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

For several years, I've been using a Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS lens. With the IS II version of that lens coming, I figured the time was right to sell my 70-200 and pick up the new version. In the meantime, I wanted to try out this 70-300 DO lens. It has several distinct advantages over the 70-200 2.8L IS, which is generally thought of as one of Canon's best lenses.

1) You can actually walk around with the 70-300 DO IS lens on your camera while the camera is hung around your neck. That's not possible for any length of time with the 70-200, which weighs substantially more and is significantly longer. This isn't an issue if you're doing weddings and bar mitzvahs, or if you always work with a tripod, but if you want to walk the streets or theme parks with a long focal length lens, this lens is preferable.

2) You get an extra 100mm of telephoto range while still getting image stabilization. While some have spoken of the 300mm point as being somewhat soft on this lens, that's definitely not the case with mine. I took a photo of a 747 flying high overhead...with the naked eye I was able to see a dot from which the contrails form. In the photo, you could tell what airline it was and you could clearly and crisply pick out each of the four jet engines. Architectural detail was equally sharp even without post-processing. I would not say that this lens is as perfectly sharp as the 70-200 2.8, but the differences will not be significant after you've worked in Photoshop.

3) Smaller lens hood...easier to carry around. Smaller filter size...less expensive.

4) A perfect lens to accompany your Canon 24-70 L lens.

So what's the downside? The big one, and the only significant one for me, is the limitation in speed with an f4.5-5.6 aperture. With today's digital camera and high ISO capabilities, the real issue isn't so much speed as it is your ability to adequately blur the background if desired. While I thought I would find the difference substantial, I don't actually think it's that big a deal in practice. With both lenses on the shelf, I think the vast majority of the time, I'd reach for this one.

Others have spoken of the zoom lock on the lens as useful in keeping the lens at 70mm while it hangs around your neck. That caused me concern that the zoom ring would be so loose in practice as to be difficult to firmly set at any given focal length. In reality, that's not the case, and I never find myself using the zoom lock. The focal length stays where I've set it.

Overall, this is a wonderful lens, and while I had planned to trade it up to the 70-200 IS II when that comes out in another month, I think I'm going to stick with the DO for a while.

I bought this lens when it was first released back in 2006. After three and a half years of use, I find it consistently the most used lens in my camera bag. Quite importantly, I haven't personally experienced any of the negatives I've read in other reviews. Not once. The pictures I am able to capture with this lens are nothing less than superb in quality. The lens is very well built and feels totally solid - built like a truck. Of course, the size of this lens is clearly the most amazing feature. Even fully extended, the zoom is quite significantly shorter than a 200mm standard zoom lens, therefore calling very little attention to itself. The images I've been able to get with this lens are amazing. It's feels well balanced on the front of my 30D. Easy to handle, and easy to swap out if you need a shorter focal length. Think about all of the pictures you can capture when you can have 300mm worth of zoom on your camera without lugging around a huge, sometimes inappropriate feeling lens. Though certainly quite a significant investment, this lens has been worth every penny I spent on it. If you're in the market for a premium zoom lens and this baby fits in your budget, I highly recommend this lens. You'll absolutely love it.

I'm very disappointed with the lens creep on this lens. I realize this is typical of a longer zoom lens, but was hoping that Canon would have addressed this problem with a lens of this expense. The zoom had almost too much resistance for the first few shootings, but now it is impossible to shoot upward or downward and stay in focus. (I've only had the lens a few months.)

Before purchasing Canon EF 70-300 DO IS USM Lens, I was using 75-200 Canon lens which was without image stabiliser. So, without tripod, I was unable to take good pictures. When I bought this lens and used it at different locations, I got awesome results of the lens. I do not use tripod. Its a worth buying. You can see some of the pictures taken by me on this page. Thanks to amazon.

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