Customer Reviews

Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM Lens

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was salivating for this lens for four months and finally bought one a few weeks ago from the Amazon. I was very excited and couldn't wait to put this glass on my 20D.
First impression I got was that this lens is not that heavy as 3.7 pounds may seem, but boy I was wrong about that. It feels solidly built and looks not that huge on the body. So there we go... After filling up my 1GB CF with shots (taken outside, inside with external flash and without, with different f-stops and all range of zooms) and closely examining the results I decided to write this review with which I did not try to downplay the qualities of this piece of art, just to share my humble opinion.

Pros:
All in one solution (well may be except super wide)
Under most light conditions the lens performs as expected which is very good
Great zoom range that converts to 45-460mm on APS-C bodies
Nice color saturation and contrast, gorgeous bokeh
Push pull zoom (for some may not) which allows lightning fast zoom change
Focusing distance only 0.7 meter for any zoom range!
IS is doing a great job on longer exposure times
Quiet and fast focusing, never had a hunting problem
Included lens case is of good quality

Cons:
Painfully heavy (you start to feel it after an hour or so)
Pricy the much more suitable price would be around $1700.00
Softness in pictures at the 28 and 300mm range with fully opened aperture.
Focusing ring is too close to tightening ring so when you trying to loosen the tension inadvertently you may change the focus.
Very inconvenient to loosen tightening ring with one hand almost always had to do it with both hands
Aperture falls fast to f/5.6 somewhere in the 85-100mm range.
200 and 300mm ranges are too close to each other which makes it hard to adjust to precise zoom and it's causing overshoot. At the very end (300mm) lens gets stuck and you have to use force to push it back, and that's prevents you from gradually and smoothly change the zoom in between 180-300mm. I heard it's because it's new and this will go away.
The lens hood is barely sufficient at 28mm and almost completely useless at 300mm.
The shoulder strap is very narrow and will definitely pinch a nerve if you carry the lens case around your neck or shoulder

Overall it's a great solution if you only want to carry one lens and if you want to travel "light" but really don't know what focal lengths are required. But still I decided to return mine back and replace it with EF 24-105 L IS USM f/4 and EF 70-200 L USM f/2.8. as it's performance did not live up to my expectations for such high price and inconvenience to carry such a heavy load on your shoulder all day around.

i shoot mostly family events, specifically candids, so this lens is ideal for me.

---[ CONS ]---

[1] weight
your arm will probably hurt after shooting for a few hours, especially with its push/pull it gets long so your arm is extended holding all that weight. there hasnt been a person yet I let try the lens that didnt immediately say "wow, thats heavy". i read that in the reviews and thought "na, I can handle it". nope. i have to admit I had to take breaks. not for the timid. (maybe itll toughen me up)

[2] cost
$2k+ for a non "fast" lens? come on canon - make us a 28-300mm f/2.8L! :-)

[3] push/pull
Im not a big fan but am getting used to it. my guess is its not the more popular twist style cuz the range is just too long - itd probably take two twists to go thru the whole range. push/pull does allow you to get the zoom VERY quickly. again, great for candids.

[4] length
fully extended its awkward to hold at times. especially if you attempt to fine tune the range.

[5] slow low-light AF
it hunts in doors, especially at the higher zoom. but to be fair its gotta cover alot of range and its quick enuff in the 28-70 range.

[6] fast range fall off
Id say 50% of the physical range is 28-90 and the last 50% is 90-300. it falls off especially fast from 200-300. I find it hard to get anything in between. it kinda slams to the 300 and its a bit of a trick to pull it back a little. 300 is so much zoom I find myself often in too close and then needing to fiddle to back off a little, loosing a second or so which might loose the shot.

[7] min focal distance is a tad too long
I find myself having to physically back away from people when shooting 28mm. I guess Im spoiled by the 24-70 - i enjoy some of the face-distorting shots it can do so closely and the 28-300 cant.

