Canon EF 300mm f/4.0L IS USM 35mm Primes
Canon EF 300mm f/4.0L IS USM 35mm Primes
[Nov 17, 2002]
AJ
Professional
Weakness:
A waste of time for a serious photographer I had to wait until I sold this lens to write this. (I have tried 3 of these out. All the same) The only thing 'L' about this lens is that it is white! And F/6.7 and down to f/11 give good Sharp results. But it is so slow I thought the USM was broken. F/4 is so soft it blures the subject. This lens is nice and light. Which is why I wanted one. Something to keep mounted out in the woods. But it needs a sunny day for good results. A 200mm f/2.8 L with a 1.4 teleconveter is a much better setup. Even in dim light. Fast focus results and no subject blur at f/4. No 'IS' but 3 good photos is better than 10 bad photos. Also much cheaper and lighter. Similar Products Used: 28-70 f/2.8 L, 70-200 2.8 IS L, 200 1.8 L 85mm 1.8 USM....... |
[Aug 07, 2002]
mark1958
Intermediate
Strength:
Very Sharp images light weight and easy to carry around well priced
Weakness:
Really none that i can think of I received this lens as part of a complex trade and I have been extremely impressed. I was reluctant to obtain this lens but i find i use it much more than I anticipated. It is light and relatively easy to walk around and hike with it. The images are crisp, sharp with excellent colors. ALso great images with 1.4XTC. I believe this lens is sharper than 100-400L lens that i had previously sold Customer Service NA Similar Products Used: 300/2.8L IS 100-400L IS 500/4 |
[Jul 12, 2002]
dead2fred
Expert
Strength:
IS Works!Great! Lots of lens for 1/3 the price of the 2.8
Weakness:
Haven't found any yet I bought this lens after reading reviews, asking questions of others & fondling the real thing and some similar Sigmas at B&H. I was leaning towards the 100-400 IS but that was way too awkward when zooming. I was unimpressed with Sigma. The 50-500 looked good in the ads BUT,zooming that sucker in feels like you're holding a 10 foot sewer pipe to your head. The 300mm IS has continued to impress me. Just to test out the Image Stabilizer mode, I let my wife drive back from a ride to upstate N.Y. Setting the shutter on my EOS 3 at 1/125 and then at 1/60, I shot backs of cars, backs of heads in cars, road signs, road kill and road stuff in general. Route 17 isn't known for its smooth roadbed but this lens changed that. I could read billboards(the fine print), car dealer badges on trunks of cars ahead of us, way ahead of us, and identify road kill(see, it was a badger!) Last month I shot my twins high school graduation with this lens and my Canon 550EX Speedlite from the balcony and got the good shots I thought I was too far away for. I wanted a good quality lens for what I could afford,(got 4 kids in college this Fall) so even though a 300 2.8 would give all the other aspiring amatuer photogs Lens envy, I take pictures for me. Not to put my kids thru school or pay my mortgage. If I find a bag of rumpled bills on my doorstep one morning, I'll think about the 2.8. Till then this lens does it all for me, excellent color rendition, edge to edge sharpness and the shallow depth of field we like when doing portraits. Customer Service Not Yet! Similar Products Used: Canon 70-200mm F4.0 L |
[Dec 18, 2001]
eos4me
Professional
Strength:
IS technology, pretty sharp, very good contrast
Weakness:
IS technology, image in finder can be glitchy, slower AF lock time, even when IS is off, contrast, flare (not localized, but overall loss of contrast) The EF 300 4L IS is a very good lens for hand held shooting with slow/moderate ISO film and moderate light. Also good when shooting from a moving platform and for panning shots. The EF 300 4L IS can and should be used in a verity of shooting situations. The EF 300 4L IS is pretty sharp compared to almost any consumer lens but is not in the same league as the EF 300 4L non IS and way behind the EF 300 2.8L. The IS lenses (and not just this one), in general seem to have lower contrast than the non IS versions and may not be as sharp under all conditions. The EF 300 4L IS definetly has a place in the Canon lens line but is not the best high performance optic in this focal range from Canon. I''d rank the EF 300 4L IS in third place behind the EF 300 2.8L and EF 300 4L lenses. Customer Service CPS is the BEST! Similar Products Used: Canon EF 70-200 2.8L, EF 200 2.8L, EF 300 4L, EF 300 2.8L, EF 400 2.8L |
[Dec 12, 2001]
Henry C
Intermediate
Strength:
Build in Hood, IS function, sharp image result.
