I know this is an old, and perhaps tired, subject (IS vs. non-IS on Canon 70-200 2.8L), but I couldn’t find the one missing piece of info that I need to makemy finaldecision. I’m in the eleventh hour of deciding between IS or Non-IS of the Canon 70-200 2.8L. Two weeks ago, I was all on board for the IS version. Then, in reading various posts, I was shifting to the non-IS as I mostly shoot for my daughters soccer. I understood that I was giving up some IQ for the IS version, and IS would be of no value for sports. However, I also take shots for my company’s conferences (which are inside) as well as lots of family events (mostly inside)where I could really use the IS. And, in reading about the IQ differences between the two options, there appears that it’s only a “slight” difference. So, I was back on board to the IS version. However, one question remained that I couldn’t find an answer to… “is there any performance difference in “auto focus” between the IS and non-IS versions?”. I had seen one review where they raved about the auto focus in the non-IS version, and the same reviewer did not reference this on the IS version.


As a side note, I currently have the 70-200 4L and shoot with a 20D (I know I need a body upgrade—but I’m going with lenses first). I’m going for the 2.8 along with the 1.4 extender with the understanding that I will gain some very good flexibility to shoot sports along with indoor shots. Thanks in advance for any input on this old subject.

Regards,

Bill