---[ NEUTRAL ]---

[1] inconspicuousness
the lens is white and huge so just about everyone will notice you. the pro is people will take you seriously and it can be fun to talk shop. the con is that its harder to blend in so it makes getting some of those more candid shots more difficult.

---[ PROS ]---

[1] image quality
is as good as my 24-70mm f/2.8L. sharpness, color, contrast, etc. its definitely an L-series.

[2] range
IMHO the best feature is Im ready to shoot anything and I dont have to change lenses. its the do anything lens.

[3] fast AF
AF is L-series fast outdoors with sufficent light.

[4] IS
the IS on this lens is absolutely amazing. at 300mm its like someone grabbed the lens to help me stablize it. indoors its actually amazing as well. at 70mm with my f/2.8L i might have had 1/60 shutter and I may only get 1/20 with my 28-300 BUT with the IS the shot isnt blurry (with a steady hand). ironically Im seeing less blurry shots indoors than with my 24-70 which doesnt have IS.

[5] bokeh
the blurred backdrop at 300mm is stunning. its very pro looking.

[6] fun
this lens is just fun to shoot. maybe its just cuz its new but Im finding myself shooting twice as many shots cuz with the range theres just more to shoot now. Im finding I can be much more creative now.

[7] tightening ring
...is a nice touch. very useful.

[8] rugged
the upside of its weight is its built like a tank so I neednt worry about banging this $2k+ tool against something or scratching it.

[9] switch placement
btw, I dont find the placement of the switches to be a problem like some other reviews. I think they have to be close cuz you cant put them on the barrel since it moves - unlike the 70-200.

[10] natural candids
an awesome serendipity is that 300mm is enuff range that Im seeing very natural looking candids cuz Im far enuff away from people that Im not in their space so they relax. with my 24-70 Id have to get close enuff that itd change their expression slightly. even if Im zoomed way in at 300mm and my subject sees me Im still physically far enuff away that they dont feel threatened (but if they only knew!) :-) this creates PRICELESS shots in my opinion. It definitely has that paparazzi quality. its this last quality that makes the cons worth it to me.

bottomline: I can deal with the cons for the pros. you get what you pay for. nice work canon! :-)

.dsj.

I bought this lens for my EOS 20D. Before this lens, I was using EOS 28-135mm lens. After the upgrade, I found that 28-300mm lens give me almost distortion free image even at 300mm range. When I used 28-135mm lens, the distortion on the image is very visible when I am at 135mm range. Even at the wide angle range, I noticed that 28-300mm lens gives me much sharper image while 28-135mm lens gives me much softer image. The focus is very fast for 28-300mm L lens. On the down side, this 28-300mm lens is really heavy. Holding it will really wear you out. The auto/manual focus switch is arranged in a very awkard position. It is very easy to change your auto foucs setting to manual setting. The lens also will be pulled all the way down due to its weight when you carry it around. I have to carry it with my hand and not make it extend itself all the way down. If picture quality is what you are after, go for this lens. I am very pleased with the sharpness and the fast focusing.

I love this lens, for some people its either a love it or a hate it. Although there is a long lists of pros, it is not perfect. Yes, there have been complaints about the weight, and there is also a 20% battery life reduction so a battery grip or an extra battery is needed. To be honest though, the pros definately out weigh the cons.

I am an ARMY infantryman and I'm using it here in Iraq and it has been AMAZING. the rugged structure and solid build have truly been battle tested.

If photography is really you're passion then like most passions bear the price you have to pay for those perfect shots accompanied by utmost bliss. I life is all about the perfect memories we take with us.

Since this is a somewhat slow lens, I was a little dubious about purchasing it, as it didn't seem to provide as much as many other Canon L lenses, yet is priced so high. However, I have found this lens to be extremely sharp, regardless of f/stop, and focal length.

