The range is incredible and outstanding sharpness a cross the whole focal range. I like the 35mm wide on this as it gives you that cinema feel to shots

I'm not gonna repeat the weight... I disagree. Many worse lenses are heavier and far less diverse. This lens has no weakness once you learn to use the push/pull zoom.

Obviously the range. Great color/contrast/sharp wide open. AF fairly brisk 30/40D
and very quick on a 1Series.

heavy for a walkaround, not weathersealed

Best uber zoom in the land (prior to the release of the 28-300L IS replacement)
Shoot a landscape and zoom out to nail a BIF w/o changing lenses. Great for
soccer/baseball. Good long lens technique will yield sharp images wide open
throughout it's 10x range. Ultimate travel lens, stash a fast lil prime for low light
and you're all set. Gorgeous IQ

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80-200 f2.8L, all (4)70-200L versions, 100-400L IS

Zoom Range 10X is great
Image quality is excellent

Weight- this thing is heavy but worth carrying.
CAs (purple fringe)- With high contrast images and on the wide end.... noticeable

I (like most others) purchased this to limit my lens changing and still have a high quality image. For me the zoom range is normal to telephoto as I use a 40d (1.6 crop) so I pair it up with a 17-50mm to handle most my focal lengths. A good sign that I am happy with it is that it is usually on the camera unless I have something specific to shoot that one of my other lenses is better suited. Now lens changing is almost a thing of the past. I will give the rating in a 1-10 (10 being the best) in each section with an explanation if needed.

Build quality- 10 it doesn't get any better but comes at a price in weight. This lens is heavy. In fact I own 6 "L" series lenses and this is the heaviest.

Focus speed-9 It is extremely fast focusing in daylight but at 350mm and 5.6 lower light conditions can take their toll.

Color and Contrast-10 Typical Canon L color and contrast. It doesn't get any better.

Sharpness-9 While still excellent There is a price to be paid for that extreme zoom range and here it is. Don't get me wrong. It knocks the socks off of most consumer lenses but it isn't like the rest of my "L" lenses.

CAs-8 Chromatic Aberration is significant at the wide settings. Not horrible but its there. Shoot raw in high contrast scenes and remove it in PS (very easy to do).

Ergonomics-8 Its smooth and you can lock the zoom down at any length but you got to get used to the push pull zoom.

In short it does what I wanted from it. As a option with airlines limiting baggage and weight this solves the problem of carrying too much along. It

Customer Service

Though discontinued Canon service is excellent.

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Other Canon L lenses include
28-80 2.8-4 L
80-200 2.8 L
300mm 4.0 L
I also use a 17-50mm 2.8 Tamron SP that I am very happy with.

Build Image quality Zoom range Speed and ease of focus

Weight No 'IS' Speed of lens Cost

I bought this lens recently to compliment my 70-200 2.8L. It replaces a Canon 28-200 and Tamron 28-300 (I was unhappy with the image quality of both). I was a little worried - having read some reviews - that this lens wouldn't be up to what I expect from 'L' glass. Well, I can't see that much difference between the pictures from this lens and my other 'L' lenses. Yes , the others lenses are a bit sharper but it is very marginal. It is streets ahead of the standard canon zooms for sharpness and overall image quality! The build is excellent and I don't mind the push pull zoom. The lens is very heavy but most 'L' glass is. Although a slightly smaller lens than the 70-200 the weight is carried nearer the camera body and this seems to give it a heavier feel. It is an expensive lens which is not as fast as some and doesn't have IS but given it covers such a wide range I can put up with that. I wanted to have the choice of going out with only one lens and thats what I now have. I can see this staying on the camera more than it really should!

Customer Service

Not used

Similar Products Used:

Canon 70-200 2.8L IS, 75-300 IS, 28-200, Tamron 28-200 and 28-300 (new 'small' ones)

Focal range! Superb optics and fast focusing.

