Canon EF 70300mm f4556 DO IS USM Lens

Product Description

Product Description Canon raises the stakes for professional photography with its EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM telephoto lens with image stabilization. Thanks to a new triple-layered diffractive optical element (DO), this 70-300mm lens is less than 4 inches (10 cm) long. It can focus down to 4.6 feet (without rotating the front element) and a new zoom lock button keeps the lens safe and secure when not in use or used at the wide angle. A virtually silent ultra-sonic motor (USM) gives the lens extremely fast autofocus. The lens also includes Canon's Image Stabilization technology to dramatically reduce camera shake, compensating for approximately three stops in shutter speed without any perceptible increase in image blur. It's a great choice for professional photojournalists and serious advanced amateurs who need to contain the size and weight of equipment carried.

DO Elements Use of the new three-layer DO lens drastically reduces the overall length and weight of the lens system increasing the refractive power of each lens element and reducing the spaces between elements. It's approximately 26 percent shorter and 36 percent lighter than any lens of comparable specifications.

Zoom lock The EF 70-300mm lens features a zoom ring locking mechanism, locking the lens at its shortest total length. This helps to protect the lens from potential damage by preventing the zoom elements extending under their own weight, which might otherwise occur when the lens is mounted to a camera that hangs from a neck or shoulder strap.

Image Stabilization The lens incorporates Canon's Image Stabilization (IS) technology, compensating for approximately three stops without any perceptible increase in image blur when shooting static subjects or panning. This increases the range of circumstances in which hand-held photography is possible, limiting the need to carry a tripod.

Fast AF A rear focusing ring type USM, high-speed CPU and new AF algorithms combine to give the lens extremely fast auto-focusing. The ring-type ultrasonic motor (USM) converts ultrasonic vibrational energy into rotational force to deliver high-speed, high-precision, super efficient and virtually noiseless auto focusing, with good holding torque for rapid response and accurate stopping. Full-time manual override is featured, removing the possibility of damage to the autofocus mechanism during manual focus. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of just 1.4m throughout the entire zoom range.

Ready for Digital Photography The lens shape and coatings have been optimized to suppress ghosting and flaring, making this lens ideal for use with digital cameras that are more susceptible to reflections off the recording media than are film cameras.

Working with EOS The drive pattern of the lens is tailored to specifically match that of the latest EOS range, extracting maximum benefit from the lens' speed advantage. The lens comes with a case LP1116 and an exclusive hood ET-65B for shading against unwanted direct light.
This review is from: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM Lens for Canon EOS Cameras (Electronics)
I originally purchased the other (non-DO) Canon 70-300mm zoom lens but found so many annoyances with it that I returned it. I find this DO lens to be much, much nicer and worth the extra cost. The issues I had with the non-DO lens were: it's big and noisy (focus and IS); slow to focus; if pointed down, the lens violently pops-out to full zoom, thus requiring use of the zoom lock whenever not in use; the filter ring rotates during zoom, making use of a polarizing filter difficult; you cannot manually focus if the lens is in AF mode; chromatic aberrations were noticable.

The DO lens has none of these issues: it is compact (about the same size as the Canon EFS 17-85), quiet, and fast focusing. The lens holds its focal length if pointed up or down. The filter ring does not rotate during zoom, and you can manually focus whether in AF or MF mode. I've seen no chromatic aberrations with this lens. Shots are clear and crisp throughout the entire range.

I didn't consider the highly-rated L series lenses because I knew that I wouldn't regularly carry such a large and obtrusive lens. I can literally carry this DO lens in my jacket pocket wherever I go, and not attract a lot of attention when it's mounted on my camera. Your needs may vary.

It's also a pleasure to own what I consider to be a technological marvel. With excellent image stabilization and autofocus, and being one of only two SLR lenses in the world to use diffractive optics (the other one costs over $5k), this lens defines state of the art. Get More Full Detail>>