The best Canon zoom lens for under $1000

A great lens for around $470 Brand New...and one i recommend 100% for the Advanced Amature it has the best of both worlds a good price and really good Picture quality plus 3-stop image stabilizer with 2 modes (its not a $1200+ Canon L) but its a good solid lens from Canon


Is it right for YOU??.... well thats a hard question but here are some key facts and situations that may help you decide...


Pros..
really Good picture quality,A Great image stabilizer,USM motor,good build quality and almost 30% faster focus than previous 75-300 is lens

Cons.. no full-time manul focus,filter ring rotates,in really low light focusing is difficult

Compared to..??

canon EF-s 55-250mm (is)...
this is a great lens and a good anature zoom lens and for less than $230 New it is a good compromize if you dont want to spend $450 but it is missing Advanced(IS) A little less picture quality,Build quality a lot lower

Canon EF 70-300/4-5.6DO{IS}...$1200+
This lens has a little better picture quality(especially in corners),Smaller size,Faster focus and a little better on build quality.. But it cost $1200+ and it's still not "canon L status" and i personally don't see a $700+ difference

Canon EF 70-200 F4(L) Non (IS)....$1200+
Well this is not really fair since this is a (L)series lens and the picture quality is far superior,Focus is also way faster,Build Quality is also Superior and weather resistant,and the fact that you have F4 throughout the zoom range... But there is a Huge sacrifice and yes it is Huge unless you carry a tripod everywhere unless you are in good daylight This Lens DOES NOT HAVE (IS) a image stabilizer so keep that in mind so while this lens will hands down beat a 70-300(is) in picture quality it wont fair well in lower light while being hand held (no tripod) This is a huge weakness and seriously should be thought over

I think the 70-300(is) will be the best lens for amatures and semi-pros in the $1000 and under range and is more well rounded then the other 3 lenses that i used as a example above. If you are a serious pro then Go for the (L)series lens ($1200+)but for most of us amatures and semi-pros that do ocassional wildlife,Zoo,Park and vacation photography I recommend this lens for you for 3 reasons... Image stabilizer,pric and Really good overall quality..

Great Lens for Shade Tree photographer

I haven't used or received the Lens yet, but I have read other reviews and the pros and cons from people that without a doubt have tons more experience than I will ever have, gave this lens a good review. I can't wait to receive the one I won, and begin using it. I'm very excited to have won this lens. My experience taking photos has grown over the years from a Minolta 110 SLR pocket camera, I think, that was many years ago, and I had the Kodak S-70 instamatic cameras that had the photo come out the front and develop on its own, to borrowing my brothers Canon F-1 that was like a thing out of the future, that made the best photos. He helped me understand just enough to load the film and watch the needle in the viewfinder and adjust the rings on the lens to get the needle in the right position for taking a picture. I guess by now you recognize the fact that I love cameras and taking pictures. I have 16 photo albums full of pics from the late 1960s to the present time, the albums are not the end, I have 8 cd holders that hold 12 CDs or later on I found out that DVDs hold more pics or music than the CDs. thats a lot of pics. I don't have any idea how many pics are on the CDs or DVDs, but they are all full with pictures, there is now way that I could afford to print all the pictures I have on the CDs or DVDs disk. But they can be viewed on a laptop or iPad so everything is good until we lose the power to run out computers. Having said all this, you should know now that my ability to review this lens is not something that you probably want to read if your looking for F/stop info or the F/4.0-5.6 info or any kind of review that will help you understand the ability of this lens to make you a better photographer. Now if you want to know why I bought this lens, I read the reviews of others that know what they are talking about, and after reading all that stuff that they say, I still don't know any more than I did, except for the fact that I know from their experience I have purchased a lens that will do more than I will ever expect my ability to be able to comprehend its functions. I couldn't go wrong with this lens, and it alone will make me a better AUTO photographer. I put my cameras on auto, and shoot, and get some amazing photos. Like i'm saying its not me, its the camera and lens that make the photograph. I'm just the eye behind the viewfinder. Great Photographer is one that uses all his, and the cameras abilities to create a truly wonderful photographic memory, or stunning work of art, me i'm just the "SHADE TREE PHOTOGRAPHER". Thanks for letting me review this lens that will make my Photos, stunning, with the limited amount of photographic experience needed to give a proper review. Bubba Woody

Excellent sharp images, compact size and good price. Surely must have!

Good work on the 70-200mm, the quality is good and even excellent, if properly configured. Sharp images at any focal length. Speed ​​gives the maximum for my cam under normal light. Using for spotting - works great for fast moving objects. The most important advantages is its price. As well as weight and compact size - if you have a spacious pockets on the jacket, you can easily put it in there as an additional lense, if you suddenly need to do a little way without the trunk.
Happy with the lens, if you choose between this and the 70-200L F4, then surely 70-300 - stabilized, and larger zoom.

Upgrade your lens kit with a good quality-price relation!

I bought this product because, when I bought my Canon 550D, I just bought the 18-55mm camera kit, and as I'm a sports photographer for excellence, I needed a lens that could capture nicelly what happens in a long distance, specially, motion pictures. As this one is a 70-300mm tele-lens, it could capture pictures in a considered long-distance.
I really appreciate the fact of having an Image Stabilizer, with 2 different modes: 1-axe mode (vertical axe) and 2-axe mode (horizontal and vertical axes), which ables you to chose the best one to capture your in-motion picture. The supreme image quality is also very appealing.
This lens also has an UltraSonic Motor, by instance, it isn't very quick focusing the picture, taking 1 to 3 seconds depending on the object. It's also very noisy when doing the focusing process. Another aspect to consideer is the energy consumption, which is well explained for the type of lens itself.
In overall, it's a great tele-lens, being a nice alternative for the Canon L series, which are much more expensive. This product should be considered by amateur such as by professional photographers!

Not perfect, but GREAT lens for the money

I bought the EF 70-300 f/4.0-5.6 IS USM zoom lens because I was looking for the extra length that my EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM wasn't delivering for things like sports and wildlife and when subjects were out of reach.

I had originally considered the EF 70-200mm f/4L USM lens but opted for the significantly less expensive 70-300mm lens because I had heard good reviews about the lens and decided to try and save some money in the process of expanding my opportunities.

This lens has sharpness to be appreciated! When shooting wildlife (birds, squirrels, frogs, turtles, etc...) the extra reach is very handy and everything turns out very nicely. Neatly blurred backgrounds provide a good smooth canvas for clear subjects that really stand out. Image stabilizer system may be a tad noisy (noticeable, at least) but what it lacks in silence, it makes up for in competence as I was able to hand hold even slow shutter speeds of around 1/10th sec even at full 300mm zoom!

There are, however, a few things I wish this lens did have that it does not. The front of the lens rotates during focus and extends when zooming, and the Micro-USM system does NOT allow full-time manual focus, and the lens lacks a distance scale. The more expensive L-series lens does have all these features, along with others I didn't bother listing, but lacks image stabilization. Finally, the lens does display some pincushion distortion, although, depending on how your shots are edited, you might never notice.

There may be some things that this lens is not PERFECT for, but for the small bit it lacks, it easily makes up for. VERY NICE for the money!