Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM Lens for Canon EOS Cameras

careful , less sharpness , compact but very heavy
not recommended for pro users , nice for prorate and user how want to won tow lenses only

I purchased this lens because I do a lot of candids and 200mm is just not good enough. I also recently purchased a 5D MkII, so any praise I may have for the lens may be partly due to this camera. When I read some reviews of this lens, I was worried that it was weird. I will mostly address these issues. Is it heavy? No. I use a monopod and hand carry a 100-400 lens without problems. This lens is only 52 mm at the front,so it has amazing reach for its size. Does the zoom feel heavy? No. The zoom needs some resistance, since the front of the lens would extend by itself if it was too light on the zoom control. This is the same issue you have with the Sigma 18-200, another great all purpose lens for candid shots. Both lenses have a lock button that keeps the lens from extending when you not taking pictures.
Lastly and most importantly does the diffraction type lens cause any problems? No. I have literaly seen no problems with lack of sharpness or unusual flare. I think you would have to shoot tripod test scenes to reveal this. Using a monopod in real life conditions,the issue does not appear to exist. Admitedly with back ligthting you can get some fogginess and flare,but this is just like other lenses. I think some ot the reviwers who are critical spend too much time bench testing. When I am doing candid,or travel photography,especially with a full frame camera,this may become my main lens.

Judging by Amazon customer buying behavior, it's a toss-up between this lens and the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM (AKA non DO 70-300mm). So why would you pay twice the price for the Diffractive Optics (DO) lens?

1. Image quality
2. Weight and Length

I have used both lenses, and the 70-300mm DO IS is the one that I purchased.

The DO lens produces sharp, contrasty, aesthetically pleasing images. It is ever so slightly soft at exactly 300mm, but this can easily be fixed with mild sharpening. The non-DO lens is softer, shows distortion towards the edge of the frame, and produces "flatter" (lower contrast) images. I had to sharpen, correct and tweak the contrast of every single image from the non-DO lens.

This lens weighs 720g (1.6lb) and is less than 100mm (3.93in) long when closed. The non-DO lens is 630g (1.4lb) but 144mm (5.6in) long when closed. The DO lens is slightly heavier, but not by much -- about the weight of a "candy bar" mobile phone -- but far shorter. This makes it more practical for travel and other work outside a studio.

I'd make the same choice again in a heartbeat. I have now taken many thousands of shots with the 70-300mm DO IS, and couldn't be happier -- sharp, strong images that don't require a lot of post-processing.

I have a Canon 300 f/2.8 IS and a 600 f/4 IS for wildlife photography; I also had a 300 70-300 USM (non DO) version for shooting while walking around and did not like it or the images it created. I was put off by the negative reviews the DO got and (unfortunately) waited to buy one. I have been shooting it six months now; and love it for its bright colors and portability and the IS works great for me. Feels like an "L" lens.

I bought this for my wife for our safari in Tanzania and I couldn't be happier. She shoots with a 20D and previously used a EF 70-200 F4 L lens which she found too heavy. She used to get blurry pictures because she couldn't keep that lens still while shooting, but with the EF 70-300 DO she gets consistently better pictures, less fatigue, and I'm happier because she's happier :) She got several pictures that I missed because I left my even bigger and heavier EF 100-400mm lens in the truck while we were walking around, but she brought her camera and got the shot.

Other than her being happy, I like this lens because it's not as bold as the white lenses, which makes it easier to snap some candids of people without them noticing.

I don't really like the zoom ring, it's a little too stiff and I found myself struggling to get the zoom I wanted. Maybe this is because it's new, but I'd prefer it to be a little bit looser.

I wish it was just a little bit faster. F4.5-5.6 is okay, but it would be perfect if it was a stop faster (of course it would be twice as expensive too).

I feel like I got a fair deal for the lens. Of course I would have loved to buy it for less, but I feel like I got good value for my money. This lens for a happy wife is probably worth it :)