At 6 pounds, it isn't light, but think of all those other lenses you aren't lugging around.

I bought this lens because I was tired of always changing lenses in outdoor situations. It has proven to be the on of the best investments I have made in photography. A pleasure to use--rock solid and stable. Give it enough light and you can easily produce stunning hand held shots!

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Nothing even comes close!

Handling Versatility Close-Up capabilities Built (it's a tank!) Reliability

Ok, it's heavy--but I like it.

Just great!! This lens is the one for going "light" meaning with only one lens. Especially nice on vacation. I use it generally for landscapes and am extremely happy with the results. The handling in connection with an EOS3+booster is perfect for me. It's very well balanced and can even be used without a tripod with good results. It's THE travel lens for me.

Customer Service

Great (Canon Germany)

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Tamron 28-200 Canon 75-300 IS Canon 100-400 IS

Versatile It give very good picture form 35-350mm, I have enlarge the picture to 16x20 good

Cannot use 2x and 1.4 X converter, if you use , it cannot focus to infinity It can focus manually within a few hundred meters Heavy, But not as heavy as 3 Prime lens. Pull and push zoom can easily accustom But the dust problem not likely to be solve

This is a versatile lens with a reasonable sharpness and price. You can use it to take landscape, portrait as well as wide animals. It is one lens solution. Do not trust other cheaper band 10X lens, it is not as well as this one. But the weakness of this len is that it can easily get dust though the push and pull focus mechanism. What a shame.

Customer Service

not at all

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Pentax 80-320 Tamron 80-210

Range & optical quality & build

It's a tad heavy but not as heavy as another lens or another body with another lens!

I am basically a street photograhpher (reportage!) & if you have to choose just one lens this is it. The range is all you could want & when you don't have time to change lenses or use another body this is perfect. The focusing is fast & its bomb proof!

Customer Service

Only use cannon dealers

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Tanron 28-200/Sigma 75-300

Extremely versatile. Sturdy and durable. NICE GLASS! Cost Effective solution to multiple lenses. Convenient manual setting. Tremendous close-up shooting at 135mm. Tremendous at sporting events. Fantastic for "safe" wildlife shooting. Shoot a polar bear at 100 meters, pick nose hairs, then turn and shoot the smile on your wife's face 4 feet away all with one lens in a matter of seconds.

WAY HEAVY! (but then it better be for $1,500) Ackward in a crowd. (but you get a lot of looks cuz it looks really professional) Vignettes at 350mm but this can be minimized by removing the lens hood. Fstop is limiting. Slide out zoom and lens lock can "catch ya" at an inopportune moment. Filters are not cheap!

This is literally the very best lens that I have ever owned. From the Wedding Chapel downtown to the arctic circle, no other one lens I have ever owned will fill these shoes. If shot intelligently with the limitations of the lens taken into consideration, you can't go wrong with this stout L series star. Buying three different lenses to do the same as this one lens is truly not as cost effective. Shop around for the best price. The glass is wonderful and flawless. The softness experienced at 350mm can be compensated for by hitting the sticks and stopping to f22+.

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Canon 24mm-70mm f 2.8L USM Canon 50mm f1.4L USM Canon 85mm f1.2LUSM Canon 75mm-210mm f3.5-4.5 USM Canon 75mm-300mm f4-5.6 USM Canon 100mm-300mm (I think I got a bad one..I did not care for this l

Very wide and useful focal range, Rugged construction, Lighting fast and quiet autofocus (USM), Superb optical quality.

Heavy especially with my EOS 3, booster, and flash. Pull-push zoom, but you can get used to it quickly.

This is a very SUPERB lens from Canon. The engineering is ground-breaking. I use it on my EOS 3, and it focus lighting fast and very accurate, plus dead-silent. The lens is proven to be very useful for any kind of photography, I do a lot of people, wedding, studio and landscape with this lens. If you are looking for 10x zoom with the best optical quality, look no further.

Customer Service

Never