Customer Reviews

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM Lens for Canon EOS Cameras

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this lens. I'd like to compare it to the canon 70-200 f/2.8 L, because I own that too. I originally bought the 70-200 because I really like the L series glass, having previously purchased other L lenses. I am a small woman and I found it to be very cumbersome and often left it at home (though it is an excellent lens on it's own) because of it's size. My husband suggested the 70-300 f/4-5.6 DO IS as an alternative. I am SO pleased with the lens. I recently shot over 250 photos at a zoo. All hand held, something I could NOT do with the 70-200, and many at the extreme 300mm. The IS is amazing, the weight of the lens very manageable. It was a cloudy, sometimes rainy day and yet the colors were true and the focus, even in low light situations, very accurate. I used no flash, even indoors. The photos through glass and mesh were so clear, you'd never know either were there. On a sunny day practice shoot, I had no trouble with lens flare, even without using a hood. (I was trying to get flare, just because it was mentioned in other reviews.) So, if you do not wish to haul a heavy lens around and you want all the benefits of an L series photo, I would recommend this lens.

I spent weeks in forums reading up on this lens, and always seemed to come across a mixed bag of comments about it. I've had it for about a month, and I have taken a good amount of pictures with it. It does take great pictures, all the way up to 300mm. There is a touch of softness at 300mm, but this can all be taken care of using an unsharp mask in Photoshop/Paint Shop Pro/etc..... As a matter of fact, this lens seems particularly receptive to sharpening. People swear by L lenses, but if it's between this lens and say the 70-200mm IS you're talking about a minimal difference in sharpness out of the camera, and the 70-200mm IS costs more with less of a range. The DO is also black, and the DO technology enables it to be much smaller than you'd expect. At full zoom it is smaller than the 70-200mm IS or non-IS!! I took this lens to a NY Mets baseball game, and did not stick out like a sore thumb. YOU CAN TAKE THIS LENS ANYWHERE!!! The image stabilization is great, and has 2 modes you can use.

I am very satisfied with this lens. Don't let the L snobs sway you away.

I bought this for 1169.95 and it's $30 drop to 1139.95 was refunded to me by Amazon. I wouldn't shop anywhere else.

great lens, great place to buy.

I originally purchased the other (non-DO) Canon 70-300mm zoom lens but found so many annoyances with it that I returned it. I find this DO lens to be much, much nicer and worth the extra cost. The issues I had with the non-DO lens were: it's big and noisy (focus and IS); slow to focus; if pointed down, the lens violently pops-out to full zoom, thus requiring use of the zoom lock whenever not in use; the filter ring rotates during zoom, making use of a polarizing filter difficult; you cannot manually focus if the lens is in AF mode; chromatic aberrations were noticable.

The DO lens has none of these issues: it is compact (about the same size as the Canon EFS 17-85), quiet, and fast focusing. The lens holds its focal length if pointed up or down. The filter ring does not rotate during zoom, and you can manually focus whether in AF or MF mode. I've seen no chromatic aberrations with this lens. Shots are clear and crisp throughout the entire range.

I didn't consider the highly-rated L series lenses because I knew that I wouldn't regularly carry such a large and obtrusive lens. I can literally carry this DO lens in my jacket pocket wherever I go, and not attract a lot of attention when it's mounted on my camera. Your needs may vary.

It's also a pleasure to own what I consider to be a technological marvel. With excellent image stabilization and autofocus, and being one of only two SLR lenses in the world to use diffractive optics (the other one costs over $5k), this lens defines state of the art.

I use the 70-300 with a Digital Rebel, giving a maxium equivalent focal length of a 480mm lens on a 35mm film camera body. I thought about buying one of Canon's 70-200L series, but they are huge, white, and heavy. I am not a professional photographer and decided I didn't want to look like a geek trying to masquerade as one. Besides, I like to take my camera with me, like tucked under my ski jacket, so there is an upper limit to practicality.
So far, photos have mainly been of kids playing baseball. I've shot roughly 1000 pictures in the few weeks I've had it. From the outfield fence, I've been able to take some great pictures of the batters. At maximum focal length, tracking movement of players takes some skill, which I am still trying to master. From the baselines, I have to zoom out to keep the action in the frame. I haven't had a need yet to use the IS since I use a fast shutter speed for sports.
Picture quality is very good. Photos are crisp across the field. I assume the magazines will test this lens eventually under lab conditions, but I can't see any imperfections with real world photos.
My only complaint is with the zoom control. The lens has a lock to hold it in the shortest focal length because the lens will move by itself when pointed up or down. The rotating ring for the zoom control is a little too hard to rotate when the camera is level, and especially when going against gravity. It is fine for still subjects, but it is a challenge for quick focal length changes with sports. Gearing for a more rotation with less force would have made this lens ideal.

