Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Fast autofocus, Excellent quality for a low - ish end lens . |
| Disadvantages: |
Not that sharp at 300mm |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
This is going to be a bit of a mixed review. I love this lens, dont get me wrong, but i had taken a long time to read up on these lenses because i knew i wanted a 75-300mm and couldnt decided between this and the Sigma version of the same spec (75-300mm f4-5.6).
I saw a few reviews for Sigma lenses sayin that the sharpness just wasn't there at the long end (250-300mm).
I fimally settled on spending a few extra quid and having the
canon USM Lens.
The build quality of this lens is excellent, and for a long-ish lens, its compact, and autofocusing is VERY fast (with my EOS 30 anyway).
Optically, the lens is excellent from 75mm right up through 250mm, particularly for it's price. However at above 250mm the sharpness drops off... FAST. There's no problems at f32-f8... but f5.6 at 300mm is a no-no if what you want is razor sharp images.
Ok so maybe i was being too hopefull - it's only a £180 lens... but still, i'd hoped i wouldnt be making the same complaints about this lens as i'd read about the Sigma lens of the same spec.
If you really want super-sharp images at 300mm, it has to be a canon 'L' series lens, but thats no good unless you have a few grand lying around to spend on your glass...
All in all, a great buy for everyday use, and wonderfull if you dont enlarge or you dont need everything razor sharp. Not so great if you want clean crisp images when they're 12"x8" and above.
That said of course, buy yourself good ASA800 film (fuji extra is excellent) and you'll be shooting at f8 anyway so the sharpness isnt such a problem.
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