Weakness:
As most super tele lens, low light focusing is bit slow. This is a very sharp lens, I''ve ever used. IS is a big plu for this focal length. Ever tried with 1.4X II hand held in a dim light, result was good as on tripod. If you shoot stage show from distance, this one is must have. Customer Service No need so far. Similar Products Used: EF 70~200/4 L, EF 135/2 L, EF 28~105 II, EF 24/2.8. |
[Feb 17, 2000]
Rami Raulas
Expert
Model Reviewed:
EF 300mm f/4L IS USM
Strength:
sharpness from max aperture - even with 1,4x and 2x teleconverters, speed and of course IS
Weakness:
maybe hood could be detachable to allow for Cokin P Fabulous lens - IS really works and allows hand-held shots down to 1/45-1/60 sec. Worth every dollar ! Get extenders, too. Customer Service no need Similar Products Used: 200/2.8 USM, Tokina 300/2.8 |
[Jan 17, 2000]
Jack Macd
Expert
Model Reviewed:
EF 300mm f/4L IS USM
Strength:
match this with a 2X extender and a EOS 3 and you have a handholdable affordable AF 600mm lens
Weakness:
people want to steal it this makes sense if you use the EOS 3 with it's autofocus capability at f8 Customer Service not needed Similar Products Used: 300 2.8 is too heavy |
[Oct 16, 2000]
Kurt Lantz
Intermediate
Strength:
Great imaging even at F4
Weakness:
None As a five year Leica M user moving to an SLR system, this lens combined with the new EOS-1V body has been a delight. I'm really pleased with the color rendition and sharpness. The IS has worked great to a 60th - little better to have at least a monopod here. Don't expect things to hold up with the 2X converter as far as the sharpness and color I mentioned above. The neat thing is you have a 600mm lens at your disposal - very fun. Useing this and autofocus esp. the servo has been a gas! Customer Service N/A Similar Products Used: Canon 17-35MM L Zoom |
[Nov 08, 2000]
Isaac Sibson
Intermediate
Strength:
Huge sharpness and contrast, excellent balance means that weight is not over-bearing.
Weakness:
Weight is weight, but this is nit-picking! I love this lens, and really stretched to afford it. A shame I couldn't have it with me when I spent 7 weeks in the Pacific northwest, but it will be with me in future!! I found it is a much easier lens to handle than the 100-400, because the weight is so well balanced. IS works like a dream. Customer Service Not required Similar Products Used: 135 f2L, 100-400 IS, 100-300USM, Sigma 70-300APO |
[Dec 26, 2000]
John Greco
Professional
Strength:
Solid Build, weather proof, Light, hand-holdable 300mm lens, very sharp, quite fast focusing for an f4 lens. IS works well even in helecopters....even better than my 80-200mm "L" lens with 100mm longer length it kept the image sharper. Also, it is a very nice lens for my photo-journalism work. I took a real nice shot of a graduation when the diplomas were being handed out. I was able to get a nice tight shot ...full frame of the diploma being accepted into the hands of a grad at 1.5 meters away. This could not be done the same way with a 300mm f2.8 or the 70-200mm f2.8 lens. Even at close magnification the IS worked GREAT! Not bad for a 300mm lens.
Weakness:
Are there any?? I guess not. IS can't stop action like (I knew it wouldn't when I bought it) an f2.8 lens but it can make out door day light shooting a lot easier than using the 300mm f2.8 lens. However, it is a lot sharper and tougher, and faster than some crappy 75 or 100-300mm f5.6 zoooooom. It is great for photojournalism candid shots. it doesn't get as noticed in public as the big boy 2.8 and is very praticle to use. I enjoy looking at my sharp and saturated film of many types that I use and love the responce I get from people who who see the shots that I am now able to get because of this lens. Customer Service My lens had a gremlin in it one month after the darn USA warrenty expired....which is why I now buy grey market.....I would have saved more money than the repair costed....which was the manual focus stoped working. It turned freely and didn't grip any of the widgits inside the barrel. However, it auto focused and IS'ed just fine....about $240.00 I could have had an extra $200 bucks in my pocket if I would have bought the lens through a grey market place out of state. Canon CPS is great for fixing the problem and turn around time. Similar Products Used: A bunch of Sigma crap, a bunch of Nikrap, a bunch of Tamron crap, a bunch of dopy Minolta "MAXXUM" crap,.....but that was then. NOW IT'S CANON!!!Canon EOS 15mmf2.8, 17-35f2.8, 28-70f2.8, 80-200f2.8,200mmf1.8 300mmf2.8, 400mmf2.8. |