has the Passed JCII sticker attached. It looks awesome. Here are some images of the lens attached to my Canon Rebel XS

[Show as slideshow]

Here are some recent photos of the EF 70-210mm F/4 Macro.

Photos taken with a Sony Cybershot DSC-T20 8.1MP.

Reason why I both this lens:

Price. You can’t beat the price for $152
Fix Aperture F4
Quality, it has Metal Mount and it has a solid build.
Great Optics. Most lenses of this class has great optics.

I came accross this lens while I was browsing the used lens section at BHPhotoVideo.Com . When I saw the 70-210mm focal range , I got curios and it having a constant F4, I said to myself, it sounds like a good lens. So I did some googling and found some great reviews.

Here’s a brief background of the lens:

According to the Canon Museum the Canon 70-210mm was marketed in May 1987 and was discontinued around June 1990. It was then replace by a much cheaper version the EF 70-210mm which has a variable aperture of F/3.5-4.5 USM. The lens operate by means of a EF Eletro Focus Arc-Form Drive (AFD) and feature Electromagnetic Diaphragm control. See complete specs below:

Product Name: Canon EF 70-210mm F/4
Focal Length : 70-210mm
Lens Construction : 8 Groups, 11 Elements
Focusing Method : Push/Pull zooming (to zoom you have to literally push the grip and pull to zoom out ).
No. of Diaphragm Blades :8
Minimum Aperture : 32
Maximum Aperture : F4/constant
Filter Size : 58mm

Overall I like it, I have not taken many pictures with it, but looking at some of the shots I took, I can tell that it is better than Sigma 70-300mm F/4-5.6 APO DG Macro which I sold. So if you are looking for a lens in the 70-200mm range, this lens is highly recommended, if you can still find them. Will I replaced it in the future, certainly, features like Image Stabilization, F4 fix aperture and or the fast F2.8 aperture are on the top of my list.

Read my update on this lens here:

Here are some of the Lens on my whishlist :

Tamron AF 17-50mm F/2.8 SP XR Di II VC (Vibration Compensation) Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras Price Around : $643.00
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG HSM II Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras Price Around : $799.00
Tamron AF 200-500mm f/5.0-6.3 Di LD SP FEC (IF) Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras Price Around : $899.00
Tamron AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 SP Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras Price Around : $499.00
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras Price Around : $379.00
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras Price Around : $599.00

Check out some of the photos taken with my Canon Rebel XS and the EF 70-210mm F/4. I will continously add more photos to this collection as time permits.