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Customer Reviews for EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
5 zoom groups make the lens length only 4.8 in. (121.5mm)
With rear focusing, and non-rotating front element so any filter effects remain intact
Quick and quiet USM AF
13 elements in 10 groups
Average Customer Rating:
(6 Reviews) 6
Rating Snapshot (6 reviews)
5 stars
2
4 stars
2
3 stars
2
2 stars
0
1 star
0
4 out of 6(67%)reviewers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
Review 1 for EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
Nickname: Mountain Goat
Location: Maine
Used this product for: 1 to 3 months
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Mostly used for: Travel
Canon Enthusiast: 11 to 20 years
Product replacement: No
Good try, but...
Overall Rating
Features
3
out of
5
Performance
2
out of
5
Price/Value
3
out of
5
Quality
2
out of
5
Satisfaction
2
out of
5
Date:June 22, 2012
Pros: Fast auto-focus, decent build quality
Cons: Semi-sharp images, lens creep
I bought this lens for a shoot in Morocco as a supplement telephoto zoom. Performance was decent from 100mm to about 190mm hand held in good light. Even still I got a fair amount of soft edges. Performance above 190mm was pretty rubbish (again, hand held in good light) and approaching 300mm without a tripod produced very few useable images. I didn't shoot much with a tripod but it seemed to produce decent images when mounted. Just not practical as a walk about lens. Needs IS desperately! One other annoying thing is the lens creep. Sold upon return from the shoot. This is a good lens for someone who is just starting out or doesn't make prints, the price is fair for the quality of the lens, just not useful for my purposes.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Review 2 for EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
Nickname: Bill
Location: Texas
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Canon Enthusiast: more than 20 years
Product replacement: No
Good all-around tele-zoom
Overall Rating
Features
2
out of
5
Performance
3
out of
5
Price/Value
5
out of
5
Quality
3
out of
5
Satisfaction
3
out of
5
Date:October 18, 2011
Pros: Fast auto-focus, price/value, durable construction, outstanding i.q. from 100-200mm
Cons: lens creep, low light performance
I purchased this lens in January 2004 and have used it regularly to shoot thousands of photos. The build quality of this lens is a step above the entry-level 70-300mm lenses. Nearly eight years later, it remains in perfect operating condition and has never had a mechanical failure. I purchased it for the ultra fast and accurate ring-type USM. This feature has never disappointed me.
My only complaint with the design is lens creep (i.e. gravity pulls the zoom out to 300mm anytime the front of the lens is angled downward). This design flaw is mostly a nuisance, but seems inexcusable from a company like Canon.
Of course the lens is slow with a maximum aperture of f/4.5-5.6, but that is what you get in this price range. During bright daylight, this lens is usably good all the way out to 300mm and outstanding at shorter focal ranges (100-200mm); the colors are vibrant, excellent contrast, and sharp.
I will finally be replacing this lens in the coming months, not because it is old or falling apart, but because I’ve been shooting a lot of weddings lately and I need something capable of better low ambient light performance (i.e. something a lot more expensive). Otherwise, this is a lens that seems like it could keep clicking along for another eight years.
21 of 22 people found this review helpful.
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Review 3 for EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
Nickname: Jzzman
Location: NYC
Used this product for: 1 to 3 months
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Mostly used for: Portraits
Canon Enthusiast: 11 to 20 years
Product replacement: No
Not all it could be
Overall Rating
Features
3
out of
5
Performance
3
out of
5
Price/Value
3
out of
5
Quality
2
out of
5
Satisfaction
2
out of
5
Date:April 19, 2011
Pros: light weight and easy to hand-hold
Cons: Slow auto-focus, Semi-sharp images, Poor build quality, poor construction
Borrowed this lens to take on a hike because it is light and easy to hand-hold. This lens seem ideally suited for taking available-light portraits with soft backgrounds but if you want tack-sharpness, you maybe disappointed. Construction felt flimsy and never felt sure image was in focus.
4 of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Review 4 for EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
Nickname: MrBill
Location: oklahoma
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Product replacement: No
Great Lens
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
5
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:October 22, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus
easy to use, light, extremely fast. Very sharp images. What more can be said. I purchased this lens yearssssssss ago and I'm still completely satisified with it.
45 of 50 people found this review helpful.
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Review 5 for EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
Nickname: PHOTORCTZ
Location: OREGON
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Product replacement: No
EXCELLENT TELEPHOTO ZOOM
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
5
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:January 22, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus
I bought this lens several years from now and let me tell you that I'm very, very pleased with it's excellent image, rugged construction and ease of use, I recommend it with no reservations
61 of 63 people found this review helpful.
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Review 6 for EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
Nickname: doctor
Location: Athens
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
very good telefoto lens
Overall Rating
Features
4
out of
5
Performance
4
out of
5
Price/Value
5
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:November 19, 2008
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus
Cons: no image stabiliser
I own this lens for over than five years now and i'm very happy with it. I now have the superb 70-200 IS too and in comparisson, the 100-300 is much smaller and lighter, bright enough for most aplications and the autofocus is very fast. The only downside for me, realy, is the lack of image stabiliser. The sharpness and contrast are close to those from the 70-200 and the overall performance is near excellent. I would recomend this lens to anyone that can't afford one of the 70-200 lenses.
90 of 92 people found this review helpful.
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