 EF 70-300mm : Tower of Power
Everything is big with this powerful bazooka, except the price
It doesn't matter if you are in the middle of the Serengeti trying to photograph some hungry lions, chasing a celebrity, at your backyard capturing candids of elusive children at play, or shooting sport action shots: you will always find a good use for a long tele lens. Obviously the problems of long tele lenses are price, speed and shake.
The Canon EF 70-300 is one refreshing surprise. If you think this lens is big, wait 'til you unlock it and you'll see a protruding barrel that converts this already big piece of glass in an Empire State wanna be.
If you use this bazooka with an APS-C sensor camera, the 1.6x crop factor will deliver an equivalent focal length of 112-480mm. That's quite a bit of zoom! The maximum aperture starts at f/4.0, so it's not incredibly fast; but it has Image Stabilizer with two modes, one for panning and the other for static subjects. The IS works extremely fine and it is an invaluable feature at such long focal length where the minimum movement produces a blurry picture. The Ultra Sonic motor works more than efficiently providing precise and accurate auto-focus.
The quality construction is remarkably good. Everything works smoothly. The zoom ring has a lock at 70mm for convenient transportation.
Although it may seem like a paparazzi-only glass it is quite useful. Due to the long focal range you can obtain a beautiful bokeh effect easily. This is a terrific lens for portraits, although you'll have to step back quite a bit. Also you can use this glass for close-up photography.
Optically this lens is really very good, and when using it with an APS-C camera you will take advantage of the best part of the lens. You can achieve extremely sharp photos and capture excellent (yes, excellent) image quality.
Since this is not a "white lens with a red strip" it means that the price tag is affordable: $550. That's quite a low price considering that some "L" class super telephoto may cost anything between $1,000 and $6,000. So having an extremely good long tele lens for $500 it's quite a bargain.
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Good
to know... |
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Brand & Model: |
Canon
EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM |
Pertinent
info: |
> 112-480mm in 35mm equivalent on APS-C sensor cameras
> 15 elements in 10 groups
> Image Stabilizer with static and panning modes
> Closest focusing Distance:4.9ft/1.5m
> Zoom system: 6-group helical zoom
> Filter size: 58mm
>3.0 in. x 5.6 in, 22.2 oz. / 76.5mm x 142.8mm, 630g |
Ideal
for: |
Long tele photography |
Street Price: |
$550 |
Low cost alternative: |
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM ($182.14, a good alternative but it doesn't have an Image Stabilizer) |
High cost alternative: |
Canon EF L 70-200L f/2.8 IS USM ($1,000) |
Advantages: |
- Long range with 1.6x crop factor
- Image Stabilizer
- Decent Quality built
- Very good optics, impressive results with 1.6x crop factor cameras
- Very nice Bokeh
- Great bang-for-the-buck ratio
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Disadvantages: |
-
Bulky
- Not blazing fast starting at f/4.0
- Hood and case sold separately |
Our emotional opinion: |
We think this superb tower of power should be in every Photo Aficionado arsenal. It is fun to use, very well built and with a remarkable optical quality. This may be a serious way to improve your photos. |
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