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Could you give me some insight about this lens? Canon EF Telephoto zoom lens - 70 mm - 300 mm - F/4.5-5.6 - Canon EF

I find its size very appealing, but I'm not sure of the performance or any alternatives for a Canon 30D. Are there some equivalent lenses from other manufacturers, like Tamron or Sigma? And are they worth the money?

Many thanks!

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  • \$\begingroup\$ These previously asked questions may help you out: photo.stackexchange.com/questions/11504/… photo.stackexchange.com/questions/12467/… \$\endgroup\$
    – dpollitt
    Oct 18, 2011 at 21:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ I went ahead with the recommendation in that question and ended up buying the 70-200 f4 L and am very happy with it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jakub Sisak GeoGraphics
    Oct 19, 2011 at 2:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ I asked a question few months ago which include some links and reviews of the lens and also possible alternative. Please take a look: photo.stackexchange.com/questions/6830/… \$\endgroup\$
    – fahad.hasan
    Oct 19, 2011 at 3:47
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    \$\begingroup\$ Canon has two different 70-300 lenses. The questions referenced in previous comments are talking about 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS USM, which does not have Diffractive Optics. \$\endgroup\$
    – Imre
    Oct 19, 2011 at 6:02

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The main advantage of the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM lens is that it's compact and lightweight, therefore very appealing for travel photographers who doesn't want to grab too much attention. It's very well built with excellent IS and fast, quiet AF. Provides FTM and non-rotating front, useful for filter users. Only downsides I can see are soft images at wide open aperture and higher price. Comparing to other two Canon 70-300mm versions, images are soft but become better when aperture is stepped down.

A few other alternatives are:

  • Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM: It's about 300$ more expensive but the best in this class. This is a pro grade lens.
  • Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM: It's about 500$ cheaper, produces slightly better images but heavier and doesn't have FTM. This lens is a good bargain for people looking for a non-pro telephoto lens.
  • Tamron 70-300 f/4-5.6 USD VC: It's cheap, provides good images if you can manage a good copy, but lot of faulty production versions with malfunctioned AF has been reported around the globe.

You can compare these lenses ISO Crops from The-Digital-Picture. Reviews of these lenses are linked to their names.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I totally didn't catch the DO reference in the original post, nice answer here! \$\endgroup\$
    – dpollitt
    Oct 19, 2011 at 18:14

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