Canon 70-300mm F.4-5.6 IS USM

Robbo

Robbo

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Any one have or used this lens?

I have been reading review and so far its pretty much gonna suit me for what I want and for the price etc.

Only one thing I read is it says slow AF, but its USM? So is it as slow as a non USM?

any input welcome.
 
Its a great lens and its almost always stuck to my camera. AF wise when it starts getting darker it does indeed start slowing down a bit but otherwise for the price its a cracking lens
 
I know there have been a (lot) few threads recently on this lens.

so I'll quickly state my thoughts.
Great lens especially for the money.
has noisy AF, very good IS, and nice clear sharp pictures. some people have mentioned an IQ drop off at the extremes but I can't say I ever really noticed.
took mine to kenya with me and it surpassed my quite high expectations.

the only reason I moved it on because I have upgraded to a 100-400L, otherwise it would have stayed firmly attached to my camera!
 
Robbo said:
Any one have or used this lens?

I have been reading review and so far its pretty much gonna suit me for what I want and for the price etc.

Only one thing I read is it says slow AF, but its USM? So is it as slow as a non USM?

any input welcome.
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Great lens for the price and probably the best of the bunch of lenses that are in the 70/75-300mm range from canon and the 3rd party manufacturers.

Personally, the 70-200mm f4 (non IS) is a significantly better lens for that little bit extra, but its all down to what meets your requirements.
 
Agree with all the above really, a great lens and with IS and a 300mm reach.

If you don't need the extra reach of a 300mm and the IS, then as Pete says, the 70-200 F4 L is def worth a look if you can stretch a bit :thumbs:
 
I can afford tHe 70-200 F 4 but the reach isn't quite there and really fancy the IS at this reach, I was aiming to use the lens for a mix of sports, wildlife to a limit of course, airshows and motor etc etc so I was after a general 'all rounder', which this seemed to be it, especially for the value.

The AF shouldn't be a problem as it would only really be used in daylight hours

Thanks for all the input
 
I have tried my copy at airshows,and its still way too short.they still come out as small specks in the sky.
For everything else its been ok
Super sharp

For the money its worth it
 
I had the 75-300 and replaced it with the 70-300, the AF is worlds apart, fast and accurate, compared to the non USM 75-300 I had, I had a thread just a day or so ago which might just be on the next page! link
 
I'm also about to take the plunge on this lens having read some good reviews. One question though - does the end of the lens rotate when focussing, and if so would this cause a problem with using a circular polarising filter?
 
Red snapper said:
I'm also about to take the plunge on this lens having read some good reviews. One question though - does the end of the lens rotate when focussing, and if so would this cause a problem with using a circular polarising filter?
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Yes - it does.

Also, another thing is that it doesn't maintain focus when you zoom in/out, so say you've set up a shot at 300mm, focussed, and set the polariser. If you want a bit more in the shot, you need to zoom back out a bit to 200mm, for example. You'll need to a) re-focus the shot and b) as a result of re-focussing, re-set the polariser

Hope that helps (and makes sense!)


edit: the 70-200 F4 has a non-rotating front element, everything's internal. As far as I'm aware, it also keeps its focus when you zoom in/out
 
Thanks Chris. When you say "set the polariser", do you mean you need to set the zoom, focus, and then rotate the filter so that it's the "right" way up (presumably the filter will be marked in some way to denote this)?
 
Yeah, once you've got the polariser 'set' how you want it.
I'm sure you're aware how they work - removing glare/reflections (at the most basic level)

They do have markings on the filters, sometimes it's a white line, or a little notch in the ring itself. That usually denotes the 'on' position (most glare reduction) or 'off' (pretty much no reduction)

I know a little bit about polarising light, we did it in physics A level, lol. However, the uses of it in photographic terms aren't something i've explored, so some of what i've said might need clarification!
 
Daft question about the AF

people say itndoesnt auto re focus if you change the zoom level.

If I used el savio AF or what ever it's called that automatically adjust the lens focus constantly to the subject you are focusing at, normally used on moving subjects etc, will that not work the same as when you change focal length?

No major issue if I cant do it like, will just keep pressing the button half way lol
 
The lens doesn't do any intelligent focusing - none of them do!

If you zoom in or out, you will need to get the camera to refocus (or do it yourself with the focus ring)

Anyway, this lens is pretty good - especially for the money. You'd have to spend a lot more (~1000 quid) to get anything a lot better.
 
lol, then yes it works a treat, infact, thats pretty much all I used, since I was often trying to get BIF pictures and needed a quick and smooth response. seemed to work pretty well :)
(I have a 450D body)
 
Yes it does indeed work very well with AI-Servo.

I used to use this lens a lot for motorsport and its very quick.

Excellent value for money!
 
RacingSnake said:
lol, then yes it works a treat, infact, thats pretty much all I used, since I was often trying to get BIF pictures and needed a quick and smooth response. seemed to work pretty well :)
(I have a 450D body)
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cool thats good enough for me :-)

now all I need is pay day! need a spare grand really to get my 10-22mm 70-300mm and bg e 5 .... hmmmmm
 
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