Canon EF 75300mm f/45.6 III USM Telephoto Zoom

Great lens for the amateur who can’t afford the IS or L series lenses.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this lens 2 months ago and have only had great experiences so far. I am an amateur photographer who lives in Costa Rica and have been able to get some great wildlife shots. The pictures are very sharp and the focus is very fast due to the USM motor. I would HIGHLY recommend this lens to anyone who wants a lens for long range shots but can’t afford or doesn’t want to spend the money for the IS or L series lenses. This lens is definitly worth the cost.

A very good telephoto lens with great price!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great telephoto lens with very quick and accurate focusing. I am using it with my Canon XTi 15.1Mpixels and I got great photos out of them! At high zoom you get less light going inside the lens but when you have to choose between 100 – 3200 ISO this is not a problem! Overall a good lens whit good capabilities.

not bad but clearly entry-level
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
For the price this is an ok zoom lens. I’m left wanting an image-stabilized lens though because i have found it difficult to get consistently good results with this lens without the constant use of a tripod. I have years of slr photography experience and a very steady hand, I can get clear shots at 1/20th of a second with a 50mm focal length. With this lens, its difficult even at 1/200th of a second, which is about an average exposure time for this lens in daylight at 100-200 ISO. The lens is also slow to autofocus and somewhat inaccurate, causing some photos to come out slightly blurry. If you really have to have a zoom lens now and can’t afford an IS lens, this one’s not a bad choice. But if you can wait, save your money and get an IS lens with faster focusing and better optics. You’ll be glad you did.

Canon SLR Digitial Camera Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Love the lens and my new camera!!! Does everything it is supposed to do!!

great telephoto
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I use this telephoto with the canon rebel xti and I’ve gotten great results. Smooth focus, easy to use.

Great for the Price!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
There is no doubt that the IS version must be better…but the price is good, and the lensa is very good too! I’ve used it in different conditions, and the results have been great. I highly recommend this lens.

Worth the Price
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This may not be the best lense out there, but for the price I believe I’ts a great value. I plan to use this lense on a tripod, with a remote control switch. With the camera on servo.

It’s a Canon lense, and they are usally known for quality. It just depends on what you plan to use it for, and what you expect of it. For the price my expections were exceeded.

Ok for the money, but there are better options…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This lens is a popular entry level zoom. For the money you get a pretty big zoom range and ok quality in good light. For a little more you can get the EF 100-300 f/4.5-5.6. The 100-300 features ring-type USM which allows full-time manual focus–that means you can adjust the focus manually without switching to manual mode. Also the focus is quicker and quieter without rotating or extending the front element so the use of circular polarizers is easier.

If you can afford the extra money, I would recommend the 100-300 as a budget telephoto zoom. If not, this one is ok but not good.

Nice Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I liked using this lens at the beach or somewhere in nature. I enjoyed it while I had it.

Not really a very good lens
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This lens is inexpensive, and it shows in terms of poor image quality, among other things. Unless you simply cannot afford something better, I would stay away from this one. I had it for a very short period of time before I got rid of it. Then again, at the price it is being offered, one cannot have too much grounds for complaint.

Not bad for under $200
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Being new to the DSLR experience and not knowing much about anything I didn’t want to spend too much on a zoom lens. When I first got it I thought it was great because I had nothing to compare it too. Well, a friend of mine let me try his setup with the 300mm F/2.8L lens and now I know what this under $200 dollar lens is missing. For portraits and stills it’s a decent lens for the low budget novice but for action shots, like surfing, it focuses way to slow and at full 300mm extension the pictures are kind of soft. That’s why I give it 4 stars, but for the money it can’t be beat.

OK Lens – good for price
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I was a little disappointed in this lens for my purposes. It just wasn’t as sharp as I wanted. I returned it and spent the extra for the 70-200 f/4L and am much happier. That being said, it wasn’t a bad lens at all. If you don’t want to spend the extra, or just like snapping shots for your own enjoyment and not to publish, it would probably be fine.

Save Your Money
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I purchased the 75-300mm for a trip to a NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship in Homestead, FL. I was mostly disappointed with the lens from the beginning. The lens is not very sharp, feels very cheap, and the autofocus is slow and hilariously innaccurate in low light.

I packed up and returned the lens about an hour after I got off the plane. I am going to save my money for something sturdier and with a better maximum aperture.

I suggest you do the same.

1st timer
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
For a very reasonable price you get pretty good quality. not bad for a novice like me.I suppose if I was a pro this would not be good enough but the lens is as good as this user is and I have enjoyed the pictures I have taken with it.

Great lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love this lens! The pictures are great. For the price it was a great buy.

Canon Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Excellent lens for the price and to us ameture/novice photographers. I have done quite a bit of research before my actual purchase and for someone who wants to start venturing out into the telephoto world this is a great start. I’ve been on other pro web sites and to them this may not be the perfect lens, according to the reviews, but I feel I made a great choice. I bought it in mind for sport/action photography, since I have kids. The only down fall is when you can’t use flash and taking action photos, the photos come out blurry. That happens to be the case with my daughters gymnastics. But when I’m ready to spend a few hundred dollars or more I’ll research for a lens that will overcome that problem. But for now I’m happy.

Great lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
We purchased the Canon 20d almost 2 years ago and have been using the 18-55mm kit lens. But after being frustrated about not getting the close shots at our daughter’s dance recitals, we started the search for a telephoto lens.

We were always interested in knowing who was reviewing a lens so I’ll tell you that we are a mom and dad who want to get the good shots at recitals and sporting events. We are not professional photographers who want to or can justify spending a ton of money on some of the TOP NOTCH lenses out there. We did look at the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 and loved it. But it was almost $1000 and heavy for one of us.

We wanted to keep our purchase under $500 so the final choice was between the 3 Canon 75-300 lenses (III, USM, and IS USM). After research we decided to try this lens. It was the mid-range of the three and at a reasonable price. It also had pretty good reviews for the most part.

We purchased this lens this week and received it Friday. We have already taken over 200 photos with it. We are VERY happy with our purchase! The photos we have taken are clear and crisp — even at 300mm. We had a few of the pics come out blurry but we suspect that was operator error not lens error. In fact, at yesterday’s soccer game, another set of parents was checking it out. After seeing the pics we emailed them of their daughter, they want to buy this lens too!

Bottom line, if you can afford (and/or can justify buying)a more expensive lens then go for it. But if you are a parent or amateur who wants to get some great pics with a lens at a great price, then this is the lens for you!

Could be a lot better
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Let me first say I’m not usually a cheap person, but I based this purchase on cost. I really wanted the 70-300 IS version from canon but at over 500.00 this seems like a no brainer to just get this one and forgo the IS. Well was I wrong, the build quality on this lens was very low, and I did not get one image worth saving. everything was grainy or soft especially when reaching out. I returned this lens 2 weeks later and bought the 70-300 IS version which I am extremely happy with. Don’t waste your time and upgrade now. It really is worth the extra money.

Great lens!!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This has proven to be a versatile lens for me. The focusing speeds is a little slow, but it is useful for most photographic purposes.
It generates wonderful photos when attached to my Canon EOS IX Lite (APS).

Easy to use
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
We have used the lens a few times at our sons soccer games and we captured every kick straight through. My wife used it to take pictures of our kids on a ferris wheel and she caught every moment up close.

So far we have had no problems with the lens. It has served its purpose the next test will be at Walt Disney World and Sea World……..

Cannon SLR 75-300 ml lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens was all I anticipated and more. The auto focus fast and accurate. I gat stunning action shots.

Canon EF 75-300 III USM
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was between this lens and the IS (image stabilization) model. For the price I tried this model, as I have gone this far, about 40 years, with out IS. I am very pleased with the overall quality. In full sun I have hand held it at about 250mm, with great results. Otherwise I’ll use a tripod. No big deal. I use the lens on a Rebel XTi and find the balance to be very pleasing. Shooting wild life in lower light conditions, it would be nice to have another f stop, but now you are talking a lot more money.

Nice product
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This lens has been a nice complement to our Rebel XT. Fast focus and nice zoom range. Highly recommended. However, for indoor photography at high zoom, the built-in flash on the Rebel XT is not strong enough, so be forewarned that you may need to buy a flash as well…

Pleased so far
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
So far I am pleased with the lens I purchased. I bought it used but it came to me like brand new. Although I have only taken one roll of film with it, and still learning to use it I am pleased with the quality and detail of the pictures.

Excellent Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This lens was everything I was expecting and more. For my price range and photography level, I couldn’t ask for more. The zoom worked quite well and is even better than the lens I had for my old 35mm. Auto-focus takes about a second longer than my standard lens, but speed is not an issue for most of the things I photograph. Great purchase for a novice photographer looking to get that picture from a little further away.

great sports lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
It is a very fast focusing lens. I used it at a soccer game and got Great shots.

Great lens for the money.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just got this lens yesterday. Went out and took some photos with it just to see what it would do. I was expecting to see some blurring since I had read the reviews and that seemed to be the biggest con on this lens. Well, I am truely surprised. I do not have a tripod yet so I braced my elbows on the front porch. I still knew that I was moving the lens around as I took a picture. But the photos came out excellent. I am using a Canon Rebel XTI. I am very happy I bought the lens. I am just an amatuer photographer but the lens did all and more than I wanted from it.

great optics, affordable price.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
when you deal with a canon lens you feal the amount of work spent in making these pieces, and this one is no exception. I baught this lens with my canon EOS 300D (Rebel 2000D)and was really impressed by the superb quality of the images produced. the focus is really ultrasonic, the quality of the lens itself is fantastic, it snaps in easily, and the range is superb for landscaps and closups alike. BUT the tradeoff includes a slightly slower lens to fit the price, otherwise who can buy a 70-300 USM with an f of 2.8 for instance?! the 4-5.6 f is suitable for most of your needs, but probably at the 300 end you MIGHT need a faster film or compansate with a slower shutter speed + a tripod. of course the lens will be somewhat heavy, so a tripod is highly advised. I totally agree with the writer who complained of not selling the lens in a case, after all what you pay for a respectable company, for this lens a case is mandatory.

