Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Shines for Daytime Sports

If you want this lens for sports then you should read this. I've taken about 25,000-30,000 photos now of sports with this lens. It has functioned great for me the whole time. You can here the stabilizers kick on the instant the shutter button is pressed. This lens has great Bokeh at 4.0 when the subject is within 4 to 15 feet away and starts to taper off as the subject get further out but never the less great Bokeh and sharpness. I always have it at f4 during games. When taking sports photos in good full sun this lens does great. I have a Canon Rebel and usually keep my ISO at 100 in that kind of light with Aperture Priority Set and shutter speeds usually hit 500-2000/sec normal. Plenty fast to stop all action except maybe a hit baseball. When the sun starts going down it becomes a different matter all together. I find myself quicky turning up my ISO to compensate. Once the sun does go down completely and stadium lights come on, I have my ISO set to the highest at 1600. I also have to then switch to Time Priority and set to 250 to 320 to stop movement in sports such as football. Football game photos under stadium lights then become very dark and must be corrected latter with my editing program (which you will need). The photos with that kind of ISO then turn out high noise and hence will also need corrected. Over all I love this lens for day time sports. However, there are many times that I wished I had just saved and got the 2.8 70-200mm lens. If you own a camera that will do a higher ISO than 1600 then you will gain a little in that area over me. In extreme dark conditions sports you will have to max out your ISO and sacrifice light by going to a time priority mode, (if you don't want to use flash...I never use the flash-worthless paste ten feet anyway). Inside a gymnasium: again this lens needs a flash which I refuse to do blinding athletes. To get photos without a flash, you will have to go to at least 800 to 1600 ISO. Any lower and you will have so much blur your photos will be useless. And again Time Priority of about 250 -320 to let in enough light and still lock in all but the fastest movement. I give this lens great ratings because it deserves it. However, if I could choose now, I would spend the extra money and get the f2.8 glass instead. I would at least be able to adjust down the ISO by one notch or go a little higher on my shutter speed. I little more leeway with the f2.8. Weight wise, I know this glass is lighter than the 2.8 and something worth considering when you're going to be holding a lens up for 2 or more hours at a game.