Canon EF 70-300mm F/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens

This is one of the best non-L series telephoto lenses. Don't compare this with the other cheapie 70-300mm or 75-300mm lenses. It is a major upgrade from the 75-300mm IS that it replaced.

The lens has an ultra-low dispersion lens element (that is normally reserved for the L series). But only has the lesser non-ring USM which means that the autofocus isn't the fastest, and you can't manually override it without switching to manual. But in all it's pretty reasonable.
Although the list price is £400, it's available online for under £350, or on ebay for less (although not a lot less, because it's quite sought after).
Until the end of June 2008, Canon have a £40 rebate on this lens (you must provide the bar-code, and receipt) so double check with your retailer.

It's not too bad for lens flare, but I'd always recommend a lens hood. The ET-65B is a circular hood (because the front element rotates during focusing). But it is a bayonet mount, and will store back-to-front on the lens when not on the camera.

Summary: A good focal length range, reasonable build and optical quality, the IS helps to make up for the slow aperture.

After carefully researching what I wanted in a lens, I discounted the L series because of cost although I may buy at a later date as I become more proficient.

I bought a canon ef mk1 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 from ebay. I found this lens was very good for the price I paid and went on a day trip up Snowdon and got some very nice shots. I talked to other people and then decided to look at a longer lens still, the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM seamed to fit the bill but is much larger and heavier . The controls on the lens are easy to use there is a lock for the barrel but I found it was not necessary because I did not have any creeping up or down.

There is a switch for the AF/MF control and I found autofocus very quick and almost silent and most of all accurate.The other two switches are for the IS system ON/OFF and mode 1 or 2. This being a red dot ef mount it fitted my ef-s canon 500d with all the electronics working perfectly.

I found the lens to be quite heavy walking around all day so I bought a camera bag to balance the load , camera and three lens plus food and drinks etc. The lens came with front and rear caps and a very informative instruction paper also with the lens was included a 58mm UV filter which I thought was a nice gesture by the last owner.

I am very pleased with this lens and would recommend it to anybody.

I do not understand the technical terms vignette, etc so I cannot give help here . I hope this information is useful to you, I tend to read these first to get an idea of what a lens can do, and what its all about, and of course prices..

This was the first dedicated sports lens I used and it served me well. On bright days it performs fantasically, but in low light the maximum aperture of f/4 probably won't be enough (hence my upgrade to the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS). The autofocus also may not be quick enough for some events but I found I still produced some great results. Its light, easy to carry, has built in IS which is great for still subjects, the focal length is great (I do miss having 300mm on my new lens) and it is VERY cheap in comparison to alternative lenses of a similar range. Only negative would be slightly slow autofocus in some situations. Apart form that, highly recommended.

I bought this CANON 70-300 IS USM to replace my favourite SIGMA 70-300 DG APO macro; same focus range, same aperture range, you should say "why did I change ?"
I change because I found the weak point of the SIGMA : low light operation involves high sensibility, which leads to big grain on the pictures (at 1600 ISO)
I hope that the Image Stabilizer will allow me to reduce the ISO when the light is poor , with no detriment to the speed/aperture combination.
the dark side of the IS is the weight !
SIGMA = 0.570 kg
CANON = 0.670 kg
after a whole day with it on hands , the difference is obvious !

Very good quality, end very cheap!The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM zoom lens. Featuring the latest 3-stop Image Stabilizer for outstanding camera shake reduction, the lens also features super responsive auto focus. Replacing the popular EF 75-300mm IS USM, the world?s first interchangeable lens with Image Stabilizer (IS), the lens is expected to appeal to serious amateur nature and sports photographers looking to achieve outstanding results while shooting hand held. IS dramatically reduces image blur caused by camera shake. The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens features Canon?s latest 3-stop IS, a one-stop improvement over its predecessor.