Canon 75-300mm telephoto zoom lens.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have no complaints! This is a great lens that takes beautiful photos. LOVE THIS LENS!

Nice daytime lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Nice affordable lense in adequate lighting or with a good strong flash. Fast silent auto-focus.

Fun lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This has been a fun lens to play with! I have been able to use this lens just fine without a tripod and still get great pics! I don’t know much about the logistics of this lens but I have had a great expierence with it and am glad I bought it!

Good Starter Zoom Lens
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This lens is great for a starter or a newbie to the dSLR realm, but you may find that you quickly outgrow it. That has been the case for me. I bought this in November 06, and now in January, I am already looking into replacing it.

The only up side is that it allows you to get a decent zoom at 300mm.

The downsides are many. It is very slow to focus and often just won’t focus on the subject you want it to focus on, so you have to switch to manual, and focusing manually at 300mm is a bit difficult. The photographs it takes, once you get it to focus are very dull. The colors are drab, the sky looks grey even on a bright clear day. I have compared this to all of my other lenses, and it is by far the worst. Lots of chromatic abberation too. You can get decent photos if you bring them into photoshop and increase lelvels and saturation, but right out of the camera the photos are noticeably lacking.

To go back to my initial point, this is a good starter lens for someone who only has the kit lens for an XTi for example, and wants a better zoom. I think lenses are meant to be bought this way. You buy one and use it until you can see it’s faults and then you look into upgrading. Since they depreciate very little, you can pretty easily get a good price when you sell it on ebay.

Pretty slow.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Bought this lens with a Digital Rebel XT as part of a package. This lens looks formidable compared to the stock lens. If you’re shooting in daylight, you should be able to get some pretty good shots. The 1.6 crop factor on the Digital Rebel XT effectively turns this into a 120-480 35mm equivalent. Can’t beat that for the price.

Unfortunately, the rather small aperture of f/5.6 at 300mm means this lens can’t be used in low, or maybe even low-medium light. Several pictures shot at 300mm in the evening came out very blurry – f/5.6 just didn’t let enough light in. Earlier today, in a dimly lit auditorium (1 100w blub every 20ft or so), I could not get a sharp, properly exposed picture – it was either very sharp, very dark, or just enough light, but too blurry.

I’m losing too many shots to low light. I suggest you look for a lens with a larger aperture – the EF 200m seems to fit this bill, but costs $600+, as well. But, I mean $150? What can I expect? The lens is a great value, just remember that it’s a poor performer in low light.

EXCELLENT LENS/VALUE FOR THE $$$$$$$$$$$$$
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have owned this lens for about 3 months now and have nothing but good things to say! Many reviewers reguard this as a LOW END LENS, poorly constructed and won’t reep sharp images. As with any lens you do need to receive a good copy as I did. I use this lens mounted to my Rebel XT and have taken over 500 photos at 300mm with excellent results! I do not use One Shot Auto Focus, for best results you should set the Camera focus to AI SERVO which enables the Lens into FULL TIME FOCUS, this will lock all focus points to get crisp/sharp images, if you try that you will see how well this lens will preform! I do own the standard kit lens + The EF-S 17-85mm Is Lens + The EF-S 10-22mm IS lens. For the money you can’t beat this lens, I paid $189.99 for it and have no complaints! Canon has a New Lens due to be released in Sept,05…a 70-300mm version with IS and has a retail price of $649.99! This is something I would be interested in testing, but I am very pleased with the results I receive with the lens I have!

Where’s my closeup
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens for my wife, a great lens, great value, she loves it. Gets a lot of usage with family photos, a definite good buy.

I like it a lot
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
In the short time I’ve owned the lens I’ve been very pleased with the performance of the lens. It’s not perfect but very good for my needs.I take a lot of pictures of birds this lens allows me to shoot from a range where I don’t scare the birds.

One word: unpredictable
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Looking for lenses for my Canon Rebel XS, it was hard to find any within my price range, let alone under $200. I came across the Canon EF 75-300mm III USM telephoto zoom lens for a reasonable price, and pulled the triggered and bought one.

If I had to sum up my experience with this lens, I’d use one word: unpredictable. This is not a bad lens, because it takes many great pictures. Conversely, this is not a good lens, because it takes many bad pictures. I’ll elaborate below:

PRICE

This is a really good price for an additional lens. Yes, it may seem expensive, but when you compare to other lenses on the market, it’s pretty reasonable. If you’re on a very tight budget and are looking for a telephoto zoom lens, this is great

AUTO-FOCUS

This I felt was at times very slow, which was very frustrating. Assuming you’re buying a telephoto lens for capturing fast movement – say, a bird in the distance, or a sporting event – this can be very frustrating. A lot of my photos from a recent family trip to Aruba were ruined because either (a) I couldn’t capture the moment, (b) I captured the moment, but out of focus. I cannot emphasize how frustrating this is!

MANUAL FOCUS

As a natural extension of my previous point regarding auto-focus, I found myself using manual focus a lot. I have taken some amazing pictures on manual focus, but this can be inconvenient, say you’re shooting something that is moving, etc.

RELIABILITY

If you’re looking for a reliable lens that time and time again produces nothing but very sharp, in-focus pictures, this is not your best bet. If, on the other hand, you’re a beginner, just learning to play with your DSLR, and want a telephoto lens to practice with, go for this. If you can afford to upgrade to a better lens, however, I’d suggest you do that.

Not sharp, Slow aperture and Slow focus
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This lens might be okay for beginners, but if you are into any quality photography

GET THE CANON 70-200 L (f/2.8 or f/4 with or without IS)

CONS

-Slow aperture

-Not sharp enough

-Not an L

-Paint is chipping off

PROS

- Cheep, (but not worth it unless you don’t care for quality)

My recommendation… Buy a Canon 70-200 L instead (even the f/4 will blow this lens away)

Great starter telephoto.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve used this lens since I started shooting about a year ago, and while I’m currently upgrading to something with better glass, stabilization, and more reach (I primarily shoot aircraft), I’m keeping this as my intermediate-range lens for the foreseeable future. With a relatively slow aperture and no stabilization, it’s a very demanding lens to use on aircraft, but if you know its limitations and compensate for them, you can get some truly outstanding shots. Its shortcomings have helped make me a much better photographer from a technical standpoint.

Four stars because you just aren’t going to find a better lens at this price for the EOS series (until Canon makes a better one). Highly recommended for beginners or casual photographers who just want a little more reach, but if you are a serious photographer that shoots with high-dollar gear that does a lot of your work for you, this lens will probably piss you off and you should stay away.

A Fairly decent lens, relatively cheap lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve been using it a lot since I got it over a month ago. I haven’t had any issues with it. I photographed homecoming parades on gray days, portraits, wildlife, and nature. They all looked good. I had no underexposure issues, and my exposure speeds and aperture sizes were fairly well adjusted too. I think that in a field such as photography, this lens is just fine for people starting out or who don’t have $1000 to $2000 for one lens.

I’m not the greatest at figuring out the distances of lenses, but this one goes fairly far. Be warned though, when extended to 300 or so, the lens gets a tad long, and can be a little hard to hold steady. I don’t use a tripod all that much, and none of my pictures were blurry from shake.

Review of Cannon EF 75-300 MM lens
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Lens is a good buy considering the price. Does not match up with the much more expensive “L” series lens, however would not expect to at this price. If you can work with the need for light with a 5.6, then this lens is definitely worth the price.

Good telephot “outdoor” lens.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is a good lens if you are looking for a long telephoto outdoor only lens. There are several reasons why this should be considered an outdoor use only lens.

1.) 4.0 -5.6 is a slow aperture, you will need lots of light to use this lens effectively.

2.) Cheaper flash units (such as the on camera flash) are designed to work with wider angle lenses, not a lens with a minimum 75mm range to maximum 300mm.

3.) The 75mm range is too long for most indoor shots unless you can stand SEVERAL feet back. Even for outdoor landscape shots the range on this lens is simply too long.

You will get good results from this lens if there is plenty of sunshine and you are farther away from the objects / people you are taking pictures of. You could use this as a portrait lens, but again you will need some distance between you and your subject, specially on the smaller sensor of Canon’s lower-end SLR digital camera’s (such as the D-Rebel) where this lens actually becomes a 120mm to 480mm.

So if you are going to the zoo, taking pictures of the kids during afternoon baseball, softball, soccer, football, ______fill in the blank games or if you are outside and have extra room to step back from people for portrait shots then you will have decent luck with this lens. Also, it is a cheaper Canon lens, so the optical quality compared to Canon’s higher end lenses will result in “softer” images. However, if you have plenty of light and can increase the aperture to around 8 or higher, then you should get pretty decent results.

nice images – zoom ring could be smoother
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
price is right – zoom has a bit of a sticky drag. this ain’t your old metal fd lens, but for a consumer lens with a consumer camera, it works just fine. i would buy it again over a higher priced lens – no other discernable flaws.

great lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I use this lens with my rebel 300 and have had no problems. I read the other reviews and took their advice on changing f stop and everything has worked great. I have taken shots of hawks on the fly and the shots have come out very clear. When I save up some money maybe I’ll buy a IS lens but right now this works just fine.