NOTE: I use a certain range of f/stops, from whatever is wide open on a given lens up to MAYBE f/11 on rare occasions, and more rarely f/16, so this is the portion of the range to which I refer. As an additional note, numerous years of experience, and much reading, have made it clear that stopping down beyond that point is not beneficial to image quality. Furthermore, I am partial to subject isolation, especially in working with high end cameras/lenses.

This lens makes a great all-purpose lens, especially when you don't want to have to make a lens change. For example, in a Wedding that I recently shot, the locale was on a beach. I have done A LOT of bikini model photography on beaches in the MD/VA/DC area, South Carolina, Miami, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and elsewhere, and so I knew from experience that you don't want to take off the lens when there's a lot of sand and wind around. No matter how careful youy might THINK you are being. The 28-300mm fit the bill in every way you could hope for. It was early evening/late afternoon at the end of summer, so the light was perfect. And a very wide aperture would've been tricky anyway - so what this lens provides was definitely good enough. The only question was if it was going to be good enough quality-wise, sharpness, color contrast. I am happy to say that the results were stunning. Having reviewed all of the pictures that were taken at this Wedding, I was pleasantly surprised at HOW sharp and contrasty they were (bear in mind, I have been using a lot of primes - the Canon 50mm f/1.2, 85mm f/1.2 and the 135mm f/2.0). I also own the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, and I believe the results were on par with that particular lens. Which is why I believe it carry's the price tag that it does.

Many people have found the push/pull zoom to be undesirable. I think it is a matter of getting used to, and it really doesn't take long. My earliest film 35mm camera from years ago (when I was about 12 yrs old I got it), a Ricoh camera (re-branded with the Sears name on it) had one lens that was an 80-210mm that was push/pull manual focus. It's funny how you forget over the years because that thing is far more awkward to try to use, and yet I still needed to "re-learn." What is nice about the Canon 28-300mm push/pull is the locking ring. You have to really understand it correctly to use it correctly. Once you do, the benefits are well worthwhile. You will find yourself easily loosening and tightening the tension as needed. This is key because the tighter setting will nearly lock the zoom in place when you don't want it extending, and once loosened all the way, the push/pull zooming is as rapid as you'll get. Combined with Autofocus and good shooting skills, you can get some amazing performance.

Many people will look at the Sigma or Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 and see, based on cursory spec review, little difference in the lenses, and huge price differences. Make no mistake, these are a COMPLETELY different class of lens, and the price difference is totally warranted. To understand this, you may need to go to a camera store and try each one out. This will make the difference obvious. But let me try to enumerate a couple of things here. First, these cheaper lenses are NOT 300mm on the outside length. I have done MANY test shots with the Tamron and Sigma 28-300mm lenses, and in NO case could either of those zoom in as close as the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS. What?? He wrote the wrong lens down right there. No I did not. Yes, I meant what I wrote - the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS. I also own the Canon 200mm f/2.8L prime lens, which is the same focal length at 200mm. The aforementioned 28-300mm Tamron and Sigma lenses are very close at "300mm" to each of those lenses, just a little short. I have done this same comparison with the Tamron 18-200mm, which is proportionately shorter to their 28-300mm. I purchased and then returned a Canon 28-200mm (a very flimsily built lens for a Canon of any kind, although better than those shoddy 18-55's they were putting in the kits - not sure about the latest 18-55's, I refer to the ones from 2-4 years ago). So, the point is, it's not going to be a true 300mm. This Canon L lens IS a true 300mm, and a true 28mm, and everything in between. Also, if you need to, go read up on stops of light. It doesn't SOUND like much, but jumping from f/5.6 to f/6.3, is a huge amount. The numeric representation is very deceptive. What it really comes down to is the fact that you need a big piece of glass to get more light in there, and more glass for longer focal length, there's just no way of getting around that fact. Regardless of what numbers are used to market a lens, look at the length of a lens (extended if need be, as with this lens) and then look at the circumfrence of the glass at the end. This will alert you to a noticeable difference, if there is one, as in the case of the the two non-Canon brands versus this lens. Similarly, Autofocus performance is ALWAYS noticeably better on Canon lenses, ESPECUIALLY L series lenses, than on non-Canon manufacturers lenses with Canon mounts.

