CanonEF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO is USM Lens for Canon EOS Cameras

For several years, I've been using a Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS lens. With the IS II version of that lens coming, I figured the time was right to sell my 70-200 and pick up the new version. In the meantime, I wanted to try out this 70-300 DO lens. It has several distinct advantages over the 70-200 2.8L IS, which is generally thought of as one of Canon's best lenses.1) You can actually walk around with the 70-300 DO IS lens on your camera while the camera is hung around your neck. That's not possible for any length of time with the 70-200, which weighs substantially more and is significantly longer. This isn't an issue if you're doing weddings and bar mitzvahs, or if you always work with a tripod, but if you want to walk the streets or theme parks with a long focal length lens, this lens is preferable.2) You get an extra 100mm of telephoto range while still getting image stabilization. While some have spoken of the 300mm point as being somewhat soft on this lens, that's definitely not the case with mine. I took a photo of a 747 flying high overhead...with the naked eye I was able to see a dot from which the contrails form. In the photo, you could tell what airline it was and you could clearly and crisply pick out each of the four jet engines. Architectural detail was equally sharp even without post-processing. I would not say that this lens is as perfectly sharp as the 70-200 2.8, but the differences will not be significant after you've worked in Photoshop.3) Smaller lens hood...easier to carry around. Smaller filter size...less expensive.4) A perfect lens to accompany your Canon 24-70 L lens.So what's the downside? The big one, and the only significant one for me, is the limitation in speed with an f4.5-5.6 aperture. With today's digital camera and high ISO capabilities, the real issue isn't so much speed as it is your ability to adequately blur the background if desired. While I thought I would find the difference substantial, I don't actually think it's that big a deal in practice. With both lenses on the shelf, I think the vast majority of the time, I'd reach for this one.Others have spoken of the zoom lock on the lens as useful in keeping the lens at 70mm while it hangs around your neck. That caused me concern that the zoom ring would be so loose in practice as to be difficult to firmly set at any given focal length. In reality, that's not the case, and I never find myself using the zoom lock. The focal length stays where I've set it.Overall, this is a wonderful lens, and while I had planned to trade it up to the 70-200 IS II when that comes out in another month, I think I'm going to stick with the DO for a while.

I found this lens to be superb. Fast focus, very good image stablizer, sharp images. However, I also found the zooming of this lens to be stiff and not very smooth. I was told this was due to the design of the lens with the weight of the glass toward the filter side of the lens.The solution I came across is to use a collapsable, rubber glare hood which I attached to the front of the lens. When the hood is collapsed, I can grasp the lens barrel by this rubber hood and zoom in and out with great ease. The collapseable hood, when fully extended, also serves to prevent glare spots that others report. Sure, this shouldn't be the case for such an expensive lens, but this is a very simple and functional solution that makes this lens' zoom characteristics much smoother.

I bought this lens at the same time I bought the 20D -- when the camera was first sold. It's not the lightest lens around, but it's compact, quick focusing and has few if any discernible faults. It doesn't stick out in a crowd, at least until you rack it out with the hood on.It was one of the early choices when I decided to move up to SLR Digital from other types -- and the old reliable 35mm SLRs.I'd buy it again and I plan to use it on a 5D when it arrives, for a trip with me and the 20D, This is core travel lens for me. As for quality, it's very good. I own some Ls, but this dances in the same league. I was a professional who cut his teeth on Nikon Fs (and used other cameras up to 8x10). I've used optics from Leica to Nikon to Goerz. If your images aren't sharp, consider that it may be user error.I mostly use autofocus, but frequently switch to manual and it fits the hand well either way. The balance is good.I don't see the softness at 300mm others refer to, but typically there are sweet spots of f stop and focal length with zooms. Every lens has some inherent compromise -- fast or slow, fat or slim. I don't observe any softness, but I shoot only in RAW and do image processing outside the camera. JPGs are useful or unavoidable in places, but pointless if RAW is available.I do large prints 13x19 or larger and the image holds together as well as anything else I've used.FWIW, in the first few days I owned this lens, I shot a long series on sea birds feeding -- and the images contained details I couldn't see clearly while shooting (more common than admitted). But the smooth zoom and auto focus made composition on moving objects easy. The camera lens combination was perfect. Better equipment does not makes you a better photographer, but it can help a good one. The image stablization is very good. It's great for sports photography, but remember that autofocus is sometimes not the answer (and sometimes the only rational answer).It has a hood and bag supplied. I sometimes use a rollup rubber hood that fits across several lenses. The hood self-packs nicely in an event.On the 20D (and others with the same sized sensor), this provides an equivalent to 112-480mm. If you intend to use a teleconverter, don't even consider the Canon unless they have a new one. It doesn't fit. I have a 1.4x and it works well with exposure and autofocus and extends the reach to 672mm. I'm not a big fan of this, but FWIW.I typically travel with this lens, a 10-22mm EFS zoom (which won't fit the 5d), a Tamron 18-200, the 100mm macro, and a 35mm f/2 as a base lens. At some point, for travel at least, I'll sub the 24-70mm. Add two bodies, some computer junk. I won't decide on the kit for the 5D 20D combo for a while, but this one stays.Weight. For some people, this is a bigger deal than they know. A camera bag weighs nothing for the first 20 minus. This lens and camera can get heavy. I don't find it a problem, but some might prefer a less compact design with the DO.

I really wanted to love this lens, but today sent it back for a refund. As others have noted, the lens is quite heavy, and the barrel creeps outward on its own. [Yes there is a locking switch to prevent this, but it only works when the lens is contracted. You can't zoom out to a certain focal length and lock it at that spot.] The image quality is mediocre and the lens is so "slow" that any picture I shot indoors had to be at a high ISO in order to get proper exposure. Also, I found that 70mm just isn't wide enough a lot of times (even on my full-frame 5D II), so I was constantly backing up. Finally, the minimum focusing distance is about 4 1/2 feet, so again I found myself backing away from the subject. This lens is just not the right creative tool for me, so I'll try something else, like the EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM.

画質は言うことありません。さすがに高画質です。特筆すべきは、70-300という望遠レンズとして、鏡筒が短くて比較的軽いということ。この利点を活かしたい人におすすめです。フォーカスは速く、手振れ補正も効きます。