Terrible choice, terrible resolution, terrible build quality
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens based on the super telephoto ability and low cost. You truly get what you pay for, and this thing isn’t worth a plug nickel. I took a few shots on a tripod and could not believe how terrible this lens was @ 300mm (480mm on a Digital Rebel XT). Incredibly soft. Even stopped down, I would never want to make an enlargement from it. Stay away. Don’t believe the fools who are novices, you will be disappointed with this lens. You’re much better off to buy the older & used 100-300mm 5.6 (the L version costs more too) but both are so much better than this junker. You’re even more crazy if you think you can take decent photo’s with this lens handheld. Having switched from Nikon when switching to digital, I almost judged Canon from this one lens, which I’m glad I didn’t. Don’t waste your money or learn the hard way like I did. This lens also had terrible purple fringing, almost as bad as the kit 18-55mm. After extensive research and testing I now own and am happy with the following Canon lenses:

Canon 10-22mm

Canon 28-105mm (3.5 version)

Canon 100-300mm (5.6 non-L version) I will sell for the L version when I can afford it.

The kit 18-55mm makes usable shots, but when I could afford it, I sold it too.

You will get better results buying a Rebel XT and an older 100-300mm than you would with a brand new XTI and this terrible 75-300mm lens.

good lens for the money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
To be very honest with you, after I took some pictures with this lens without tripod I thought of returning this lens back. I was very upset. Yesterday I bought the Tripod and tried shooting the moon. Man it was awesome. I took very good pictures with it. I haven’t tried any sports event or any moving objects but certainly i will post the quality once i have taken.

When I tried with 9 point AF the lens was struggling to fix the focus. But when I used center point focus it worked perfectly well except slight movement of focus ring.

Worth every penny
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This lens is cheap, and for a reason. It won’t focus sharply when the aperture is wide open, so it’s hard to get shots with a narrow depth of field but sharp focus on the subject. Its high f-number means you pretty much need sunlight or a tripod to avoid camera shake, and forget about action shots unless it’s full sunlight. It also has very bad chromatic aberration; this may be corrected by a UV filter, but I haven’t tried it. It shows purple halos around dark objects when they’re set against a bright background.

The lens does have very nice autofocus, though. It’s very fast, especially after it’s found the general distance of your subject and it just has to make minor corrections for different shots.

Overall, this is a good lens for learning to frame shots and use a zoom lens, but its quality is low and it’s not good for much more than learning.

A Fantastic Lens for the Price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I didn’t buy this lens from Amazon but I do own it. It’s a great telephoto lens and I’ve been really happy with the picture quality. My only gripe is that I wish it had a stabilizer. Even with that’s only slightly dim, like that of a cloudy day for example, causes the photos to sometimes be blurred because the lens is long and heavy, so small movement can cause blurring. It isn’t impossible to use without a tripod, though. It’s an extremely good lens for the price, that’s for sure. Overall I’m very satisfied with it!

Canon EF 75-300mm lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am an amateur photographer with my first SLR camera. I needed a telephoto lens to take on a trip to the San Francisco Bay Area recently. I wanted something to get better skyline and shoreline photos. This lens did not let me down. I took some beautiful photos with this lens. It is easy for an amateur like me to use. I am glad I chose this particular lens.

Great Value for a starting lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just got this lens and took over 300 pictures today. Being an enthusiast and not a professional, this lens is a great first telephoto zoom lens. All of the negative comments you read in other reviews might be true but I am happy with the quality of pictures I am getting for the price I paid. Shooting in good light with a tripod produces some great pictures!

A nice thrifty choice.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
It’s a good zoom lens. Yes it is slow, and that is a problem when blowing up handheld shots. A tripod is a necessity if you’re concerned with shake. On bright days though, I haven’t had a problem with it. The USM is good for quieter operation, though the focus can be slow in low contrast situations.

Metal lens mount, and a sturdy feel are also nice features on this lens. It’s a great choice compared to the cheaper version, and for those of us who can’t afford the more expensive, faster or IS models.

Great value….great lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
You can’t beat the price. My dad bought the same lens about a year ago, and he paid almost twice the price! There was absolutely nothing wrong with this lens. It was identical to the one my dad bought at Best Buy. I highly recommend it!

A grat lens to have in your lens case.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’m just a beginner in photography, trying to capture great moments alongside my 18 month old daughter, this lens captures those up close happy girl smiles and laughter from across the room without snapping up the clutter of the dreaded background of a messy room for all to see. Plus it’ll work great with my new digital camera that we decided to invest in alongside it seems the rest of the civilized world.

well worth it for the money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I had one, it was a very good lense, especially for the money. Mine was not soft at all, very sharp even at 300mm, but only when camera shake wasn’t an issue, and the focus was just right. OK, a little fringing if you look real hard, and only sometimes under the worst conditions. A couple of good points need to be hit upon: it focuses down to about five feet, you can get some amazing wildlife shots, like a dragonfly that fills the entire frame. Try getting closer than five feet with a macro lense and you lose the shot, at lesser zoom (people compare this lense to a 70-200mm) it’s a less impressive shot. One more thing; decent depth of field on this lense, even at full zoom, partly because of the small aperture. I suspect that there are some “lemon” versions of this lense out there, mine wasn’t. I traded up for faster/more reliable autofocus especially in low light, and for f 2.8 to use in low light. Yes, I think my new lense has better resolution, better contrast maybe, but it also cost over four times as much, it’s way, way heavier and bulkier and only covers 70-200. Depth of field is pretty shallow on the new lense so I have to stop down anyway; losing the advantage of a “fast lense”. Buy this lense if you’re on a budget, can’t beat it at this price; you can get some great portraits at 75mm, and some impressive closeups without changing your position. If you get lemon, send it back. Exceptions: autofocus is indeed slow, sports or fast moving wildlife will frustrate you. If you need to shoot in low light without a flash, then you’ll probably upgrade like I did. Customer reactions are all over the place, so I can only assume that Canon had a quality control issue with this lense. Sure, if you have the money, skip this lense and buy L-series only, or Sigma EX series for an in-between option. Otherwise, buy it and try it.

Canon failed in this one!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Every person that buys an SLR camera invariably ends up with lenses that cover focal lengths of 28mm to 300mm – a 28-90mm and a 70-300mm lens. This one fits the latter requirement. For 170 bucks you get a long 300mm focal length. But that’s about it.

The slow autofocus aside, this lens is extremely soft at all focal lengths above 150mm or so. I recently made the biggest mistake of taking this lens to an airshow. I thought the light weight helped me with the maneuverability of the camera but then when I saw the pictures I was terribly disappointed. There can be nothing more disappointing than figuring out that you’ve done your part well (composition, exposure, etc) and then find that your lens failed miserably. The F-18 jets had soft edges and looked like they were portraits of women. I had to apply unsharp mask filter in photoshop several times to get something that I could put on the web.

IMHO, Canon really failed on this one and I guess it’s time they replaced this lens with something better.

For those of you that are reading this review and are looking to purchase a lens in this focal length range (and price range!), I strongly suggest the Sigma. If possible, get one with the APO designation on it. I guess it costs $50 more. But the quality of images it produces is far better than this Canon. As a nice add-on it also offers a macro switch that enables close focusing to achieve a 1:2 magnification.

I know there are brand afficionados out there that will buy nothing other than a Canon – good or bad. If you are looking for quality in a lens of this focal length and price range, avoid this lens. Also don’t go to eBay and buy the IS version of this lens – it’s got the same bad optics. Canon recently replaced it with a 70-300mm IS. I guess that is very good. Of course, the legendary 100-400mm IS with a price tag of $1400 is stunning.

Nice but…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The lens is good for the price, but it comes with one problem that it drains the battery a lot faster because it is motor based zoom. Good for amateurs, if you have more money go for Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Canon’s EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Canon EF Lenses Have A Built In AF Motor..Compared To Camera Body-Based AF Motors, Lens-Based Motors Have Driving Energy With Lower Transmission Loss…The AF Operation Is Therefore Quick, Quiet, And Highly Precise…All EF Lenses Also Have EMD (Electromagnetic Diaphragm) To Control The Aperture Electronically…The Aperture Can Be Set Either With An Electronic Dial Or With The Electronic Pulse Signal Sent According To The Exposure Reading…The Aperture Control Is Therefore Precise And Umnatched…

To Go With Canon’s Reputation, They Introduce A Lens That Is Truely Immaculate…Its Telephoto Zoom From 75mm-300mm Is A Great Addition To A Current Setup With A 28-80mm Lens And Is Ideal For Shooting Sports, Wildlife, Or Portraits…It Can Compress An Image To Give Dramatic Effects…The Optics And Construction Are Compact And Lightweight (Compared To My Nikon FM Setup) And The 4x Zoom Is Great…A Very Steady Shot Even At Maximum Zoom…The Apature Stops Are Adaquate, Being f4-f5.6, But Could Be Wider…All In All An Awesome Lens For The Money…Another Canon Hit…

The Lens Is The Same As The EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III, However It Uses A USM To Drive The Autofocus Rather Than A DC Motor…

*Specs Taken From Canon’s Catalogue…

Excellent Introduction to the long range zoom world.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Bought this lens for my Canon 300D. I chose to buy it despite a lot of mixed reviews. I love the lens. Great focus throughout the range. Have been using it almost 4 weeks now. It is hard to hand hold at 200-300mm, but I knew that when I bought it, thats why I use a tripod or monopod.

