Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Customer Reviews & Product Details

I had been looking at this lens for a long time. I was skeptical of the stellar reviews and extremely hesitant to drop the $[...]. I wanted to see for myself first so I rented a copy from [...] (BTW, great company). For seven days I shot everything imaginable with this lens. To keep this short, this lens is amazing. The auto focus is lightning fast and accurate. The contrast and color are phenomenal. This is the sharpest lens I have shot with to date. I ordered a personal copy the day BEFORE I shipped the rental back. This lens is worth every penny.

Love:

- Sharp wide open and that is what counts (sharpens nicely with software).
- Sharpens more when stopped down an f-stop (outstanding resolution).
- Fast auto focus (fastest I have seen).
- Solid build (switches and rings are precise without play).
- Replaceable flat front glass which protects the adjacent UD element.
- Autofocus stop buttons.
- Dust and water resistant.
- Programmable preset focusing.
- Removable tripod collar.

Like:

- Optical image stabilization (wish it had the newer 3-4 stop version).
- Hard case (good for storing lens in your house, vehicle or airplane).
- A good way to meet nice strangers (especially the ladies) who approach and raises questions about the lens.

Dislike:

- E-145 lens cap (will dislodge if lens is carried in the field with the hood reversed).
- Paint will come off on the barrel at the ET-120 lens hood contact point.
- Need to buy Canon touch up paint to repaint lens hood contact point on barrel.
- Not a dislike but the strap's buckle can scratch the prism housing (position the buckle close to the lens away from the camera).
- Weight (not really hand holdable and needs at least a monopod).
- Cost (but it's faster and sharper than the Canon 300/4 versions).

This is the sharpest and fastest autofocus lens in my collection. The 70-200/4 IS is a close second.

Please refer to my uploaded photos

Let's just recap what all the reviews say about this lens in one word: perfect.

My review won't add too much more to what's already been said, but I will point out a few things about this lens that I really like.

+ It's the sharpest piece of glass I've ever seen. This lens is sharper wide open than my 100-400 at 300mm stopped down to f/8.

+ It has 3 focus limiter switches. This takes a while to get used to, but it also makes the autofocus incredibly fast especially for distant moving targets.

+ It takes a 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverter incredibly well. Even with the 2x attached, the lens is still very sharp. When using the focus limiter, the autofocus with the 2x is still fast enough to capture birds in flight handheld. There's no appreciable difference with this lens bare and with the 1.4x teleconverter.

+ Attached to my 1D2, the autofocus is so fast I can't visually keep up with it sometimes. Yes, it's that darn awesome, and no I'm not kidding...

+ The focus preset system is not really intuitively clear, however, once you get it down, it's really really helpful for setting up your shots when you know where your target is going to be. Bigtime plus for tracking faster subjects in predictable paths.

There are no cons to this lens except one. It's HEAVY. I use mine on a tripod or monopod, however it can be use handheld even with the 1.4 attached for a good amount of time especially if you've got stronger arms and can hold it up.

Overall, if I could give this lens 10 stars out of 5, I would. I was worth every single penny.

I am not a professional photographer. I bought this lens from Ebay, used and without IS. The lens is very fast, sharp and sturdy. I like it very much. I used this lens to take pictures of deer in my backyard. But the lens is very heavy. You cannot use it without a tripod or monopod. However, I have a question and I would appreciate if you could spend a moment to share your valuable experience with me. Does this lens require a UV filter and a Polarizing filter? I bought two of these filters, each 110mm in size, thinking that I could install them at the front end of the lens. But there is no thread in the rubber-molded rim at the front end of the lens. I checked the Amazon specification above and noticed that a 52mm dropped-in filter is mentioned. (Nothing mentioned about any 110mm filters). Logically the only location for putting a 52mm filter would be at the back end of the lens. Discussing with a filter supplier in England, I was informed that there is a 52mm gel-type filter at the back end covered underneath a screwed-plate. This 52mm lens may have been put in there by Canon when the lens was built. I bought the 110mm filters from this filter supplier, then he asked me whether the 52mm gel-type filter is available in market. Now I have two problems to solve: (1) Do you use UV and Polarizing filters with this lens? If so, how do you fasten them to the lens, and (2) Is the 52mm filter available in market? and where to get it from? Thank you.

Love:

- Sharp wide open and that is what counts (sharpens nicely with software).
- Sharpens more when stopped down an f-stop (outstanding resolution).
- Fast auto focus (fastest I have seen).
- Solid build (switches and rings are precise without play).
- Replaceable flat front glass which protects the adjacent UD element.
- Autofocus stop buttons.
- Dust and water resistant.
- Programmable preset focusing.
- Removable tripod collar.

Like:

- Optical image stabilization (wish it had the newer 3-4 stop version).
- Hard case (good for storing lens in your house, vehicle or airplane).
- A good way to meet nice strangers (especially the ladies) who approach and raises questions about the lens.

Dislike:

- E-145 lens cap (will dislodge if lens is carried in the field with the hood reversed).
- Paint will come off on the barrel at the ET-120 lens hood contact point.
- Need to buy Canon touch up paint to repaint lens hood contact point on barrel.
- Not a dislike but the strap's buckle can scratch the prism housing (position the buckle close to the lens away from the camera).
- Weight (not really hand holdable and needs at least a monopod).
- Cost (but it's faster and sharper than the Canon 300/4 versions).

This is the sharpest and fastest autofocus lens in my collection. The 70-200/4 IS is a close second.

Please refer to my uploaded photos.