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asanduloiu
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Registered: Feb 2, 2009
Location: Romania
Posts: 377
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Review Date: Mar 28, 2011
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Recommend? |
Price paid: Not Indicated
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I will not going to quote again the lens in any way, for not changing the results, but I feel the necessity to come again here and express the enthusiasm for the lens. I do use it with a Kenko DG Pro 300 1,4x and the results are just extremely satisfatory. Some of them could be viewed at http://sanduloiu.ro/en/home
Strongly recommend this lens! You'll not going to regret the purchase.
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 Mar 28, 2011
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Hudsons
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Registered: May 8, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 20
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Review Date: Feb 6, 2011
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Light for focal length, sharp, handy built in hood
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Cons:
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I bought this lens for a series of adventure cruise holidays to the high Arctic and the Scottish Islands. I have also used it for seascapes and sea bird shots along the English coast. It was a 'toss up' between this lens and the 100-400 L, this just won. I have achieved good results with this lens (and it does work with the 1.4X converter.) I managed to hand hold it in a zodiac to get good shots of polar bears.
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Feb 6, 2011
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asanduloiu
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Registered: Feb 2, 2009
Location: Romania
Posts: 377
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Review Date: Feb 3, 2011
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Lightweight, sharp at any aperture, easy to shoot handheld. Good quality optics.
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Cons:
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None so far...
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Just bought it for our photo club in Pitesti, Romania. I've tested it on the river taking pictures of birds and I'm very pleased of it. Easy to shoot handheld, AF is quite fast, but I use it with a 1,4x teleconverter and I know it slows the lens' speed. It seems to be quite well built, so it will be on the field, working, a lot of time.
Evene if I bought it from Romania, meaning all the EU taxes so it became more expensive, my price rating was 9 because the original US price is very good, but hardly to touch for us.
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Feb 3, 2011
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terminator
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Registered: Jan 28, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 293
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Review Date: Dec 14, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp wide open, compact compared to 300/2.8, built-in hood, inexpensive, works great with 1.4x extender, fast and silent AF, distance limit, macro capability
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Cons:
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IS is old, AF can be faster, weight is close to 100-400L, a bit long
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I read lots of good compliments about this lens and have looked for it for a while. I am not disappointed. The lens is a solid performer. However, there are still some room for improvement in the next version.
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Dec 14, 2010
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buddyRoland
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Registered: Oct 30, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 195
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Review Date: Jun 27, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,250.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fast autofocus; sharp images; beautiful bokeh; macro-like photography from a distance
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Cons:
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Noisy IS.
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I really wanted a 300mm 2.8 and will still get one in the future, but not the very near future because this prime telephoto lens performs superbly.
It takes excellent shots in less than favorable lighting. Outside it focuses better with my 1D3 better but inside my 5D2 with this lens takes better consistent pics.
I thought I would be using my 1D3 with this lens more but I reallly prefer it with my 5D2. With the 5D2 it produces beautiful images and wonderful headshots.
I perused the pages on this forum which gave me the confidence to purchase this lens. I am truly thankful for the informative posts.
Highly recommend.
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Jun 27, 2010
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bcguy
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Registered: Apr 17, 2010
Location: Canada
Posts: 1073
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Review Date: Jun 19, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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It's very sharp, even wide open. It's not heavy for it's focal length. The IS works very well--I have gotten sharp shots down to 1/45 of a second! The built in hood is great! I like the fact that it can focus down to 59". It's very solidly constructed. Finally, it's relatively inexpensive for its focal length.
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Cons:
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The lens is great. I don't have anything to complain about. It could be cheaper, but compared to other lenses with comparable focal lengths, it's pretty reasonable.
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My wife encouraged me to buy a longer lens, and for the budget, this is probably the most versatile fixed focal length moderately long lens that I could have bought. I often found myself needing something longer than the 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro lens which was my longest lens. I'm a prime lens freak, so I had the EF 200mm f/2.8 II in mind. My wife thought that something a little longer would open up new opportunities for me. As it turns out, she was right.