If you want 75-300mm and can’t afford the IS $400 version, this is definately a good bet. I’d buy Canon glass anyday over tamron/sigma/quantaray.

It was good enough for me.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have EOS Revel T1i, and very very beginner. That being said: I have 10-22mm ultra-wide, and 18-55mm standard zoom, and they are both fine, but I just wanted a lens that goes above 55mm.

So here it is. I do not have any complain about the picture quality so far, I just wanted to see what 300mm is like, and its definitely a different world, and I am happy to know that. USM is pretty nice too, so you may want to spend a few more bucks on it to get it. My standard zoom lens has standard motor and its slow and noisy. Anyway, I got what I expected, and again, I am happy.

Great next step…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Well, I bought the Digital Rebel, and wanted to start to play around and learn about different lenses. I saw this Canon Zoom lens at $175, and jumped at it. Very happy with it – it really has allowed me to take more types of photos than ever, and it’s got me more interested in trying different lenses and photography in general. Good sharp pics (by my eye) and for the price…. great value.

great lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love this lens. I bought it to use with my rebel xt and it takes great pictures. I would love to have gotten the version with image stabilization but because of the huge price difference I got this one. The only times that I notice any shake in my pictures is with low light so I will use a tripod when I need to use it in low light. Otherwise this is a fabulous lens.

Nothing you haven’t heard!
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Ok here is the thing. You might have heard this over and over but once again here it is…when it comes to photographic gear you get what you pay for.

The lens is ok for the price you pay for it. But the quality is not up to desired levels. IMO optically this is worse than the kit lens. Build quality wise it is a bit better. The USM is not ring USM but micro USM which means that there is no real advantage of having the USM: does not focus silently nor that quickly either. So if you have had experience with ring USM you will be very very disappointed.

@75 mm the lens is a pretty decent performer. It maintains its decent performance until around 250 mm. After this the performance is, well, crappy. Eventually at 300mm, the lens is very soft rendering it useless unless stopped down heavily (atleast f8 or f10).

However I do not think the IS version is better as another reviewer said. If you do have about $600 to spare do buy the 70 200mm f4 L – much better value for the money. In fact I think that the best darn L lens based on price/performance ratio.

HOwever, for a newbie to dabble in telephoto photography this is an ideal lens I think. U can move on to better things once you master the art.

The best argument for this lens however is to accompany your camera body for double rebate!!!!!

Awesome lens!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I had been looking for a zoom lens that would fit my budget. And after reading the reviews of this lens, I went in for the plunge. And this is an awesome lens! Sure, you will need a tripod when you zoom in at 300, but almost every shot I’ve taken that was below 300 came out great. One thing I didn’t realize was how long the lens gets when you zoom, but it doesn’t really bother me. It does what I want it to do and gets in close where I want it to be close….

Disputed Lens – I Like It
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’m giving this 4 stars because it’s pretty much exactly what I expected. A good entry level telephoto lens. I’ve used this lens both with a tripod and without, and I really haven’t had a problem with blurring at the longest focal length – you just need to plant yourself somehow, hold your breath, and think about what you’re doing. This is at ISO 400 in full sun. I wouldn’t recommend 100 without a tripod.

My biggest gripe would be that the manual focus is almost impossible – it grinds hard and forces big jumps. But so far, this hasn’t come up.

Is this the best lens? No. Is this the best lens for the price? Absolutely. I’d recommend this lens to anyone who wants to add a telephoto to their kit but doesn’t want to drop $400. If you’ve got the bucks, go with the IS. If you don’t, this is a very good glass.

Nice lens for the money
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I don’t understand people who give this lens a low-rating and compare it to other telephoto lenses that cost $3000 and up. There’s no comparison at all. For under $200, its a quality item. Just be aware that its a $200 lens and you get what you pay for. The glass is clear and the action is firm and smooth. When attached to my XSi hanging around my neck, the lens doesn’t slide out to full extension like other telephotos I’ve used — thats what I mean when I say the action is firm. By smooth, I mean it doesn’t hang up, stutter or slip mid-zoom. At 300mm, you will need a very steady hand or a tripod. Also, don’t make the mistake of thinking this is a macro lens. You will not be able to focus on near objects with this lens. If you’re an amateur or beginner and need some quality range on a shoestring, its worth a try. If you’re like me and do alot of outdoors shooting and don’t want to worry about banging up expensive glass, then this is a must-have. For $200, I’ll take this lens anywhere with no fear of breaking an expensive accessory.

I’ll try to post some objective pictures showing the range and quality of the lens. Most of the pictures I saw posted didn’t really give a good idea of what to expect. Instead people posted pictures of their kitty-cats, kids or flowers, as if thats helpful in making a buying decision…

Excellent General Purpose Zoom Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought a Canon EOS 20D digital SLR and the Canon EF 75-300mm zoom lens to take photographs of my children’s various sporting events. The magnification factor of this lens is perfect for a variety of sporting events including lacrosse, basketball, swimming and gymnastics. The focusing speed is very good for capturing action shots. I highly recommend this lens as an affordable general purpose zoom lens.

Good lens for the money.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
If you are looking for an inexpensive telephoto, this one will work out well in most situations. At 300mm it’s a little slow @ f/5.6 so you may want to consider a monopod or tripod. Also, the image starts to get a little soft at 300mm. That being said, I have taken some great photos with this. I also use the lens with my equatorial mount to take astrophotos. I was able to get lots of deep sky objects with this lens at 300mm. I recently captured M101, M5, M27, and M38. Sure, you can buy a sharper and faster lens, but it’s going to cost you a lot more. This is a very versatile lens for the money and a great entry level telephoto.

Incredible!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
definitely the best present i’ve ever bought. i got it for my wife for christmas and she’s in love, going from a 18-55mm zoom to 75-300mm is a major difference, now all those animals won’t be so hard to see.

Just awful. Skip this lens.
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Returned it in 2 days. Just awful. Poor focusing and lots of hunting for focus on my Digital Rebel. Slowness made every shot underexposed. Lens mounted to the camera losely, so you could wiggle the lens. Lens gave error 99′s on the EOS.

Avoid this product.

Update: Purchased the Canon EF 75-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens and it is absolutely wonderful. Worth the extra money for better glass, Image stabilization, and faster focusing.

Good for the price, but…..
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens soon after I got my Rebel XT, so I didn’t know much about lenses. Now that I have been using it for about a year and have since learned a little more about photography, I kind of wish that I had bought the IS version or maybe even one of the higher quality (and much more expensive) L versions. I’m no pro but even I can tell that it becomes pretty soft at the long end. Plus the front element rotates which can be a problem when using a circular polarizing filter. As mentioned in other reviews, the use of a tripod can go a long way in helping to minimize the need for IS but a tripod is not always practical. Plus, when I bought it, I didn’t anticipate that I would use it as frequently as I have (though I still use my regular zoom more often). But despite its weaknesses, it’s still a pretty good lens, especially for the money. It has allowed me to get many shots I would not have been able to get otherwise, and with decent image quality. If you’re truly budget-minded and just want the extra reach for fun, then this would be a good choice. However, if your serious (or plan to be), and can afford it, I would go with something a little higher quality.

New Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
A great lens for the money. I am shooting pictures of 2 sons competitive soccer games for their respective teams. Posting pictures on line for the teams. We are getting great reviews by all who see them. Great clarity on distant shots.

great lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This lens is better than I expected!! it works great, it is light enough to carry around all day and certainly does what a good telephoto lens should do without disappointment.

great value at the right price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
wonderful optics at the right price and . the service was fast, better than i expected. this was the first time i purchased anything through amazon. the relationship will continue.

Great purchase
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great Item at a great price.

Seller was accurate and honest about item. will buy from again… all was fine.

Excellent Novice lense
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have just begun my interest in photography and this was the first zoom lense I have ever bought. The lense provided all that I could ever ask for. I just got back from the zoo with the kids and the photographes are excellent.

The perfect lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens coupled with the standard lens which accompanied my camera has been all I’ve ever needed. Excellent quality.

Sharp and inexpensive telephoto lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a great lens. It has the capability to take very sharp photos. People buy my photos and are impressed by the clarity. The lens does hunt a little when shooting into dark areas, but that is to be expected at f5.6.

The lens is plastic but the build quality is excellent and it feels substantial in your hands. The autofocus is fast and silent and doesn’t drain my battery as fast as my previous super telephoto lens.

At $170 this lens is a serious bargain.

pretty good for the money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
i didnt expect it to be as good as its higher end model wich i think is like almost double in price. but it works amazing. has a good range of zoom. focuses quickly. only thing is if your looking to shoot anything in very low lighting, it wont come out too good even with your highest ISO setting. but overall it gets the job done.

It is what you pay for.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
If you are looking for a lens with this sort of focal length, it is going to be your cheapest option. It focuses slow. Really really slow. I have the 5D with the 24-105L, and it is almost painful to switch between the two. If you are trying to shoot a kids soccer game in broad daylight this will suit you fine. If you are taking pictures of your dog on a Sunday afternoon. This is not a focal length I use a lot, so it suits me fine. If you are serious about sport or wild life photography, you aren’t going to buy this anyway. I would suggest saving your pennies and buying the 70-200 f/4L for just over $500. Kinda wish I had done that, but I had already dropped enough on the 5D.

