Incredibly sharp optics even wide open. Nice contrast and beautifully saturated colors.

many, but they are also rans in light of the optical quality

Despite it's obvious faults in the area of autofocusing technology, it's outmoted push/pull zoom, it's suspect build quality, and it's small maximum aperature (f/5.6) this lens is a real steal if you can find one. That is, because the principal reason that we purchase a lens is the quality of the optics it provided and this outmoded stinker is one fine piece of glass at an affordable price. I used this lens extensively on a choral concert tour of Central Europe. When I had the prints developed, they looked like fine slides - sharp as a tack with eye popping color saturation. "They look like postcards" was the response I got from many viewers.

Customer Service

none required

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Sigma 70-300mm APO Canon 100-300mm USM

Can be hand held if using ISO 200 or better. Tripod otherwise or find a brace. Easier to carry than my 70-200 f2.8L Solid construction and a 58mm filter.

I don't consider the f5.6L speed a weakness. I adjust to it. Noisy, & slow but manual focusing makes up for it.

This is sadly discontinued. I purchased my 100-300 f5.6L for around $350.00, I think. This is a supurb lens for landscapes, some sports, stationary items. It is sharp!!! It is discontinued but if you are looking for an "L" lens easy on both carrying and $$$. This would be a great choice.

Customer Service

On warranty service on an EOS 3, turn around time from CA facility was under one week!! Magnetic shutter problem.

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Canon: 17-40 f4.L, 28-70 f2.8L. 50 f2.5M, 100 f2.8M, 180 f3.5L Macro, 70-200 f2.8L, 300 f4.L IS.

Super Sharp optics. Canon "L".

Slow autofocus Noisy grinding motor. This lens is somewhere around 10 years old in design, and you can tell.

I shoot a lot of sports, and for day sports, then lens does a great job. The autofocus isn;t as fast or nearly as quiet as the USM''s, but it focuses fast enought to track a running football player, as long as there is sufficient light. This lens is as sharp as a tack like many people have already said, and the colors are rich and saturated from this lens.

Customer Service

never used it.

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Canon 70-200 2.8L USM Canon 300mm 2.8L Sigma 300mm 2.8 HSM

Extremely sharp lens even when wide open at 300mm. Beautiful color rendition tending on the warm side. Very nice contrast. Affordable price

My petty annoyances can become very serious defects for a sports or nature photographer

For an amature landscape photographer on a very limited budget this lens is an unqualified winner. Yes, I can rattle off a whole series of defficiencies which characterize this lens - its relatively ancient AF and Zoom technology, its weight, its slow speed, and its questionable construction for an ''L'' Series lens. But these are all mere petty annoyances when one examines the slides and prints obtained through the use of this lens. When I first used this lens to capture the colorful gardens of the Schloss Schonbrunn in Vienna, I was overwhelmed by the sharpness, contrast, and color rendition of the results.

Customer Service

no experience

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Sigma 70-300mm & Canon 75-300mm zooms

EXTREMLY SHARP EXELENT BUILT "L"

SLOW AUTO FOCUS SLOW APERTURE

THIS LENS IS A VERY NICE LENS ALTHOUGH IT HAS SOME WEAKNESS.I USED IT WHILE TRAVELING IN NORTH AMERICA ( ALASKA , WESTERN CANADA , WESTERN USA )AND FOUND IT AS A VERY SHARP LENS EVEN EXTREMELY SHARP.THOUGH THIS IS A LITTLE BIT HEAVY,SLOW AUTOFOCUS AND SLOW ( F=5.6 )LENS YOU CAN STILL TAKE MANY GREAT SHOTS WITH IT AND WHEN YOU WILL RECEIVE THE SLIDES YOU WON''T BE SORRY.THE SLIDES ARE SHARP CRISPY AND VIVID AND THE COLORS ARE GREAT. THE AUTOFOCUS IS A LITTLE BIT SLOW AND NOISY BUT WHEN IT FINDS THE POINT OF FOCUS IT IS SHARP AS A SWISS KNIFE.IT IS WELL BUILT AND THE PRICE INCLUDES THE HOOD. FOR SURE THERE ARE BETTER LENSES IN THE MARKET, BUT THEY MIGHT COST YOU FIVE TIMES MORE AND FOR WHAT YOU PAY YOU GET THE BEST BARGAIN IN THE MARKET. I GAVE IT 5 STARS IN THE OVERALL RATING BECAUSE IT SHOULD BE IN CONSIDERATION WITH THE PRICE OTHERWISE YOU SHOULD TAKE THE BEST ITEM IN THIS CATEGORY, GIVE IT 5 STARS AND COMPARE EVERYTHING TO IT!

