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Areta
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Registered: Feb 19, 2005
Location: Poland
Posts: 334
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Review Date: Sep 23, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, nice colors, IS, good value, clever hood, 1.5m focusing
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Cons:
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Needs step down with 1.4x, no weather sealing
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I have the lens for almost a year and only recently learned how great it is. It is very sharp and makes WOW pictures. IS handy, clever, convenient hood design. Excellent for garden party portraits.
I would like this lens to be weather sealed, but otherwise you get plenty of lens for the money.
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 Sep 23, 2006
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TeeCee
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Registered: Jul 13, 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Sep 11, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Stunning images, not too heavy, built in hood, great value, sharp & vibrant colours
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Cons:
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None; apart from I'm hooked on L primes!
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This is my second L prime and I am bitten by the L prime bug. The best thing about this lens is it encourages you to be creative. The results are very rewarding.
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Sep 11, 2006
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Ric Grupe
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Registered: Jan 15, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 43
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Review Date: Jul 24, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,150.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Perfect lens.
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Cons:
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None
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Don't hum, haw and hee around like I did. Just get one.
I bought an extra body just so this lens and the 1.4 TC could stay on it all the time!
Really nothing to talk about.....it's that good.
Here's one of my first shots:
http://rickay.smugmug.com/photos/83736810-L.jpg
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Jul 24, 2006
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flawlessly
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Registered: Jul 17, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 123
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Review Date: Jul 18, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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The best light weight and affortable telephoto "IS" prime, sharp, fast focus, good result with 1.4x TC II
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Cons:
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Not so good with 2.0x TC II, AF can be slower with TCs
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Stack this with 1.4x TC II and you will have a 420mm IS lens, good enough for outdoor big birds like Blue Heron, Egret, and Hawk, sometime an Owl or two.
The "IS" isn't loud at all like other said but it's noticed if you listen carefully.
The built-in lens hood is a plus, no worry about losing it and spend hundreds of dollars to buy one.
The lens is light compare to my 70-200 IS, but the build quality is the same as other superteles.
This is the best "IS" tele and the cheapest tele that you can get.
Oh and the look from others just funny, you won't regret it...
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Jul 18, 2006
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Gyroscope
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Registered: Mar 26, 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 978
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Review Date: Jul 8, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Build, image quality, built-in hood.
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Cons:
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None.
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A fantastic lens. My favourite lens. SHARP images when used without an extender. With a 1.4x you need to stop down a bit and make sure your shutter speeds are high so as not to degrade quality too much. I use on a monopod mostly but handheld when needed for fast moving birds. Its obviously a little short for birding but I have had some excellent results with close range stuff. IS is great and autofocus is blinding. Close focus range makes for an almost-macro as well. Just get it!!
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Jul 8, 2006
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JohnJ80
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Registered: May 11, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 5645
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Review Date: Jul 7, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,000.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very sharp, great IS, light, built in hood, very fast USM focus.
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Cons:
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Slower AF with 1.4x TC
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I use this to shoot U12 and U14 soccer on a FF camera. The AF is so fast that it will track a player in motion for quite some time.
When the shot happens it is SHARP.
The only problem with this lens is that when the Canon 1.4x TC II is used, the AF slows way down. If you partially manually focus it, the lens will get it the rest of the way there very quickly. Sharpness and image quality with TC are very good, slightly less sharp than without.
J.
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Jul 7, 2006
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juberisk2
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Registered: Sep 16, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 380
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Review Date: Jun 23, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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fabulous image quality, portability, built-in hood, tripod ring, good with a 1.4TC
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Cons:
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first generation IS (only 2 stop correction and a bit clunky sounding when switched on as others have said)....ultimately no big deal
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Jun 23, 2006
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George Chew
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Registered: Sep 2, 2005
Location: Malaysia
Posts: 11
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Review Date: Jun 18, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very handholder even without IS. Fast focusing and extremely sharp.
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Cons:
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IS operation noisy. Too used to silent canon usm lenses
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Greetings,
Just have this lens for 2 days and enjoying every moment of it, more so than the ever so popular 70-200mm f2.8L. It works extremely well with EF 1.4x TC. Comparing to my the other L prime, 200mm f2.8L, its IQ and operation is on par against it. Since I bought it used, (in mint condition), it worth every single cents I paid. Enjoy...
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Jun 18, 2006
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rthrbfshn
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Registered: Oct 21, 2005
Location: N/A
Posts: 39
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Review Date: Jun 16, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,050.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Incedible Images, not too heavy, works well with 1.4 TC
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Cons:
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A bit expensive
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I have already captured some incedible shots, only shooting small wild life in northern NJ. Works great with the converter.
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Jun 16, 2006
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skintooth4
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Registered: Mar 3, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 141
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Review Date: Jun 16, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $875.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Amazed at what this lens can do. I love the IS and I love how sharp this lens is. It's perfect for sports and the macro feature on it is even better. I'm kicking myself for not buying it earlier, I was holding out for the 2.8 but with the way I make money and spend it I was never gonna reach that.