Buy the “IS” version instead
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
If you’re looking at this lens, you’re more demanding than the average Joe who takes photos and have high expectations. This lens is not blazingly fast (f/5.6 at 300mm), and to reliably freeze camera shake, you’re going to need a 1/500 sec shutter speed, which means that with ISO 100 film, you only can lose one stop of illumination under “Sunny 16″ conditions before you have to decide comprimise somewhere to get your shot.
Consequently, shots into the shade, or conducted under the warmer and softer lighting conditions of the morning/evening will inevitably drive you to the comprimise of a high ISO grainy film or the bulk of a tripod to make up for this lens’s lack of optical speed. If you always shoot in full noon sunshine, you’ll be okay.
Even though its a great tool, most people don’t like to carry a tripod, so the solution is to either accept grain in enlargements, not take certain photos, spend more money to go to a faster lens, or some combination of the above. I’ll say it again: the most cost-effective alternative is to use a tripod. The next cost-effective alternative is Canon’s “IS” (Image Stabilization) lens technology. There are two contenders in this focal length, the 75-300mm IS and the 100-400mm IS. The former is nearly a duplicate of this lens…. The latter is a 3 lb pro lens…. Of these two, the 75-300mm IS is the bargain.
I started with this lens and after just a few test rolls, returned it and got the 75-300mm IS. The IS technology reliably affords an additional effective two stops of speed, although it cannot be used to freeze subject motion as the shutter will normally also do. But it makes the use of high quality films, such as Fuji Velvia (ISO 50), Kodachrome 64 and even Ekta (Kodak Royal Gold) ISO 25 feasible. -hh

Good lens for the price.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This was my second lens purchase as a beginner photographer. It hasn’t let me down and use it often.

great lens with few problems
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I upgraded from a 80-200 to this lens and have really appreciated the extra range. Sure this isn’t a professional lens, but for us advanced amateurs it offers all the versatility at a very affordable price. My only problems with this lens is that focus tends to be slow and the barrel is a little stiff. I’d still highly recommend it though.

Dusty trails
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens just 1 week before a trip to South America. It performed great. Got plenty of great shots. Was “off” road quite a bit in bumps dusty conditions, had no performance issues.

Canon EF 75-300mm
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Great beginner lens for the price. I wasn’t able to pay the extra $$ for the IS model. Would recommend if you are on a budget.

Great fun for an Amteur!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
There are no professionals or would-be professional photographers in our house. Instead we are ametuers who love to get fun shots of our friends and family. We’re not particularly interested in birds, flowers, bugs, race cars, etc. We want to catch our kids doing what they love best; football, basketball, swimming, band, golf…

My only advantage is that I am very experienced with Adobe Photoshop, which lets me creatively salvage some less-than-perfect shots.

This year our son is a high-school senior. Instead of buying an expensive portrait package, we voted to spend the money on a Canon Digital Rebel XT kit (with lens). We choose one extra zoom lense (the 75-300mm f4-5.6 III USM Telephoto) for up-close action sports shots. We didn’t chose the IS lens because it was out of our price range.

We are having great fun with this camera and lens. We have already taken a variety of football game pictures using the ‘basic’ sports setting on the camera (burst mode at full zoom). They are great – crisp and clear. These have been taken in full sun. We realize that we’ll have to get a little more creative when we are taking pictures in lower light situations. But I think we can do it.

I would recommend this lens for anyone who just wants to capture some fun shots. They might not be professional quality, but they are just what we wanted.

Love it!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Overall I love my new lens. It took some time to get used to the intricacies that using it involved but it took some great pictures of our family trip to Yellowstone. It is slightly heavy and sometimes hard to hold steady, but the final product is good.

Canon’s Worst Ever
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I have been photographing professionally for 36 years and virtually all 35mm in my inventory is Canon, so I am more than aware of the quality optics which they can produce. However, this is patently the worst lens I have ever seen Canon roll off the assembly line. Even at the higher shutter speeds (1/1250) and on a tripod as well, this lens lacks any degree of sharpness.

Do NOT purchase this lens unless you’re an absolute Novice and will be photographing the family pet romping in the backyard. Save you money and go with a higher-end model.

Depends on your expertise and budget.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Most experienced photogs wouldn’t waste their time with this lens, but for a newbie or someone on a limited budget, it is fine. It is best in good lighting conditions, but you may have to fiddle with the aperture and ISO in low light. Then it will be grainy, anyway. And it won’t really bring in the subject from very far away, but no 300mm will. So don’t expect stunning nature photos or NASCAR photos from the cheap seats. The images I posted are from 50′ away from the subject at most (Cedar Waxwings) and they have some grain even at ISO 100, but most people think they are decent enough. Anyway, it is a good way to get into a longer telephoto on the cheap. Enjoy, but understand its limitations.

Nice Lens for the Price if Stopped Down
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
My tests of this lens show sharp results from 75-200mm if stopped down by one stop. Beyond 200mm it takes progressively more aperture reduction to get sharp photos. Using f11 at 300mm gives excellent sharpness but then you need a tripod in all but very bright sunlight. So, this lens will take sharp pictures but requires bright light or a tripod at the long end.

The new 70-300mm IS version has a similar build quality and optics (maybe a tad better optics at the long end) and provides a 3-stop advantage which allows handholding under most conditions. However, it costs over three times as much – but may be worth it to travel tripod-free. I prefer the 70-200mm f4L which costs about the same as the IS version but produces even sharper images with eye-popping clarity and contrast – even wide open at f4 (no stopping down is needed at any focal length). The L-lens is slightly larger, is off-white (gets noticed) and has no IS (but not needed unless it gets really dark since shooting at f4 gives better results than the IS lens at f8).

Reliable and Affordable!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m very pleased with this purchase. The lens came quickly and I’m enjoying using it!

Fast Pitch Softball photography
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I read all there was to know about this lens versus the more expensive lens with a auto focus stabilizer. For outdoor sports, which is why I bought this lens, it works great. I have had very few blurred photos, but that could be operator error. I have been taking photos of fast pitch softball and some baseball and love the photos I am getting.

Great lense on a budget
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am on a budget college student who picked an expensive hobby! I’ve been looking for a decent zoom lense for an offordable price for awhile and decided to give this one a shot. I can honestly say that I am not at all disapointed. Although you cant compare it to a $500-700 lense with IS ;look at the price. If you are on budget like me and looking for a decent lense, this one will get the job done. I found that at 300mm it get a little blury if you dont use the tripod, but still this lense give an exceptional images. I love to go to a park and sneak up on birds, very happy with the quality. I hope my experience help some of you. My advice is do a little research because what is good for other people maynot be right for you. Happy shooting!

For my new XSI
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
We were going on vacation to Florida and needed a new lens. Went to the only source we feel confidant in online shopping compared prices and made this purchase at an awesome price. We rec. it in a couple days as promised just in time for our trip. The product was new in original box and undamaged. Flawless. It was a great lense. Highly recommend it if you are not ready to make those HUGE investments on the other lenses. The only thing we had any trouble with is the lense fogging really bad going from inside to outside in the heat and humidity. I new it was not a weather sealed lense, so no surprise. I did miss a few good shots of some beautiful Dolphins but this was my fault for not putting the lense in a place to acclimate it to the weather conditions long enough before using it. Overall I give it a great review.

Used with my new Rebel XT – Great!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have nothing but good things to say about this lens. Although I have only had it a litle over a month, I have taken maybe 50 shots with this lens and am very pleased with the results.

Not the best of Canon’s
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Unfortunately, this telephoto lens isn’t as good as it might be. The reason for this is that first of all, the light-factor is very low, only 4.0-5.6 what makes you either using high-speed films (not lower than ISO 400) or using a tripod what’s not possible (or suitable) very often.

But, that was not the most important drawback of the lens. The most important, to my mind, is that the picture of ths lens is so unsharp, that very often you even think, looking at the picture, that you haven’t focused right. It’s bad for portraiture or close-up objects’ photography.

Anyway, the focus lenght of the lens is quite convenient as you can shoot from portraits to sport. Albet remember, that the film should be as high-speed as it’s possible in the situation for the highest-possible-shutter-speeds in order to eliminate the possibility of stir.

Overall, a low-class lens, quite good for its price.

So-so
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
gives great depth, however, would prefer to have had image stabilizer. good lens for the price and if willing to learn to steady hand and perhaps buy a tripod, should be fine for learning to shoot action and distanced landscape.

Good lense, But you really need a tripod for good pictutres
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a good lense, but you really need a tripod after 100mm. Gives good color and contrast.

Great Value …
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have used this lens nearly everyday for over a year now, mainly taking sports and wildlife photos, and since it has been my first lens, I have come to love it. The lens is great in good sun light, BUT once the sun goes down, you are screwed. I shoot with a Digital Rebel, and this lens with indoor sports at ISO 1600 ain’t pretty. The lens has taken a lot of heat on the web for slow focusing and being soft at 300mm – hard to argue this. The lens is amazingly sharp when you’re at around 100mm, but the longer you reach, the less sharp it becomes, and that can be bad news if you’re shooting something in the distance and plan to crop heavily (outfielders, birds etc). But if you’re like me and can’t afford a ridiculous $5,000 lens, this one will make you happy, for the cost and abilities, it is well worth it’s price. Would I sell it after buying a better lens? Probably not — it is light and easy to carry. Play to this lens’ strengths and you’ll get some nice results. I have the hood and don’t see any noticeable differences. I took a few shots once with the IS version and didn’t notice much of a difference either. Not everyone can be Mr. f/2.8

Long Focal Length on the Cheap
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Go this along with my Rebel XTi 18-55 kit. Not bad. Great lens for action, sports, or wildlife. You can also create great depth with this one. Wish the aperture would open up to 3 at least. I shot hockey for an assignment and really had a tough time, I got my shots, but I could’ve gotten more with a larger ap. Will upgrade on this in the next couple years. They make a 70-300 USM with IS that I will replace this with eventually, but for right now, this is nice to have in my case, just in. . . case.

great purchase
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been pleased with my new lens. Very good quality for the price.

