Canon EF 70 mm-300 mm F/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens

A great lens for around $470 Brand New...and one i recommend 100% for the Advanced Amature it has the best of both worlds a good price and really good Picture quality plus 3-stop image stabilizer with 2 modes (its not a $1200+ Canon L) but its a good solid lens from Canon


Is it right for YOU??.... well thats a hard question but here are some key facts and situations that may help you decide...


Pros..
really Good picture quality,A Great image stabilizer,USM motor,good build quality and almost 30% faster focus than previous 75-300 is lens

Cons.. no full-time manul focus,filter ring rotates,in really low light focusing is difficult

Compared to..??

canon EF-s 55-250mm (is)...
this is a great lens and a good anature zoom lens and for less than $230 New it is a good compromize if you dont want to spend $450 but it is missing Advanced(IS) A little less picture quality,Build quality a lot lower

Canon EF 70-300/4-5.6DO{IS}...$1200+
This lens has a little better picture quality(especially in corners),Smaller size,Faster focus and a little better on build quality.. But it cost $1200+ and it's still not "canon L status" and i personally don't see a $700+ difference

Canon EF 70-200 F4(L) Non (IS)....$1200+
Well this is not really fair since this is a (L)series lens and the picture quality is far superior,Focus is also way faster,Build Quality is also Superior and weather resistant,and the fact that you have F4 throughout the zoom range... But there is a Huge sacrifice and yes it is Huge unless you carry a tripod everywhere unless you are in good daylight This Lens DOES NOT HAVE (IS) a image stabilizer so keep that in mind so while this lens will hands down beat a 70-300(is) in picture quality it wont fair well in lower light while being hand held (no tripod) This is a huge weakness and seriously should be thought over

I think the 70-300(is) will be the best lens for amatures and semi-pros in the $1000 and under range and is more well rounded then the other 3 lenses that i used as a example above. If you are a serious pro then Go for the (L)series lens ($1200+)but for most of us amatures and semi-pros that do ocassional wildlife,Zoo,Park and vacation photography I recommend this lens for you for 3 reasons... Image stabilizer,pric and Really good overall quality..

Not an L series quality! Great base camera for outdoor sports and outdoor activity. Noisy, picture does get blurry when you see at a 100% magnification taken at hand held and it is sorta slow to focus. I love the size, the feel of it versatility of this lens!

I bought this product because I was looking for an inexpensive, long range with IS functionality for outdoor shooting.

Like I said earlier, it does not compare to an L series lens. If you are looking for great fidelity at a 100% then this is not a lens for you.

Great medium model lens. Picture quality is good. Zooming is nice a firm. USM, although it is a micro USM and not a Ring USM like on the L lenses, it's still quiet, it just doesn't focus as fast. Image stabilizer is rather noisy though so if you plan to video with this lens and the onboard speaker, it's a bad combo. I'm glad this lens has IS though. The lens body feels sturdy and tough.

The seller sold it to me as advertised, lightly used, and it still looked and operated like brand new. This lens is the missing link between the starter telephoto and L series lenses.

With the introduction of the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens, Canon has replaced one of its most popular lenses and its first image stabilized lens - the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS. The 75-300mm IS lens was popular because of its useful focal length range, small size, light weight, midrange price and Image Stabilization. The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens improves this overall package (sacrificing only price somewhat).

This is an amazing lens. It's light and manageable, but what I like best about it is that, because of the excellent image stabilization and auto focus features, I can get quick shots before they are gone without having to set up my tripod. I'm very happy with this lens and use it often.