-Compliment to the 28-105 USM
-USM motor
-Non-rotating front element
-Cheap
-Good range and picture quality to 230
-Reasonable quality from 230 to 300

-Proabably more expensive than it should be, while it is cheap. $50 bucks less is more like it
-Loses quality through longer focal lengths (not awful, just a bit)
-Not very fast

It goes well with my Elan IIe and 28-105 USM to give a good range. You will miss it if you don't have it, but don't really care too much about it when it's around. It has the same diameter as the 28-105 and the new 100 macro (which I hope to get soon), which means that you don't blow so much money on lots of he same filters at different sizes.

I would advise Canon to rework this lens a bit, make it faster and keep its quality throughout its range. BUT when you don't have $2000 to blow on a pro lens this will do the job, with some decency. Get it with the ET-65 III lens hood, which is specially designed for this lens.

If you can't invest too much, than this is the lens for you. Unfortunately, there is no real intermediately priced lens at this range from Canon (and I don't advise getting Tamron or Sigma or others). You either get this, or the $1000 one. Like all other equipment, be aware of its weaknesses and work with or around them. That way you can get the best pictures possible. 4 for value because it might be a tad cheaper than its already watered down price, and 3 for overall because of the slight quality loss and slow speed.

Good picture taking!

Customer Service

None needed yet

Similar Products Used:

Tamron, Sigma

(These aren't so great either, even though they are more expensive)

Nice solid telephoto zoom lens for the price. Pairs nicely with the Canon 28-105mm USM zoom lens.

Suffers slight zoom creep.

While this lens has been critized for not being the sharpest (especially at the 300mm end), I have had no real problems. I just don't enlarge the shots, and I try to use it stopped down. I've found it a more than useful lens to have. Of the two lenses I have, I probably use this for 10-20% of my shots, but that's still hundreds of shots ...

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-105mm 3.5-4.5 EF USM

Light-weight
Sharp at 100-175 mm
Quick USM AF

Poor built quality
Not sharp at 300 mm

This lens has costed me almost as much in repair costs as I gave when I originally bought the lens. At first, the AF system broke down, and recently, the aperture needed replacement. It gives really pleasant results at 100mm f/8, but it is somewhat soft at 300 mm. Not a lens I can recommend if you want optical and mechanical top performance.

Customer Service

2 experiences: repairs take quite a long time, many weeks, rude answers when telephoning the service centre.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 200-400mm F5.6 LD (IF)

Fast Auto focus, full time manual focus
Quite (USM)
Reasonably sharp for price
Front element does not turn, great for filters

Slight zoom creep, when pointed straight down, not really a problem since shooting this way doesn't occur that often.

First off, I'd like to point out, this is a Beginner lense, so I don't understand why ppl compare it to an L series, or other pro lenses, apples to apples my friends. I have taken several outdoor, indoor, action and portrait pictures with this lense, and I am very happy with the performance. Most all pictures are sharp, when they were not, it was my fault. Is this lense as sharp as a Pro lense, of course not, is it as fast as a Pro, again NO, but for the price, it functions very well. Yes it does need to be stopped down at times, and a tripod may be needed, but isn't that what Photography is about, learning to work with your equipment. I don't think any amature should jump in and start buying Pro lenses, till they spend some time learning and developing there skills, and figure out what it is they really need for equipment.

The lense is very quite for animal shots, and can focus in very low light, with little or no hunting. On a average late sunny afternoon, I was able to shoot about 70 pictures(ISO 400), of animals at an outdoor zoo, using f8 - f11, hand held, zoomed from 200 - 300mm, and almost all pictures turned out great. The lense is light, which is nice when hiking, or even walking around a zoo for 5 hours. It is very easy to handle, and the full time manual focus is very helpful, esp when zoomed in, and the optics are focusing on something else other then your subject, you can give it a little tweak, and snap away.

I think this lense is a great buy for any beginner looking for a zoom lense, and strongly recommend it. Unless you plan to make money taking pictures, or become heavy into the hobby, why spend 5 - 10 times as much on a Pro lense. I may get a used L series in the future, but that is way down the road, and even then, I'll be glad I have this lense for family outings and vacations.

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

None

It's sharp, has USM and rear focusing. Also bokeh is very nice.

N/A

I've been using it for 1 year. This is a very good lens. If you have primary lens 28-105 USM, it will perfectly complement it in your gear. Portraits are quite nice to shoot with it. I give it 5 stars for perfomance and value.

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 75-300 (USM)

Very ergonomic, fast autofocus.

Sharpness at 300 is under average.

Hope of a redesign of the zoom

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 70-300