Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS USM

Canon Rumors Guy

Canon EOS 40D
CR Pro
Jul 20, 2010
10,779
3,158
Canada
www.canonrumors.com
HTML:
<strong>Woo!</strong>

The new EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS is generating a decent amount of buzz, more than I thought it would.</p>
<p>A CR reader picked up his copy today and told me he’d be doing some shooting. All I asked was he didn’t post a shot of a brick wall, he agreed!</p>
<p><strong>Gallery:<a href="http://www.pbase.com/mjlamoon/canon70300l">http://www.pbase.com/mjlamoon/canon70300l </a></strong></p>
<p><em>thanks Martin</em></p>
<p>The lens is shipping next week in Canada, so I would expect it at US retailers as well.</p>
<p>Another reader who has played around with the lens says the following (<em>Thanks Bruce</em>):</p>
<blockquote><p>Compared witht the 70-200/2.8, it is a featherweight.Zooming was smooth and the focus was quick and accurate at all focal lengths. The image quality was good over the full frame and IS worked superbly.</p>
<p>On the down side, it drops away from f/4 quite quickly (if I recall correctly around 100mm) which will influence it’s autofunction capabilities on less expensive cameras (Bruce tested with a 1D3 and could be talking about teleconverters).</p>
<p>So – it’s probably a terrific lens for someone with a high end camera who is getting on a plane. The limited focal ratio will probably constrain it more than most realise.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Buy From: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040X4PQI?ie=UTF8&tag=canorumo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0040X4PQI">B&H</a> / <a href="http://www.adorama.com/CA70300LU?kbid=64393">Adorama</a> / <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040X4PQI?ie=UTF8&tag=canorumo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0040X4PQI">Amazon</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Post your own samples</strong>

There is a thread on the forum for EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS lens samples. Please feel free to post your images there.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php/topic,285.0.html">http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php/topic,285.0.html</a> </strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong>
 
S

scalesusa

Guest
Re: EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS Real World Samples

Actually, I'd like to see a brick wall. The images are nice, but they do not tell you everything. A combination of images so that we can see the different attributes of the lens would be nice.

I'm sure there will be lots of them coming soon.

I liked the comparison shot to the 24-105mm L, it gives me a feel for its size. Perhaps one comparing it to the 70-200mm f/4 L would also be nice.

I won't be buying one soom, I have the 24-105mm L, the 70-200mm f/4L IS and the 100-400mm L IS, so I'm more than covered.

300mm is a bit short on my FF and APS-H sensor, but should be excellent on a APS-C sensor.


I suppose that the flame wars are now officially open ;)
 
Upvote 0

dr croubie

Too many photos, too little time.
Jun 1, 2011
1,383
0
Re: Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS

Canon Rumors said:
On the down side, it drops away from f/4 quite quickly (if I recall correctly around 100mm) which will influence it’s autofunction capabilities on less expensive cameras (Bruce tested with a 1D3 and could be talking about teleconverters).

So a) why are there no pics here yet, noone has this lens? (i suppose i'll have to post some after i buy it this weekend or the next)

and b) with regards to that quote, what's he comparing it to? By my nerdly-spreadsheeting & graph i made when i was bored yesterday, the L stays at f4 longer than any other comparable vari-F canon zoom lens. and only the 100-400 beats it by staying longer at f5 before it hits f5.6.
(data comes from here)
 

Attachments

  • longzoom.gif
    longzoom.gif
    14.5 KB · Views: 5,068
Upvote 0

dr croubie

Too many photos, too little time.
Jun 1, 2011
1,383
0
Re: Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS

So i finally got to buying one on saturday, and i've spent 2 days since running around and have probably taken nearly 500 shots with it already.
i walked through a forest chasing an eagle for hours, and just when i was giving up and walking home, this guy came and sat on a pole about 2m away from me.

300mm, f5.6, ISO160, 1/500s, 7D. Gotta say, i'm impressed with the Bokeh. the bird was maybe 2-3m away, the street sign and hedge were another 5-6m on the other side of the street.