At first I was hesitant: would I find an f/4 lens useful? I usually shoot with rather wide apertures, so f/4 seemed very slow. I bought it thinking that there was a good possibility of returning it. Boy, was I wrong!
Looking through the viewfinder with this lens attached is such a joy. Backgrounds disappear into beautiful spherical highlights and soft blur. I didn't understand how much focal length effects the perceived depth of field. I'm blown away by this lens! They say the EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM is better in every way, but I am very pleased with what the f/4 version can do.
When I say it's sharp, I mean it's SHARP. Let me show some examples:
wide open: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4693722944_2c59232bbb_b.jpg
at f/5.0: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4692849658_007afe0c82_b.jpg
and here's another at f/4.5: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4692217473_a5c04e7679_b.jpg
Just for fun, to show you what it does with out of focus highlights (shot at f/4.5): http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4715553807_74d7100bea_b.jpg
The IS makes the lens very useful. I don't tend to use a tripod as much as I should, so IS allows me to use this lens on a regular basis. If I didn't have it, I'd have a bunch of blurry photos, and I'd be disappointed. I use this lens as I use any other lens in my collection--mostly hand held. If you like to be spontaneous and rarely use a tripod, like I do, you'll find this invaluable.
All in all, I'm really thrilled with the EF 300mm f/4L IS USM.
So what's wrong with it? It's not the EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM. I'll admit it. I like to have the best. It pains me that I cannot afford the best at this time. That's okay, though. I'll get many, many great photos while I'm waiting.
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Jun 19, 2010
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MichaD
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Registered: Nov 29, 2004
Location: Germany
Posts: 409
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Review Date: Apr 1, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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Fast AF, close min-focus
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Cons:
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CA stopped down, sharpness not that impressive. Old IS system.N
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While the lens is definitely decently sharp I expected better from a L-prime.
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Apr 1, 2010
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andrew81
Offline
[ X ]
Registered: Jun 15, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2502
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Review Date: Apr 1, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $500.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Light weight
compact
f4 is pretty fast
awesome out of focus background
very sharp and very contrasty
easily hand holdable
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Cons:
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my tripod mount is a bit sticky so when I have it on a mono or tripod going from horizontal to vertical and vice versa is awkward.
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I actually have the non-is version and I think it is very old. However this is easily the best lens I have ever used. Better than the 300 2.8 and 400 2.8. I shoot triathlon so the small size of this lens is a blessing. It takes a 1.4 converter very well. I do find the AF not as spot on when using anything other than the centre AF. I love this lens so much that I really dont want to sell it to upgrade to a 2.8 lens!
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Apr 1, 2010
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juan65
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Registered: Feb 4, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 305
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Review Date: Feb 18, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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very sharp lens, great for close up, minimum focus distance 1.5 meter can be switch to 3 m, IS, USM, I like the push and pull hood,(yes it can be locked when extended) it makes the polarizer filter a lot easier to use.
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Cons:
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none, and the IS is not noisy in my copy,
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first pictures came out with soft focus, I did the micro adjustment in my 7D to +12 and problem solved, so make sure your camera has the micro adjustment feature before you buy this lens,
I also recommend you buying from a dealer in your area, were you can walk in, test the lens in your camera and take it with you if you buy it,
trying to avoid sales tax from out of states online sales, may bring you problems, a lot of calls shipping lens back and all that bad stuff.
check out this tread; http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/868616/0#8142846
there is a picture of the lens with my camera in there.
because this lens has moving parts inside; the IS (image stabilizer)
I only recommend buying a new one,
buy it!
Juan
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Feb 18, 2010
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victoriae
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Registered: Sep 13, 2009
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Sep 13, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Not to big or heavy, very sharp, hand holdable for most shots, macro, reasonable price
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Cons:
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IS a little noisey but is not a problem
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Hi my first post, This is one of my best lenses and i have quite a lot of L glass, works well with the 1.4x converter. I was able to hand hold this with the 1.4x converter and on a 50D.