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Cons:
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the IS makes a knocking sound when activated and when it disengages, plus there's that high pitched noise it makes but, can't find anything other than that that would make this lens bad.
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I took this thing out the second UPS dropped it off, and man was I blown away. I could focus soo much faster than the Sigma lenses I was using before. The color, and the shaprness were amazing.
I even tested the "macro" of this lens. And the Bokeh from it is amazing. It isolates the subject very nicely.
Glad I bought one.
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Jun 16, 2006
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rtrigg
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Registered: Dec 17, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 248
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Review Date: May 30, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, sharp, sharp. The IS works well, and the autofocus is fast and quiet.
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Cons:
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Wish it was f2.8, but they cost the big bucks.
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This is a great, great lens. Even sharper than the terrific 135mm f2. The weight is quite reasonable and the autofocus is about as good as it gets in the Canon world. Be warned that the length is significant so a tall camera bag is in order (or it needs to be stored lengthwise, but I don't like doing this for a variety of reasons).
The price is rather high, but all the good glass is expensive so that just goes with the territory. Hard to imagine anyone would regret buying this lens, just get it.
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May 30, 2006
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HenkvdT
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Registered: Oct 20, 2004
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 572
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Review Date: May 14, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Imagequality, Lightweight, Sharp, Fast, IS
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Cons:
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The IS is a bit cloinky, but no issue really.
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I bought this lens from a fellow FM-er a month ago and used it extensively since then. My main consideration was image quality combined with portability. This lens delivers in both these departments.
The 300 f4L IS focuses fast and produces sharp and colorful images without compromising portability. It's not that much bigger than the 70-200 2.8 (IS), very handholdable and the retractable hood makes it easy to take it along in the bag.
The 2.8 IS variant is a killer optically and surely will have the edge in focussing speed and AI Servo tracking, but it's mighty big which in my case would result in not-bringing it along on many occasions.
So the bottom line is that if you are looking for a 300 which is portable, produces high quality images, takes reasonably well to the 1.4x, offers the ability of low light shooting and doesnt break the bank, you really cannot go wrong with this one
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May 14, 2006
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TechnoPhil
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Registered: Jan 3, 2006
Location: San Marino
Posts: 2
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Review Date: May 14, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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quality contruction...light, sharpness, optical properties!!
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Cons:
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no "o-ring" !!but nithing special...
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I was very impressed for this lens, expecially for the optical & build quality at low price!!
300mm are perfect for my use...wild photography, close up flowers and animals...
here some samples!!
http://spazioinwind.libero.it/technophil/samples/fil/sampleimages.html
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May 14, 2006
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RichieHatch
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Registered: Nov 24, 2004
Location: Ireland
Posts: 131
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Review Date: May 10, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,150.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very Sharp. Great contrast. Relatively Light. Usual 'L' Build Quality. Fast focus Speed. 'IS' is great regarless of version.
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Cons:
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Had a problem with filters causing image quality issues but thats nothing to do with the lens...!
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Have this lens a month now and am kicking myself that i hadnt bought it sooner.....! I waited a month to post the review so that i would learn how to get the results out of it properly and by god am i amazed...! Very very sharp... even wide open. I would say its comparable if not better than the 200mm f2.8L that i also have. The colours and contrast are very good too. However I would advise not to use UV filters on this lens. I had image quality issues using a Hoya UV filter where weird diagonals would appear in the out of focus areas. I havent tried any other UV filters but had read about others that did and the problem remained. To be honest I am of the opinion that one should only use filters when absolutely needed so it suits me not to use one at all....!
Overall I am well impressed with this lens and cant reccommend it enough...!
Richie
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May 10, 2006
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Lani Kai
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Registered: Oct 3, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 782
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Review Date: Apr 14, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $980.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, sharp, sharp! Light, built-in hood, relatively inexpensive, IS, great colors, short MFD... the list goes on
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Cons:
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1st generation IS. Which is still much better than nothing.
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I can't emphasize enough how wonderful this lens is. I use it for a variety of purposes--I've even shot some landscapes with it. I often use it for macro shots as well, even though I have a really sharp Sigma 50mm f/2.8 Macro... I've used it as a walkaround lens and it's light enough that this is possible. I wish I could use it more but not everything can be shot at 300mm... The images are stunningly beautiful.
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Apr 14, 2006
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joezasada
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Registered: Feb 24, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 3039
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Review Date: Apr 11, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,354.67
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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really lightweight, ridiculously sharp, fast and silent AF, works well with 1.4X TC, wicked Image Stabilizer, a lot less money than the f/2.8 version, 77mm filter size so it's the same as most other high-end canon lenses, really high mangnification ration (0.25X) for a 300mm lens
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Cons:
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looks better with the lens hood retracted than with it extended...
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what can I say, this is your best choice for a telephoto lens without moving up to one of the *really* expensive choices, like the 300mm f/2.8 or it's larger cousins...
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Apr 11, 2006
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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169
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313691
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May 15, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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97% of reviewers
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$1,060.26
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.71
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9.15
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9.6
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