Great for the Price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens was a step up for me and I use a tripod most of the time so compared to the $500+ IS lens this was a great buy. Clear sharp photos, just what I was looking for.

Good lens but not what I needed
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a good lens but, with the built-in zoom on my camera, I didn’t really need it. It may just be that I need more experience with cameras and lenses before going for something like this.

A Pretty Good Item for it’s Price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Look, most of us are amateur photographers. We usually don’t have the bank to get a $5,000 lens or even a fifth of that. But, since we DO want to play with our photo toys and enjoy them – we can def benefit from reasonably priced items like this one. I am able to get some AMAZING sports shots of pitchers with my Canon 300D. If the lighting is low and the object is moving fast, your not going to get the BEST shots, and you’ll need a tripod just to get a still image. As long as you know the limits of the lens, its a great value for its price and function

Wildlife photos
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My wife is extremely happy with the telephoto lens purchased through Amazon. She has been able to get many excellent photos of wildlife on our camping trips. The clarity and detail of the photos is exceptional.

Great value
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens when I was going to take the kids to the zoo one day. My camera shop was kind enough to remind me I could return it if I were not happy with it. I kept it and have used it several other times with great results on my Digital Rebel. Other than agreeing that there seems to some soft focus if you hit the 300 stop point, the performance of this lens has been a very pleasant surprise – especially when you factor in the price. This is a real lens with a metal lens mount and a fast USM motor that makes focusing instantaneous. I have also found it to be no problem hand holding this lens despite the higher effective focal length since it is mounted on a digital.

Rotating Front Element
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I had this lens a few years back, but upgraded to the 100-300/4.5-5.5. This lens does not have the Canon ring based USM, so there is no Full Time Manual (FTM). You have to switch it to manual. The 100-300 has FTM.

But, the biggest problem with this lens, is that the front element rotates. This is particularly problematic with filters such as circular polarizers or star filters. Just as you have it set, the focus moves slightly, and bang, you now have to fiddle with your filters again. The 100-300 has rear focusing, so it does not suffer from this problem.

Currently, I am looking at upgrading to a 70-200/4L. Get even better glass. And moving from 35mm to digital. But I will not get the “kit” lens with the reb or 20d. Why? The 18-55s front element rotates. I point this out just to drive home the point. Front element rotation is horrible.

Otherwise, the lens is a good value. I sold mine to my sister in law, who never uses filters. It focuses quickly, and is quiet. The optics are on par or better than you would expect from a $175 lens.

Good Value, poor sharpness.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
For the price and range of this 75-300 zoom it probably cannot be beat, but don’t expect to actually have consistently sharp photos when shooting at 300mm. The 4-5.6 aperture allows you to shoot handheld with decent sharpness in the daytime, however to really get a sharp image stopping down to f8 is needed and by then hand holding is only an option in very bright sun.

Auto focus is not perfect but generally finds the subject quick enough.

Lens has no zoom lock, so when the lens is facing downward, while photographing or just walking, the lens will extend due to gravity, which is kind of annoying.

The size and weight of lens is pretty small and light when considering a 300mm zoom.

All and all this lens was a very good purchase when I bought it 6 years ago for $130 on ebay. Although now after using a few Canon L lenses, I find myself not wanting to take this out of the bag because the sharpness is disappointing. However again it must be said, it is probably the cheapest way you can get a zoom of this range and still have usable images.

Tough for sports
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
An OK lens for shooting fixed objects and panoramas, but the autofocus is frustratingly slow and almost impossible to use on moving subjects. Limited utility of this lens may explain why it is now often found at fire sale prices.

This lens is awesome
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I recieved this lens a few days ago using it with my digital rebel xt and for the money this is worth every penny. The shots i took with it are super. For anyone who has a canon digital slr and does not want to spend 500-1000 for a lens, this is the one to add to your camera bag.

Good, average telephoto zoom.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is a good standard telephoto zoom with solid, but average performance. This particular lens features Canon’s micro Ultra Sonic Motor; therefore, it does not have the same focusing performance of the standard USM designs. Optically, it is the same lens as the EF 75-300 III, and performs roughly the same. Usually, this lens retails for more than the non-USM design, but I’d pay little more. An oddity on Amazon has often had the price of this lens lower, and that’s a good deal.

As previously stated, the lens is a solid performer. Good lens speed, but not as fast of focusing as the EF 100-300. Additionally, the front of the lens rotates, which is not as nice when using filters such as polarizers. The plastic barrels are OK, but zooming is a bit less smooth than desired.

Canon also doesn’t include much with the lens. A lens shade is very useful for outdoors photography, and Canon is very pricey on an accessory that most include. Canon’s one-year warranty is also poor compared to most others.

For a good alternative, look at the Tamron / Promaster 70-300 LD lens which has closer focusing, includes the shade, and both offer longer warranties. However, neither are as quiet as the Canon lenses.

For an upgrade, look at the Canon EF 100-300 USM, which offers a smoother, faster USM, and no filter rotation.

First Impression
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was expecting the images taken at a distance to be a bit fuzzy around the edges but have been pleasantly surprised. The construction seems to be sturdy enough.

New Canon Zoom
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Good lens at good price. Works as expected. Glad to get it for the price!

Cannon EF 75-300mm lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The lens was everything I had hoped it would be. I take pictures of my kids’ soccer games. It allows me to get up close and personal and gives me great action shots.

a bit of trouble at the 300 end…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’m not a expert but, this lense has about everything I needed. It has a bit of trouble focusing in at the 300MM range and when using the 300mm you really need a tripod.
The USM is just as adversited quiet and quick. Pictures came out great but you may want to invest in a flash. At 300mm the stock flash is just not enough.

I will use this lens as a standard on my Rebel XT
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I will use this lens as a standard on my Rebel XT rather than the the 18-55mm lens that came with the camera. It gives much greater flexibility in outdoor shoots when I’m capturing my grandsons in action on the soccer field.

Could be better, but works well within its price range
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
After reading several online reviews of the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM lens, I had nearly talked myself out of even looking at one. However, thanks to a local Canon demonstration, I was able to play with several lenses, the 75-300mm f/4-5.6 among them. I got to try it out alongside the IS version (which costs just under 3x as much), the non-USM version, and some of their L-series professional lenses.

That said, I found there to be less difference among the directly-comparable lenses (the non-USM, USM, and IS versions) than I’d have thought. On the test shots I took using a Canon Digital Rebel XT, I didn’t find full-zoom telephoto shots to be appreciably softer in the non-IS version reviewed herein, nor were the images overly soft for my liking period.

The USM focusing didn’t seem to make as much of a difference as I’d expected over the non-USM model, either. Focusing was still relatively slow (as other reviewers have pointed out), although once an initial focus has been made, adjustments aren’t too slow unless changing to a subject substantially nearer or farther away. HOWEVER, the AF engine did make a number of “mistakes” when using this lens that it did not using the IS lens (or, of course, the L-series glass); more than once I had to either switch to manual focus or try multiple times to get the right focus “lock.” Furthermore, the USM model doesn’t get you internal focus, either, like with higher-end lenses, so the end still rotates during focusing, which can be problematic with a circular polarizer or other filters.

Overall, I’d say that you “get what you pay for”; this is a very inexpensive lens, and it shows in some areas. But it’s not nearly as bad as some would make it out to be. I tried it out both on several indoors shots under less-than-ideal lighting conditions and was pleased in most respects, and outdoors, I got very good results on even moving subjects.

Pros:

– Cost; at under $200, you would be hard-pressed to find a lens with the same reach with even half-decent optics.

Cons:

– Slow focus

– Autofocus seems to confuse somewhat easily over the IS model

– The USM version is still not an internally-focusing model, and thus the end of the lens will still rotate (and can affect filters, etc.)

I’d recommend the IS version if you have the extra funds, but if you are on a budget and just can’t wait, I saw less of a difference than others have between the two. Of course, the real step up would be to a comparable piece of glass in the L series, but with it comes a real step up in price, too.

Was free with the deal I did, but…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I got it free with my new camera, but I wish I sold it and bought a 55-250mm with IS or a 18-200mm with IS. They are much more expensive, but I hate having to remove it to put on a 18-55mm IS lens for indoor or closer range things. I can’t complain too much since it was free. It’s just that to fit in my camera case well this must be attached and in most cases I need to remove it and grab my other lens to take a picture. Not a bad lens, but you may get annoyed when you want to switch back and forth like me. Don’t let this review deter you from buying it, I just had to put my two cents in.

Good, Sharp Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I first used this lens with my Canon Digital Rebel and have since upgraded to the XT. With both cameras, I’ve found the lens to be surprising versatile. As former newspaper photographer, I’ve spent many hours on the sidelines of high school football games under some challenging lighting conditions and had some amazing results with the lens. The lens is actually very sharp, despite some reports to the contrary. I’ve had the lens for three years now and it continues to be my go to lens when it comes to action and sports photography. I can’t deny that the IS version of this lens would definitely be better, I’d still recommend this lens to just about anyone.

Canon EF 75-300 mm Telephoto Zoom Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great lens. Excellent performance on my Canon Rebel XT camera. I strongly recommend this lens.