Bonus points if anyone can tell me wtf it is? i see them around occasionally (in The Netherlands) the crew-cut and colours keep making me think kingfisher, but the body shape is a lot more crow/raven/magpie (but it's not black/white). I know they're probably fairly common in europe, but i only know australian birds.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4196ss.JPG
    IMG_4196ss.JPG
    180.6 KB · Views: 5,642
Upvote 0

dr croubie

Too many photos, too little time.
Jun 1, 2011
1,383
0
Re: Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS

woo, thanks for the bird tip. suppose one day i'll be back to get more shots of them, look out for more shots from me of aussie birds in a week or two...

anyway, another shot from that day, to show the bokeh. Taken in a forest with some hoverflies near a leaf in sunlight, the background was all darkness with a bit of sunlight poking through the leaves behind. (the good focussing on the fly was just luck, all the rest of the shots were oof or moving or both)
7D, ISO250, 1/320s, 300mm, f5.6 (wide open). camera jpeg, no processing, just shrunk to 1200*800, and a 100% crop...

and for the hell of it, a 100% crop of the next shot, from the far top left corner of the (APS-C) frame. not going to win any awards for composition, but just to give you an idea of how the bokeh goes ever so slightly non-circular near the corner, still, i like it...
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4101s.JPG
    IMG_4101s.JPG
    234.1 KB · Views: 5,190
  • IMG_4101ss.JPG
    IMG_4101ss.JPG
    59.8 KB · Views: 5,414
  • IMG_4102ss.JPG
    IMG_4102ss.JPG
    275.9 KB · Views: 5,177
Upvote 0
I

iowafirebird

Guest
Re: Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS

I took these photos of robins through my living room window with this lens (Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS) on my 7D. It's my first L lens and I love it.
 

Attachments

  • JUN_2011_06 23 11_1604-800.jpg
    JUN_2011_06 23 11_1604-800.jpg
    56.3 KB · Views: 4,259
  • JUN_2011_06 18 11_1500-800.jpg
    JUN_2011_06 18 11_1500-800.jpg
    69.6 KB · Views: 6,296
  • JUN_2011_06 18 11_1532-800.jpg
    JUN_2011_06 18 11_1532-800.jpg
    62.6 KB · Views: 14,027
Upvote 0

dr croubie

Too many photos, too little time.
Jun 1, 2011
1,383
0
Re: Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS

Just gone over my shots i took of the butterfly house in Changi Airport.
Too lazy and tired to go over and rawprocess the (~300) colour ones i got during the day, this one's probably going to be my favourite anyway.
The auto-misting watering was going on at the time, spraying just near a light (it was nighttime) in the background of where this guy was hanging asleep.

7D, 70-300L, 140mm, f/5, ISO800, 1/30s, -1EV.

was kind of annoyed, this was the last shot i got when the CF was full, by the time i'd deleted a few blurry ones to make room, the misting had finished and the effect was gone, so this is the only one i got...
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5357s.JPG
    IMG_5357s.JPG
    94.7 KB · Views: 3,888
Upvote 0
Re: Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS

I've had the lens for under a month and put it through its paces at Bonaventure Island. It is fantastic and has replaced my 70-200/4 for the time being.
 

Attachments

  • 20110709_121644_NOGA_4775.jpg
    20110709_121644_NOGA_4775.jpg
    185 KB · Views: 3,928
  • 20110708_171001_WTSP_4094.jpg
    20110708_171001_WTSP_4094.jpg
    190.9 KB · Views: 3,985
  • 20110713_110858_HERG_8362.jpg
    20110713_110858_HERG_8362.jpg
    184.4 KB · Views: 3,977
Upvote 0

Haydn1971

UK based, hobbyist
Nov 7, 2010
593
1
52
Sheffield, UK
www.flickr.com
Re: Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS

Although I'm still happy with the output of this lens, I was using it today at the Imperial War Museum Duxford taking photos of aircraft flying overhead... It was a nightmare, focus was all over the place, swapped to my 135mm and was getting much better results, even though the aircraft were smaller, they have rendered better with the shorter focal length.

Overall, stil a great value lens, not that great for moving aircraft !
 
Upvote 0