Bottom Line, you get what you pay for. And, in the case of this lens, that holds true above other items that might appear to be similar. This is a top notch lens, and the ideal walk around lens if you don't want to change lenses.

Purchased this lens after lusting over it for a year and saving my $$$.
First, make no mistake, this is a large lens. At slightly over 3.5 pounds, you will know it's around your neck.
I purchased this lens for the versatility of 28-300mm, with the understanding that there could be a degradation in quality as compared to something like a 70-200 f2.8 lens.
The IS on this lens does an amazing job. I can take shots indoors at 300mm at very slow shutter speeds, with no camera shake. IS is so quiet, I thought it wasn't working, until I turned it off...
There seems to be a learning curve with this lens, during which you learn what not to try to do with this glass. IS will make you over-confident and you will use shutter speeds so slow that subject movement will blur the image.
Overall I think it's a decent bit of glass, perhaps a little soft, especially in low light and wide open.
It's at least as good as my 70-200 L4 non IS lens.
The bigger question is: Is this lens worth 2000+ dollars? Depends upon how seriously you take your photography and whether a bit of softness between 28-70mm bothers you. Not having actually tried the 70-200 2.8 lens, I can't fairly compare the two, but I suspect the 70-200 2.8 IS might provide better quality, but less range. Everything is a trade-off.

This baby is not light, no sir, not at a hefty 3.7 pounds. It's not fast, don't take it out in the dawn's early light. And it really, really is expensive, almost as much as a new car, well if you're talking Yugo (do they even still make those?). But boy oh boy, what a range! What a terrific daytime lense! My gal pal Sara have shot several Caribbean regattas with this baby on one body and the 200 "L" on another. Let me tell you, we got crisp, clear sailboats, foam over the side, sweat on the sailors faces. And then, if all of a sudden something exciting was going on on our boat, I could bring that baby back to 28 wide lickity split and not lose the shot. I just plain cannot praise this lense enough.

Canon "L" lenses, the only way to go.

After reading all the reviews, I pretty much have no more to say because they have given very precise opinions about this len.

I was spending quite a long time on deciding which len to go, 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM or this 28-300mm. They are both amazing lens and everyone hopes to own both if possible. Finally, be true to yourself, what is this len made for? what is the most desirable feature of this len? Then I realized and went for this baby.

The only thing you need to think about is why do you need this HUGE RANGE provided by this single len. Because you don't have time to (or are lazy to, just like me) change lens!!! :-)

I like to travel and try to bring as fewer gears as possible. In many situations, you just don't have time to change lens to shoot some once in a life time scenes. And if the schedule is tight, frequently changing lens will degrade sightseeing quality. This is the KEY! Make this as your priority concern then decide which lens to go. 24-70 + 70-200 or 28-300 :)

FYI. I got another 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM for low light or in-door conditions. Also the 10-22 wide angle len since I am using 40D with the 1.6x factor.

One last thing I would like to remind you is that some gears seem not to be compatible with this len. For example, close-up len, extender. So do check before buying. And this len comes with hood and bag. No need to buy separately.

Enjoy it !

This is the best One-For-All-lens for your Canon body--as long as it is a 1.3xFOV body like that is 1DMkII, 1DMkIIN or 1DMkIII. For my liking it's too long on the wide end for a 1.6xFOV body. Versatility and quality are as outstanding as color and contrast. You can get pictures that you otherwise would not get without this one lens. The IS makes it perfect for almost all situations. A perfect travel lens and a great walk-around lens even though it is really heavy. It's my preferred lens if I don't know precisely what to expect. See http://www.meview.de

Unlike many of the reviewers you can read here, photography is not my job. I am a scout helicopter mechanic in the US Army. Photography is my hobby and passion, keeping our pilots safe in the air is my job, which I thoroughly enjoy. I have more than a few deployments under my belt, and on a previous trip overseas with my comrades in arms, I was depressed at how little photos there were of us doing our jobs, and well, being ourselves. I took it upon myself tho document everything through the lens of my shiny new point-and-shoot. Terrible I know, but it was a beginning. Making a very long story short, I fast forward three years, three cameras, and a deployment or two.