Customer Service

NOT NEEDED

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CANON EF 75-300 USM

Quality of optics, sharp lens for this price.

AF design.

I only have one thing to describe this lens "SHARP" sharp as a tack. Although the AF isn''t very fast or quite and a USM version would be a nice addition. Still for the money I don''t think you could find finer optics at this price. It also has excellent contrast and overall I am very happy with this lens. It''s short comings are small price to pay for the quality of the optics it has.

Customer Service

Never needed.

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Canon 28-105USM 3.5-5.6

Sharp-reasonably priced(even if it were not an L series)-true color reproduction-I actually like the push pull zoom(I do wish it was better damped)

You can read them all on previous posts(I agree with all of them)I like this lens in spite of the weaknesses

To keep this short I agree with all the posted shortcomings of this lens.Also,I agree that it is a very sharp and high contrast lens.

Customer Service

Hope I never have to use

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fd mount 75 300 vivatar-50 mm fd canon-28mm fd canon- 28 300 ef mount Tamron

sharpness, sharpness sharpness

Weight. Hard to hand hold. Almost always need a tripod. While f/5.6 isn''t the worst thing in the world, it adds to the problem when you need a slow shutter speed to compensate. Autofocus is slow - not important to me, but don''t try sports photograpy with it.

As the comments by other reviewers suggest ther are few other alternatives in this focal range as sharp as this, and at this price. I sold my 70-300 to buy this, and while I am glad overall, the weight of this lens is a problem for me.

Customer Service

Not used.

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None

Many

AF- Pretty loud- grinding sound.
Handling- just ok, though the manual focus seems a bit weak (loose).
Viewfinder- Not the brightest but passable. 5.6 needs bright light anyway.

When I shop, I often look at price/performance/value. I bought the EOS5 within the last two months or so with a 28-135 IS. This lens (100-300 5.6L) is on par with that image quality. Photodo says 3.5 for the 28-135 IS and 3.6 for the 100-300L. My non scientific tests confirmed that. Is it the 4.0 and above "L" quality image maker? I don't think so. But still, for a VERY NICE complement to my mid-priced system and as a result it will stay. After all,
there is a huge difference in over $1000 for an "L" and $450 for this lens (that p/p/v/ thing). Would I get double the image quality for the extra price? I don't think so. Could it be faster? Sure! Could it be sharper? Sure! Would it be more expensive? I don't even have to answer that.

I totally agree with those who have posted here. It needs a major upgrade...USM, FTM and so on. But until I find something better that will
not break the bank and provide better than average image quality I will recommend this lens to all. Overall it's a nice compliment to my mid-price system. Not everyone can afford or warrant a 1V and a bag full of "L"s even though we wish for such. I now have my eye on a 20-35 USM non "L" (p/p/v) to complete my system. The image quality of the 100-300 5.6L can be seen at
http://home.flash.net/~jmlacy/photo/images/puppy1.jpg in case anyone wants to see.

My 2cents,
Joe
http://home/flash.net/~jmlacy/photo

Customer Service

No need yet

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28-135 IS

Sharpest xx-300 zoom on the market, and I prefer the one-touch design for shooting action. Despite what others have said on the Web, the build quality is fine. The price makes it a bargain.

Older AFD autofocus, so somewhat noisy when compared to USM. Although it's no big deal to me, the front element rotates, making it a pain with filters.

I dearly wish Canon would update this to a USM model, and maybe add IS. However, for a reasonable price, you get L-series quality optics. I don't intend to get rid of mine unless it gets refurbished, then, I may still keep it!

Customer Service

N/A

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Never used an AF telephoto before getting into the EOS system.