I like the DO (Diffractive Optics) of this lens. It's great to take pictures from a distance without using a long, bulky lens that makes me stand out like a sore thumb. Even though it is heavy, the IS (Image Stabilizer) compensates well for the shaking as I line up my shots. The dual IS switch for either full IS or panning shots (think following running players on a field) is a very nice feature.

Oh, this is a kit that includes an ET-65B Lens Hood and a LP1116 Soft Lens Pouch. Too bad I didn't know before I ordered the hood separately.

The lens fits nicely in a standard camera bag. And I can store the lens hood reversed on the lens and on the camera although I can't adjust the lens with the hood in this position because of the long length of the hood. And because of the hood's length, an external flash is recommended if you need a flash shot.

Because the 70-300 DO uses 58mm filter threading, I found a better use for my UV filter than being on my original Canon kit lens.

This lens is a keeper.

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.

Length:: 2:53 Mins

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM Lens for Canon EOS Cameras

When I got my Rebel XT I was initially disappointed by the image quality. It did not take long to realize that the kit lens is the weak link. Over the next several months I kept going back and forth between different reviews and finally decided to splurge on this lens. It is at least twice as expensive as what I had initially budgeted but I have been very happy with it. The lens itself is very sharp and the IS technology allows you to shoot up to 3 f-stops slower. It has a very solid feel. I sell many of my pictures through an amateur photography site and since I started shooting with the IS lens, the reviews have been very positive.

The lens has a 58mm diameter -- same as the kit lens. Any filter you may have purchased for the kit lens will work on this one as well. It comes with a hood. Unfortunately, when not in use, the hood masks to zoom lock so you need to remove the hood in order to unlock the lens. That's a minor nit and it is essentially the only one I have come up with in several months of use.

I am so sold on the IS technology that I have just ordered the 17-85mm lens as well. I plan to get rid of the kit lens alltogether.

*Update* A reviewer recommended DxO software (dxo.com) for this lens, so I tried out the demo first with these raw files from the zoo. Unreal results. Just amazing. Prints are simply beautiful. You have to try to believe.

What a great zoom lens. I prefer primes and really wanted a 100/2.0 to go along with my 50/1.4 for my 5D. However, I got a great deal on the DO zoom so jumped on it because of its versatility.

It has to be one of Canon's most controversial/misunderstood zoom lens. The price is one factor and softness the other. The 70-200/2.8 IS takes better pictures (out the box) with less computer work needed later. However, this lens is heavy and white and needs a tripod. But it has terrific quality.

It takes time to appreciate this DO lens. I got so many blurry images in the beginning that I almost took it back. But I decided to take pictures all day to figure it out before my daughter's kindergarten class went to the zoo. This is what I discovered:

-best sharpness between 70-200 is f/5.6.
-between 200-300 is f/11 and f/16
-Image Stabilization is amazing
-auto focus is lighting quick and accurate
-size and weight are amazing for this focal range

Needless to say, the pictures I took at the zoo were terrific hand held. Because it was a sunny day, shutter speeds were high and the images were blurry free. Shot in RAW and WOW when I opened them up. This was "L" class all the way. Now, I understood the price/performance advantage of this lens. After five hours at the zoo and double checking that my group of kids were still with me, I realized it was never obtrusive. There is no way in hell one could have used the 70-200/2.8 IS for that long around their neck and shoulder!

Kudos to Canon for making this technological wonder. Just shoot RAW and the softness goes away and the images are "L" quality. This lens will be with you all the time ready to go. That's priceless in my book!

I bought this to have a good zoom to pair with my Rebel XT (350D) on backpacking trips. It weighs far less than the other options at the same size (particularly the L glass). Additionally, it is physically small for such a high power zoom. This combined with its being black makes it a fun lens to "walk around with" for candid shots since it doesn't draw much attention. As for backpacking, it is fabulous: light, small, and gives me a reasonable amount of reach for wildlife and nature shots. I've not yet paired it with a teleconverter, but, I intend to do so.

I think that the optics of the lens have caused glass snobs to scoff at it and look for *any* possible flaw, with the biggest complaint in reviews being about bokeh. In real life, I can only recall about three shots out of several thousand where I have seen the negative effects mentioned -- you need to have background light hitting the lens at just the right angle. In one of the cases I liked the results, in the other I moved slightly. photoshop could easily rectify the output, too.

I've found the focus on this lens to be much faster than the kit lens from the 350D and somewhat faster than my 50mm prime. The stabilization is pretty good, too. I've handheld 1/5sec shots of waterfalls with it to good result; just remember that it doesn't hold your subject still so it won't help as much for sports or wildlife.

I didn't like the little bag that came to hold the lens when it isn't being used. If you plan on taking this lens with you backpacking/hiking/etc, I'd seriously consider using a purpose built camera bag with lens holders or a hard container.

One other thing to keep in mind is that this is not the fastest lens (f/4.5-f/5.6), if you do a lot of low light or high speed photography, you'll either be shooting at higher ISO settings or slower lens speeds than with the L series lenses.