Working a full time job in harsh conditions is very few peoples preferred "photo-shoot", but it's mine everyday! A perfect example is how I keep hearing people talk and write about lens changes in the "field", doing this in the constantly dusty deserts of the middle east is not only in-advisable, but disastrous. Remember the three previous cameras? one suffered that fate. To tell the truth, even indoors might as well be considered the "field" here. The first thing I noticed after I attached it to my T1i body was the great amounts of air whistling in and out of the cracks in the camera body and viewfinder, when you slid the lens through it's zoom range. This is what happens when you attach a weather and dust sealed lens to a body that is anything but!

Right away the enormous zoom range let me do things like catch pilots pre-flighting the aircraft from afar, really showing what an Army aviators life is like, to lens-scratching-the-windscreen close up wide angle shots of the pilots doing there thing, all while wondering what I am doing. Pilots aren't the only ones that catch the love, the lens's IS and zoom range let all sorts of photographic opportunities (my hypersonic kids for example) turn into quality photographs.

In closing (and no particular order):

Heavy - Change of command and promotion ceremonies almost break my lens supporting hand's wrist after an hour or two. On the flip side, the weight ballasted my camera when I had it slung to my side, so it hung lens-down and tucked in, nice and safe.

Solid - not only is the actual structure of the lens durable, so is the paint finish. I can not believe that after 6 months of hard use it is still flawless.

Funky Lens Hood - I think all lens hoods are awkward, but due to the weight of the lens I usually keep it off and stored away unless I plan on shooting into the sun. The lining is made of black velvet however, which is nice.

Stiffness Ring - It fails as a infinitely adjustable stiffness adjustment, as certain portions of the range "grab" more than others, so I wound up using it as a barrel lock only. However I could disengage the stiffness with one hand, gripping the focus in an overhand manner with my fingers and spinning the lock ring with my thumb counter-clockwise. I do have big basketball-player hands, so you may or may not be able to do the same.

Auto Focus (one-shot)- Both my retired T1i and my current 7D will hunt if the starting focus is way off at the opposite end of the scale. A few half-presses of the shutter or a manual spin of the focusing ring gets everything peachy again however.

Auto Focus (AI Servo) - When it comes to following aircraft or people, this lens is flawless. In fact I wound up preferring to shoot in this mode due to the quality.

Zoom Range - Easily the most valuable feature of this lens. Where before I missed shots (worst feeling in the world) because I could not compose the frame properly, this lens made it all possible, without carrying other lenses, which I would not change outdoors here anyway.

Image Stabilization - A huge plus and a tiny minus in my book. The plus is it's unparalleled ability and range of stabilization. Photos of a MI-24 while being buffeted by rotorwash? No problem. The tiny minus is the slight lag time it induces if it has been off for a while, you hear a clunk, and feel the lens jerk, then all is good.

Slide Zoom - The first time I used the lens around my co-workers the "compensating for something?" jokes began. But snapping to 300mm in less than a fraction of a second is mighty convenient when you have little time to capture a moment.

Enormo-Giganto-Huge-Ness - It's big. Realllly big. Not as big as the sports photographer Hubble telescope knockoffs, but when I raise it to my eye, people notice, and it's big enough that they tell their friends, and then candids are a no-go.

Cost - That's the best part, I got it for FREE. I'm essentially borrowing it for a year. I'm actually considering buying one, which is equivalent to a months wages for me.

I hope you enjoyed my unique perspective on this high quality and un-inexpensive lens! If you feel my review is leaving out a critical factor, feel free to comment and I will share!