Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens Review
The Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is Canon's first Image Stabilized lens.
Image Stabilization (IS) is a great feature.
On the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens, IS lets you handhold two f-stops faster than without this feature.
It costs a lot of money to buy a lens with a 2-stop faster aperture.
Of course, IS is not everything - and cannot create background blur or stop action like a faster lens.
Keep in mind that the version of IS on this lens needs to be turned off when tripod-mounted.
Not doing so may cause the image stabilizer to act erratically.
Build quality of the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is OK but not excellent.
This is a medium weight lens.
The zoom and focus rings are not smooth.
It does feel more solid than the
Canon EF 75-300mm III USM Lens
but is also larger and heavier.
Image quality from the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is mediocre and very similar to the
Canon EF 75-300mm III USM Lens.
The IS version had slightly more corner softness.
Like the
Canon EF 75-300mm III USM Lens,
the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is soft wide open at all focal lengths.
Sharpness decreases as it zooms from 70mm to 300mm.
However, the corners are softest at 70 and getting better by 300.
Corner and center softness decrease as the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is stopped down.
Stopping down a relatively slow lens means a lot of light (or a flash)
is necessary for handheld photos.
Handholding a slow lens at 300mm requires a lot of light to begin with.
IS comes to the rescue here if your subject is not moving fast.
Some pincushioning is visible at 300mm.
Focus speed is OK, but not fast.
Micro USM (Ultrasonic Motor) is not as fast as Canon's excellent Ring USM.
FTM (Full-Time Manual) focusing is not part of the package.
My kids could easily outrun the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens's focusing capabilities
even when mounted on a Canon pro camera body.
An 8-bladed aperture is a nice touch.
Generally speaking, more aperture blades yield more-round out of focus highlights.
Of course, rounded aperture blades are better the straight ones.
From left to right in the comparison picture above are
the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8 L USM Lens,
Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III USM Lens,
Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens and
Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM Lens.
Pictured above from left to right are the
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens, the
Canon EF 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM Lens, the
Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens and the
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens.
The Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is mid-sized and not too heavy - it is not a burden to carry.
The lens extends and rotates when zooming to 300mm.
The rotation is a problem when using a polarizing filter or similar attachment.
The 75-300mm focal length is very useful.
A wide variety of uses can be found for this range including
portraits/people, pets, nature ...
Price is one of the reasons you might consider this lens.
The Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is very capable of capturing memories.
My recommendation - for a little more money, you can get the
Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L Lens.
The image and build quality of this lens are much better.
Even with a
Canon Extender 1.4x II
attached, my 70-200 L lens resulted in better image quality than the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens alone.
If you care about excellent quality, sharp photos, the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is not for you.
And Photoshop cannot enhance details that are not there.
If your needs are not demanding, you might be very happy with a 75-300 IS.
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens Sample Pictures ...
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Peter Kun Frary
FredMiranda.com
