Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens

I bought this product to use for a photo shoot at the Wildlife Heritage Foundation Big Cat Park in Ashford, Kent. You can't use Tripods due to the nature of the shoot, therefore I needed an IS lens.

From the 1700+ photos I took, barely a single one was blurred from camera shake and all photos were taken through holding the lens, and most on the full 300mm focal length! On the same day I also borrowed the 400mm IS L-Series lens from a fellow photograper, looking back the results were very similar although the price difference for the L-series Lens is extortionate!

If you haven't got a lot to spend and want a decent lens, always go Image Stabilisized. This is a brilliant product and I can't fault at all.

+ well built
+ image stabiliser!
+ autofocus - speed and noise level
+ price (slightly over £300 - much less than the RRP)

- autofocus ( not too god with "blury" items)

This is an excellent lens which has a really great feature of IS on 2 modes.

Really suggest it. worth what you spend.

Having converted most of my old video collection to DVD I was thrilled to find this film gem in digital format. If you watch this in widescreen format, it really does the battle scene great justice; coupled with surround sound, you'll be gripped by the amazing cinematography. I would recommend the director's cut that includes scenes about the relationship between the lead character and his estranged wife and helps you to understand the motivation behind his decision. The run time is 183 minutes for the directors cut and 120 minutes for the cinema version. I was, however, disappointed by the lack of extras, which any fan of this classic would expect to be included. There's only a 20-minute interview with the director and other shot "making-of" vignettes.

Qualité au moins comparable à mon vieux canon 80-200, avec en plus l'extension à 300 mm, et surtout l'IS, pour compenser la faible ouverture (4-5,6) et donc des vitesses relativement lentes. Bonnes photos sans pied à 300mm 1/30°s. Logiciel de correction (type DxO) non indispensble , mais quand même conseillé pour un meilleur piqué. Un bon investissement pour le prix (surtout neuf en boutique e-Bay).

Great semi-pro lens, compact with a great focal length, a step up in optical quality from the non-IS counterpart. If you intend to take wildlife, motorsport &/or general sporting/nature objects then this lens will suit that purpose very well, would thoroughly recommend.

Bon on est peut-être pas au niveau des ouvertures constantes à 4 voire 2.8 mais le progrès est très net par rapport au 75-300 IS USM, qui constituait le premier objectif IS au monde, et que je possédais depuis plus de 10 ans.

Là, l'autofocus est beaucoup plus rapide sur 350D ou 40D, et surtout le piqué est nettement meilleur en montant en focale. L'IS comporte les 2 positions, pour les filés et selon Canon serait plus efficace (pas remarqué). Poids et encombrement sont similaires à son ancêtre. Finition également. Un très bon rapport Q/P.

Excellent results from an excellent and easy to operate lens. The difference between this one and the non-IS lens I had before is incredible. I would certainly recommend this lens and id definately worth the extra cost involved.

Not quite up to the quality of top of the range lenses but what do you want for this sort of money? Light weight, quiet, excellent image stabilizer. Overall great value.

Great semi-pro lens, compact with a great focal length, a step up in optical quality from the non-IS counterpart. If you intend to take wildlife, motorsport &/or general sporting/nature objects then this lens will suit that purpose very well, would thoroughly recommend.

As an amateur photographer I was looking for a lens to take action shots for our local football (soccer) team. This lens represented a reasonably priced item and has proved to give excellent results even for night games in low light. It provides much sharper images than I was previously able to obtain with a conventional "non-IS" zoom lens. Whilst certainly a little on the heavy side it represents excellent value for money and is ideal for fast moving sports or other action photography.

I found this lens to be very good and all the photos I took were superb especially with the image stabilizer on. I would recomend this lens to all those seeking perfection.

Ciao a tutti,
da ex fotografo, cercherò di consigliarvi l'acquisto di questo obiettivo senza considerarne appunto un uso estremo.
Ho trovato questo obiettivo molto buono per i seguenti punti:
1- Leggero. Ok, ha le parti in plastica ma vi assicuro che so... un Nikkor AI di vent'anni fa vi avrebbe staccato il collo.
2- Motore Ultrasonico(USM). Il primo motore al mondo studiato sull’obiettivo che sfrutta l’oscillazione ultrasonica...quindi silenzioso e veloce, senza titubanze.
3- Stabilizzatore D’immagine. Riduce le vibrazioni della fotocamera. Questa funzione è particolarmente utile per riprese ravvicinate, tempi di scatto lenti e quando non è possibile utilizzare un treppiedi. Il tremolio è rilevato da sensori giroscopici che forniscono i dati necessari alla sua neutralizzazione. In sostanza è come avere un obiettivo f/2!
4- La qualità ottica Canon (!).
Unico neo non viene fornito di paraluce e neanche di custodia...ma il paraluce l'ho preso in Cina (su ebay ovviamente) e la custodia non serve se avete una borsa. ;-)

Una foto di quest'ottica la trovate qui: http://home.tele2.it/FabioValenti/Immagini/gabbiano.JPG

un saluto a tutti!
Fabio.

If you are into photographing Sport of all types, nature, candids, landscape, in fact anything requiring a long lens and hand holding this is a great lens. The image stabilising system must be experienced to understand how good it is. Believe me it is just great. I have used it on the EOS10D, EOS300D & the EOS350D with outstanding results. As a "plain" zoom lens it gives pin sharp results and as soon as conditions become marginal the image stabilisation comes into its own and retains this sharpness, as the add says, up to three stops slower than the rest. Buy one they are simply The Best

This is an outstanding lens exactly as described, which I bought new at the Buy-it-Now price. It is a superb addition to my Canon EOS digital camera. It is an ultra sonic lens with image stabilisation. Recently I have taken long range hand held shots of sailing dinghies and the results have been superb.