Gordon Padwick

Budget lens that kicks butt
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had my Canon Digital Rebel with the kit lens for six months and have finally purchased the 75-300 f4-5.6 III USM, and I love it. Yes it is a budget lens, but it does not feel cheap, and it does everything you would expect of a lens of this category. I almost purchased a Sigma, but a phone call to the local camera shop convinced me to go with this lens instead. I am glad I did. I’ve shot handheld and used a tripod. I usually shoot many more than one shot at a time (who doesn’t) so I am not bothered by the occasional blur my heart beat causes. Outside it is fantastic. Inside it works just fine at 75mm. It is what it is, a great lens for the money – worth every penny.

Great lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Great quality went to Denali National Park and took lovely pictures with the aid of this lens!!!!!!! Outstanding!!!!!

A touch on the heavy side
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
A good lens bearing in mind the price. The real downside is it’s weight. If you don’t frame that shot reasonably quickly, you will end up with numerous shots of your shoes….as I did!

Use a tripod.

Best Zoom Ever !
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is the best lens I have purchased in a long time. Effortlessly and effective for everything. Can not wait to try it on the racetrack. That will be the ultimate test

For the price, very functional
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I borrowed this lens off a friend of mine and have used a couple of times. It is certainly not an amazing lens. But it’s only $200 and considering that it’s very respectable considering what it can do. I used it to shoot a protest a few weeks back and got some very high quality shots with fair consistency. Things went downhill as the sun began to set, though. It’s a slow lens and needs near-ideal light conditions to use it without a flash.

The USM is not lightning fast, but it’s actually not bad and it’s very quiet. I shot a soccer tournament with this lens the other day and got plenty of keepers and most of the shots that weren’t had more to do with me than the lens. I’ll post some shots from the tournament to show you what I mean. Contrast and what not could be better, but if you have photo editing software like Lightroom or Photoshop (and you should) you can handle that from your computer. All the pictures I’ve uploaded have been edited.

The build of the lens is very unimpressive. It’s fairly flimsy, but it is metal on the upside. There’s a bit of wobble to it, which is undesirable. For someone starting out and just looking to take pictures outside, this is a perfectly decent lens to start out on and learn with.

Personally, I’m saving up to buy a telephoto in a very different price range, around a $1000. If you can afford to spend $600, get the 70-200mm f4L, but at triple the price that’s probably beyond the budget of anyone considering this lens.

Budget Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I got this lens purely based on price. I wanted a zoom lens that I didn’t have to be too paranoid about. This lense does blur at 300mm but I expected that. I use it as a close range telephoto lens, something to get a little closer to the action and not worry about a 2k lense getting ruined. If you bought this for sports you should have known better. Its a good starter lense to learn what you need as well. If you’re starting out, pick up this lens so you can learn more about telephoto and then drop top dollar on what you really do need. Hope this helps.

Great for amatuers and novices.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This lens has been a helpful addition to my camera setup. I purchased this lens and a tripod at the same time. I have found that using this lens at max zoom really does require the use of a tripod, or other stabilization method (such as resting it on a table or railing). There is no way to handhold this lens at 300 mm and still get razor sharp pics. I use this lens to attach to my Canon Rebel 2000. As a beginning photographer I use 400 speed film for nearly all my shots, and have been pleased with the results. I generally do not make enlargements from my prints — they just go in my photo album — so the relative graininess of 400 speed is not noticable in 4×6 prints. Coupling this lens with a polarizing filter dramtically improved the contrast and sharpness of distant objects in bright daylight — particularly distant mountains and scenery. As far as zoom goes, this lens picks up where the standard Rebel lens leaves off and really pulls in the distant objects well. I have not tried to use this lens to shoot fast moving objects at a great distance (such as sports) but for landscapes or distant objects — perched birds, mountains, bridges, sunsets, I have found this lens to be an absolutely indispensable part of my kit. It attaches and detaches from the camera with ease. The autofocus system focuses within a second — I’ve never needed to switch to manual. I knocked a star off because I wish it came with a carrying case. The lens has some heft to it — it weighs as much as the standard Rebel Body – if not more. It definetly feels solid and well-made, but at the price (which is expensive for me) I feel like I have to treat it with kid gloves, and I can’t find a carrying case for it. When I pack this lens in a carryon I stick it inside a few socks to make due.

Useful Zoom Lens for Most outdoors events
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I find this to be an overall useful lens to have in my SLR Bag when I am out and about — going to local events, and even for trial runs at photographing specific projects. Although not fast on the AF mode (it is far better to focus manually when you are photographing Wildlife — especially Birds) … it does respond well enough when you are awaiting that ‘perfect’ moment (you have the patience to wait for — like with landscapes). This is one lens that I keep in the bag all the time. Eventually … I’ll upgrade to the IS version, but for now .. a good economical alternative to use in the meantime.

Great Zoom
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
We are by far professional photographers, but for the most part I liked the lens. We wanted something we could zoom a bit more than with what the Digital Rebel came with and it does great!

My only problem is that if I want to take a close up pic I have to switch back to the original lens. There is probably a reason for this that I am unaware of. Minor inconvienience for great zoom capability.

75-300 Canon Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Very nice price for a premium lens. Wanted it for bird photography (hobby). Quickly found that it needs a monopod (or tripod) even at higher light levels. No big problem for intended use.

Poor quality
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
For many years I have had Minolta film camera/accessories. One thing I had learned in the 20 some years of buying equipment was that the Minolta Brand was better quality, and higher priced. When I decided to go Digital, I did endless hours of research on the camera. I chose to get the Canon 20d over a similar Nikon. So far, so good. When it came time to add accessories, I did next to no homework. I bought this lens at a local camera chain store. It was affordable, and had the Canon name on it. In about three weeks time, I dropped the lens while making a lens change at a soccer game. It stopped working. No one cared, because I had dropped it. My Minolta gear has most certainly been banged, bruised, dropped…. It ranges in age from 10 years old to stuff handed down to me from my father over 20 years ago. It all still works. I have since upgraded to the “L” series lens. I wish a salesperson at the store had taken a moment to explain that Canon does, in fact, produce some crap. My “L” series lens is awesome, and I would highly recommend that anyone considering this lens, wait until you can afford the “L” series lens. This lens is sure to disappoint.

Canon EF 75-300 lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great lens. Very smooth manual focus and zoom, and autofcous is seemless. Well worth the money.

Useful zoom lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Here is a zoom lens that produces good photos, but not as good as I get with my Canon 28-105 mm lens. I am overall satisfied with it and USM is a definite plus. However, do not expect astonishingly clear pictures from this lens! And you really have to use a tripod to get the most out of it. I do not carry this lens out most of the time in the camera bag because it is rather heavy. Buy it only if you need the zoom. I have experienced no mechanical or optical problems with this lens and therefore quite satisfied.

Great value for money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Reading some of the reviews here, it is clear I must be getting old. When I started taking pictures the one thing one looked for in a lens like this would have been that it was one touch, in that the zoom and focus were on the same ring. These days people are spoilt with auto focus and auto program modes in the camera let alone IS. So let me get to the point. For the money this is a beautiful lens. As long as you keep the shutter speed above 1/focal length you will be able to hand hold it. Remember that on a digital body there is a 1.6 adjustment factor. So at maximum zoom you need to keep the speed at 1/500 or better. Yes this needs good light and a higher ISO, but in most cases it should not be a problem. If you are 35mm user you have another stop or so to play with. I recently took pictures of a regatta from the committee boat at maximum zoom, hand held on a Rebel XT body with no problem. With an effective focal length of 480mm this is quite impressive.

Nice Lens…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Of course… That are better lens than this one…

But for the price… It’s quite a nice lens…

Whoever is looking at this one, is because want’s a TELE to take some snaps with your dSRL…

Extreme Photographers may not like these ones.. Many adjectives might be said… Slow (focus and F), Bulky, etc…

But I am pleased with when using it on outdoor pics… If you are thinking about using it on indoor pictures, better have a tripod and also use a high ISO, specially at 300mm.

the USM on it play it’s role and I don’t think it is slow as I have seen in some other reviews around here..

But, for the price I paid and with my Rebel XT, and again, if you are looking for a good TELE lens, I would recomend it, but be aware that is has it’s limitations…

Awesome lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
At first I was hesitant about purchasing this lens due to the mixed reviews and I thought what do I have to loose since the price was reasonable. I received it whiten 5 days and I was very surprised by the quality and the results, bottom line if you want to spend a lot more money for a greater quality go ahead, but believe me this lens is awesome

A superb “papparazzi” lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought my 75-300mm from Amazon in late March and it arrived 3 days later to an address specified in New York City. It is superbly weighted – not too heavy to make the camera feel unbalanced when mounted; also not too heavy to make your camera bag unwieldy when in transit.

The USM (ultra-silent motor) is super-quick and also, as the name suggests, super-quiet. I prefer to have matched (ie Canon instead of Tamron or Sigma) lenses for my Canon camera, which is why I opted for this one instead of a cheaper equivalent and I have not been disappointed. Local sales guys in photography stores here in Cape Town, South Africa where I live unanimously recommend the Canon lenses as currently best in the world – in fact, it was them who suggested I opt for a Canon camera instead of a Pentax for an equivalent price – and so far, I am inclined to agree, having experimented with a Pentax and its zoom lens.

The zoom length puts it into range for subjects which may be a little too far to frame properly with a standard lens; or for subjects which may not be easy to approach ie a sportsman during a game, a bird up a tall tree, or even a lion on the Serengeti catching some sun.