I also use this with my 1D MK iii for motorsport and gives superb results.
I think all things considered this is a very good lens and one i shall keep.
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Sep 13, 2009
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tonyat
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Registered: Jun 23, 2008
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Sep 9, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,150.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Affordable for a long L lens. IS and Ring USM. Good Build Quality. Great in the sharpness, contrast and color departments.
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Cons:
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None from my point of view.
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I was using a Tamron 70-300 was just not satisfied with it. I decided I needed better image quality and IS. I did like the 300mm focal length on a crop body, though. Was considering Canon's 70-300 with IS, but after a lot of research went with this lens and really do like it.
Colors and image sharpness just knock me dead compared with what I had before. The IS has increased my keeper rate dramatically. The Ring USM focusing is a great improvement. I am not a pro, but I still appreciate the build quality even if it is a little heavier.
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Sep 9, 2009
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Eggyj
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Registered: Nov 5, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 53
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Review Date: Jul 2, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Solid performance. Sharp, decent bokeh, portable, and flexible. Excellent close focus (1.5m). Built in hood. IS works fine. Good value. Good coatings, relatively light weight
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Cons:
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None
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A well balanced design. Close focus (not sure what previous reviewer was talking about at 6m ??) is a BIG advantage over prior 300mm design and 400 mm f5.6. Extremely flexible with 1.4x TC and ext. tubes or 500D. Provides very close focus 420 IS f5.6 with decent image quality, although rougher bokeh, and slower focus. IS could use a minor update but I've never had it let me down and I don't find the IS on my newer 70-300mm to be that much more effective - they both work. If you're shooting sunsets or distant scenics the old design with fewer lens elements might be better (better contrast less ghosting) but for field work with small critters and low light this lens is vastly superior.
One of the few reasons I still stick with Canon. I would love to see the same make-over of the 400 f5.6 (new gen IS, fast focus, and close focus <= 1.5m).
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Jul 2, 2009
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Janika
Offline
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Registered: Oct 17, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 367
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Review Date: Jun 30, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,200.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Easy to carry and handle, Relatively sharp, fast AF, Excellent for taking in-flight shots. Stabilizer works well for still objects, decent price-tag, Built in hood. Short min focusing distance, decent macro abilities.
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Cons:
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Not as sharp as it's predecessor, as it has more elements/glass, and a TC will make it worst.
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Had this lens for almost 4-months and I liked it, but You have to be lucky to get a sharp copy, which is a shame from Canon L series product. I recommend it for runway shoots, motor-sports, or winter sports. Way too short for birding / wildlife and a TC will slow your USM down. I sold mine this week and getting a 400mm prime instead.
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Jun 30, 2009
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canonet
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Registered: Aug 9, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 1067
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Review Date: Jun 12, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,200.00
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Pros:
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SHARP-SHARP lens! Beautiful colors
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Cons:
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Still an F4 and needs a longer minimal focus distance choice like 6 meters.
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I bought this lens 2 years ago to use for football and has returned fabulous images and prefer to use this more than my 70-200 2.8L lens! The IS will let me use it down to 1/160 sec (reliably) and 1/125( if necessary) handheld. if you must have a telephoto prime and cannot afford a 300 2.8L, get this one and you will not be dissapointed.
The only downside is in many lowlight situations where you need the shutter speed, the F4 is fast enough. Also, needs a longer minimal focusing distance choice; 6 meters.
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Jun 12, 2009
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supershot
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Registered: Dec 30, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Mar 9, 2009
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Recommend? |
Price paid: Not Indicated
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Pros:
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sorry I made a mistake ,I tryed a used one before which was damaged ,after trying a new one , I am very impressed,very sharp and good color I give it a 10 !!
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Cons:
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non what so ever
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I rate this lens a 10
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Mar 9, 2009
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supershot
Offline
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Registered: Dec 30, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Mar 6, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 6
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Mar 6, 2009
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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175
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385803
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Jun 10, 2015
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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97% of reviewers
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$1,065.43
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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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9.12
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9.6
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