The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM ($2,499) is a lens that you'll often see attached to the cameras of wedding and event photographers, photojournalists, and sports shooters. It's got a very useful short telephoto to telephoto zoom range, a maximum f/2.8 aperture throughout its focal range, and an image stabilization system.

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM is astonishing. It really is the sharpest zoom I've ever tested. Heck, after shooting mostly LEICA for the past couple of years, I forgot that my 5D Mark II could make images this sharp.

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM Lens delivers impressive image quality, focuses accurately very fast and has top-of-the-line build quality, 4-stop Image Stabilization, weather sealing and a very useful focal length range. This is now my favorite and one of my most-used lenses.

If you want to be a pro photographer, there are a number of must-have lenses. Exactly which you need depends on what you shoot, but of all the pro lenses the 70-200mm f/2.8 is probably the most popular. Its range of telephoto focal lengths make it perfect for reportage-style portraiture and many sports.

The original Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS was a stunningly sharp and fast lens. So how can you upgrade something that was almost perfect? We find out by taking the new 70-200mm f2.8 L IS Mark II to the street, while practicing citizen journalism along the way.

This is a really lovely lens to use. It has perfect balance when mounted on a Canon EOS 5D Mk II, its removable tripod-mounting collar falling neatly into the user's left palm. The rubber-grip zoom ring is perfectly placed and offers just the right amount of resistance.