In all, this is probably the best price you will get for this lens from a reputable retailer, and the lens itself is truly superb. There is a cheaper option (approx $20 difference) for the same lens with a DC motor instead of the USM mark III; it is noisier, but the image quality is identical since they carry the same optics.

The lens comes with a warranty from Canon, as well as a front and rear dust cover cap; the 58mm diameter makes it suitable for all add-ons/filters you may have for an existing standard (28-90mm or 35-80mm) lens.

Diamond in the rough.
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Lens is made of plastic instead of metal, so the operation is rough and sticky, instead of smooth and free.

It does take a good picture once you get it adjusted tho.

Good Intro Zoom Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I would have preferred a higher end lens but for the price is can’t be beat. For shooting outdoors and in bright light this lens is very good. I would like a little better low light performance but for that I would need a lens that cost more than double this one. I shoot my nephews playing flag football and the shots I got from the side lines were great. Unfortunately at night they were not so great. Guess I will have to save my dollars for those more expensive lens. If you have the money for a Canon L lens get it. If not, this will do in a pinch.

Love it!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love, love, love this lens. It’s a bit long so it’s not ideal for a walk around lens…but MAN, oh man does it capture some amazing shots. I first tried it out on a windy day at the lake with my nieces and nephews and caught some absolutely amazing shots. The clarity of the images even at full zoom is incredible, and don’t even get me started on the bokeh! It is just a wonderful lens…now if Canon would only make it a bit more squat, it would be perfect!!

Works as designed.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It’s a great lens, and the USM motors really do help you focus a lot faster, but still not quite as fast as the smaller lenses.

If you’re zoomed all the way in to 250-300mm, you’re really going to notice the missing image stabilization (which this lens doesn’t have). If you’re zoomed in that far, you’re going to get some blur even at fairly high shutter speeds. But shooting outside in daylight, I never shoot with a tripod, and I get plenty of keepers.

A good lens, well worth the money. However, if you have the money to spare, a lens with both USM motors and image stabilization will definitely be better, though also much more expensive.

A good telephoto lens for a budget/novice photographer.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am a what the title says – a novice photographer who likes having albums full of great pictures, but doesn’t spend much time on it, or understand all the technical details. I bought this lens to take on safari with me in Africa. I’ll be honest, all of these reviews scared me, but not enough to sink the money into the IS lens.

Thankfully, this 75-300 lens suited all of my needs beautifully. Throughout our trip, I used a lightweight tripod to steady the camera – I did find the lens heavy – but the end result was well worth it. In every lighting situation, it is obvious which pictures I took with the lens and my 35mm SLR, and what my husband took with an 8 mega pixel digital point-and-shoot; this lens is responsible for all of the “postcard” pictures!

You’ll need a tripod for sure…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am a novice and beginning to enjoy picture taking. This lens is a capable lens. It can capture some great images but in low light it requires a tripod since my hands are kind of shaky. For the money is is a great tool to have in your bag. If I were to do it over again I would have saved my money and gotten a lens that had image stabilization and maybe a faster aperture. Also this lens does allow me to capture images from a further distance. That way I don’t have to get right into my 8ft boa’s face to get some good close ups.

Great Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I actually bought this lens for my best friend so I did not use it. However, my best friend absolutely loves this lens. It does what the manufacturer said it could do and its been working without any glitches. Sorry I ca not comment more on operation of the lens. But in my opinion it gets a five star rating and I would purchase again as a gift.

Good beginner lense, cheap but you get what you pay for…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I own a Canon 300D and a Canon Rebel GII… I started going Canon in October 2004 when I first found intrest in photography. For a teenage beginner this is a nice lense, my only problem with this lense is that the auto-focusing is extremely slow; I don’t recommend this lense for action photography. If you don’t have much money to spend and are thinking of buying this lense for action photography be ready to hone your manual focus skills.

Otherwise, it’s a great camera for nice slow or still action. Plus I don’t need this lense for action, because I’m always in the action!

Very good long distance lens for the price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have no complaints with this lens at all. It is great quality for the price. You can get some blur and fuzzy pics when shooting at 300 with no cam stand but that is a given for any budget zoom lens when shooting by hand.

Great Product
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This was purchased as a Christmas present. My daughter needed this lens to improve her photography and is extremely happy with it. It was what she wanted and needed and is using it and loving it.

Good telephoto lens for starters
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
300mm is a pros. Better use tripods or use it under strong lightings, like other telephote lens. Some one may not like its plastic design and outter focus design, which most of beginners don’t mind. But it has ultrasonoic motors. Of course if you have money, get the XXB.

great inexpensive zoom
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Very quiet, with fast focusing. Takes clear pictures, great for general purpose close ups.

Good Price – Fair Optics – Limited Performance
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
On a tight budget when I purchased my dRebel almost two years ago – this lens looked very attractive. Since owning it for two years – it seems to go further and further to the back of my equipment bag – and not taken in my backpack at all unless the climate is too harsh for my more expensive lenses.

In fairness to the product – it is very GOOD for what it cost and how it is designed. It makes no pretension to be anything other than an AF f5.6 >75-300mm< telephoto. The construction has remained solid - the zoom (fairly stiff or tight when new)sometimes makes funny noises from grit lodged in the 'nether regions' of the lens barrel (I am a defense contractor who travels to some pretty rotten climates). Dust and dirt do not seem to be a serious problem with regular maintenance of brush and blower around the rotating parts of the lens barrel.

Things I enjoyed with this purchase:

1. Light weight, solid construction

2. Acceptable optical quality in sunny outdoor use

3. Accepts the same filters (58mm) as my dRebel kit lens

4. Affordable for those on a tight budget

5. Compatible with the dRebel autofocus and auto exposure system

6. Expendable (if something bad happens) in harsh climates

7. Draws absolutely no attention from customs inspectors, (or anyone looking to steal your stuff) when clearing security at ports of entry or return. Clears airport security without manual inspection.

Unsatisfactory/annoying qualities that quickly became evident:

1. f4-5.6 limited my use indoors or low light. Plan to spend much time in Photoshop to save your pictures

2. Length of lens made it unusable with the dRebel pop-up flash (lens shadow). Immediate purchase of a 420EX Speedlight ($177+ see my review) cured this problem

3. Front focus rotating lens element limited my filter choices to UV (haze) filter only

4. Annoyingly SLOW auto focus

5. Tripod is almost manditory with lower shutter speeds (see f4- 5.6 limits). The 1.6x magnification factor when seated to the dRebel brings the focal length out to over 450mm making off tripod use risky

* Use of a BGE-1 battery grip ($100+ see my review) with this lens – lowers camera center of gravity-extra counter-weight makes lens use less stressful.

Good price – fair optics – limited overall performance. Limits for the serious photographer make one want to look elsewhere. SIGMA has superior product in this price category, as well as the house brand at Ritz/Wolf Camera chains-while the discriminating photographer who has the resources should look seriously at Canon’s “L” series (as I’ve done) or ‘IS’ series as suggested by other experienced reviewers.

My first telephoto lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I just bought my first SLR and quickly realized that I needed a telephoto lens for the type of pictures I want to take. I didn’t want to spend a large amount of money on a practice lens and the price for this one was perfect. It’s a really decent lens for the price. A tripod is a must when using the maximum zoom (perhaps that is the case with all telephoto lenses?). So far, I’ve taken some really nice shots with this lens. Overall, I’m pleased with this purchase.

Canon makes crap too!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Canon really only has one difinitive brand that indicates pro and that’s their “L” classicication. That said, you can tell by holding the lenses that they really have more gradients between quality than L and non-L. For instance, I love my 28-135mm IS USM lens and it seems that they spend a great deal more time building quality lenses for the ones recieving either a USM focusing motor, or that in combination with their really good IS image stabilization. By feel alone, you can tell which lenses are really the cheap lenses. This lens is a cheap lens.

It’s not well put together, and though ~$200 isn’t exactly peanuts, it’s not going to get you a good 300mm lens as I’ve found out. People talk about the sharpness but unfairly, they compare it to the sharpness between the 28-135mm USM IS. That lens when wide open at 135mm isn’t L lens or even $70 50mm 1.8/f levels of sharp, but it’s definately not lagging behind too bad. Shots at virtually any focal length on this lens have noticable chromatic aberrations, huge flairs, and the sharpness is definately not up to snuff. You have to be ~5ft away for it to focus, which it does very slowly, and the lack of IS becomes apparent even at relatively fast shutter speeds.

I bought this lens at Best Buy and I will be returning it because it takes weak pictures, focuses slowly, and like my other budget lens, the afformentioned 50mm 1.8/f, I suspect it’ll be unusable in no time from the horrible build quality. (The 50mm prime takes GREAT pics but I’ve got dust on the inner elements and I’ve only used it 4 or so times, and it’s been in my bag with the caps on every other moment.

I’m no pro, but I could tell that this lens is a lemon.

Good enough for a layman
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I am no expert therefore I cant comment on the technicalities but my experience on using it with a Canon EOS 300 is as follows:

1. It is heavy so be ready to be surprised to feel what happens when you attach it to your camera.

2. Unless you have really strong fingers dont think of holding just the camera only for too long. A friend told me to hold the lens instead of the camera and that got rid of the balance problem.

3. It is slower than the 28-95 lens that I got with the camera but it wasnt too slow for me to be bothered. Ofcourse if you try to click something at maximum zoom be ready to give some support to your hand if you are not using a tripod.

Bottom line – for more money I would probably get something better but I am happy customer for now.