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Hey guys.

I have been wondering what lens i should get? but not sure! The options are as follows:

The canon 70-200 F2.8 NON IS or the
Canon 70-200 F4 IS

I will need to use this lens as a general work around lens and also for night photography!

Your suggestions please. Oh and i dont have the money for the F2.8 IS version

Hi Massimo,

I like your question, at the end you gave yourself the answer!!!!

In any case I'd personally go for the 2.8, that extra f would really help you on night pics!
My general use lens is a Nikon 80-300 non VR and I've no problems at all with it. As I said your hassles will start with night pics.

Hi Massimo,

What will you be using the lens for (mainly) and how does the Non-IS feel in your hands. If it is stable enough to be held without shake, or you're in the position to use it on a tripod then go for the f/2.8. It will help greatly with those low light shots. f/4 is still good for those action shots but low light will start to cause hassles.

Massimo, i own the 70-200 F4 non IS canon
My alltime favourite landscape lens
One of the best zooms ever made by Canon
Sharp and excellent glass.
Very easy to handle
And these days with more ISO on the camera you can
have razor sharp images using a bean bag at 400
Suspect you can get them easy on the second-hand market

lol I need to make my mind up by the morning! if i dont then i cant order the lens in time for the kruger!

I think il be heading for the F4 IS version. I will be using this lens for night photography (with a high iso ) and also a nice lens to travel with as it is not a bulky as the F2.8 version!

Thanks for your help guys much appreciated!

In the era before the high ISO capability of camera's it made sense to get a large aperture lense just because it would give you faster shutter speeds but you can just switch to a higher ISO setting now and still get clean noiseless shots (depending on the make and model of your camera body).
I'd say go for the f/4 IS. The image stabilisation on the f/4 will give you a 2-3 stop advantage over a non-IS lens which means you can use it with slower shutter speeds compared to the f/2.8 non-IS lens. The f/4 in my opinion would be more suited for photography at night.