Picking up this lens, you know that it is a professional lens. The construction is solid, with all of the rings tight and rotating smoothly and predictably. Important for outdoor photographers is that this lens is fully weather sealed (when used with a 1D camera body). The lens is based around a metal lens barrel and all of the buttons are nicely recessed to prevent snagging (however throughout the wedding I did find several times when some of the lens buttons have been accidentally pushed into another position, just as with the original). The front filter tread is 77mm, which makes for expensive filters, but it is also a common size amongst L lenses so you can swap some filters between lenses if needed.Probably the biggest downside to this lens is its size (about 8 inches long without the lens hood) and weight ( about 1.5 kg). Aside from the fact that this big white lens with the red ring has been known to provoke at least entry-level lens-envy, with this lens mated to a 1D body, the weight is not insignificant for a 12 hour wedding. Compared to the original, the new version is 20 grams heavier.As you can see in the top picture with the old version in the middle and the new version to the right, the new version can be distinguished by a slightly larger front focusing ring, but otherwise the lenses themselves are almost visually identical. However, the new version of the lens comes with a newly improved lenshood. It includes a push-button lock and release mechanism so it won’t accidentally fall off, and the finish on the lenshood has a different finish that resists small marks much better than that of the original. To read more about this lens click here and to buy it click here
Cooper Ricketts Photography Blog 