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

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM Handling and features

Typical of Canon's L series lenses, this lens feels incredibly well-built and the tough white exterior finishes off the look. Sealing against dust and moisture has been applied to the lens, including a rubber gasket around the metal lens mount to prevent the ingress of moisture and particles into the camera body. Despite the excellent build, this lens isn't massively heavy, thanks to the moderate f/4-5.6 max aperture, and it weighs 1050g. As a result the lens balances well on the EOS 5D MKIII used for testing even without a battery grip attached.

Auto focus is powered by an Ultrasonic motor, and focusing is extremely fast and accurate as a result, especially when compared to most other lenses covering this range. Manual adjustments can be made quickly at any point by turning the focus ring. The focusing ring is smooth and precise, which makes fine manual adjustments a pleasure to apply. Minimum focus is 1.2m from the sensor plane, which is fairly typical for lenses covering this range.

As focusing is performed internally, the 67mm filter ring does not rotate, which makes the lens ideal for use with graduated and polarising filters. A deep circular hood is also provided, which is flock-lined on the surfaces inside to minimise the chances of unwanted light being reflected into the optical path.

Sharp hand held images are possible around half the time at an impressive 1/20sec, which is roughly four stops slower than the general rule of thumb for sharp images would allow.

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