A good, But not Great, Lens.

Author's Rating:

Pros: Small and light given its zoom range. Image Stabilized.

Cons: Lower optical quality than a lens this $$$ should have

The Bottom Line: 
If you need a small lens with this range, go for it. But, Understand the tradeoff!

Author's Review
The Canon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO is a pretty impressive lens in some ways- But falls short in some areas as well. I wanted to try it, as it has a nice zoom range (70-300mm), is fairly small and light, and has both the Ultrasonic Focus and Image Stabilizers. So, I gave it a whirl.

The Lens Itself Though it is priced like one, this is NOT an 'L' series lens, though the general build quality is very similar. It does feel a bit cheaper than the "L's" do, but by no means is it poorly constructed. It just isn't quite as solid feeling in the hands.

The 'DO' in the lens name stands for Diffractive Optics. It is a new way that canon has come up with to use Diffraction to focus light. I am not an engineer, so I won't even attempt to explain how it works (I have NO clue), but it allows them to build a lens that gets a longer 'reach' in a smaller package. This lens is MUCH smaller than previous lenses in the same zoom range- But the weight is not significantly different.

The lens barrel extends when you zoom in. This is something that I really don't like, especially after using the "L" series lenses. It also provides one more place for dust and water to get in to the lens. Not good. Though it extends, it does not rotate- So you can easily use circular polarizer filters on it.

Autofocus is fast, and more than adequate for most uses.

At f/4.5-5/6, it is by no means a fast lens. The Image Stabilizer helps a lot, especially handheld.

Optical Quality The quality of this lens is very good, especially if you compare it to one of the cheaper lenses in the same zoom range, but it isn't up to the quality of an "l" series, and frankly for this price, it probably should be.

What is it best for? This makes a good lens for someone who needs a compact zoom with a good reach. Travelers will appreciate the small size and relative light weight. It would be a good lens for taking photos of outdoor sports events, and similar occasions. I can see where some might like it's reach for street photography, too.

Why it has no home in my bag Quite frankly, unless space is a MAJOR worry, I think that you will be far better off buying a 70-200 "L" series. The 70-200 f/4 IS is about the same price, and has a superior build, as well as better optics. You won't have the high end zoom that you get with this lens, but ask yourself if you really need that.

In the end, I decided that the carrying a larger, heavier "l" lens was well worth it for me, because of the image quality difference. So, This one went back to the store, and a pretty grey "L" came home with me.

Bottom line- If you are jumping up from a kit lens or an inexpensive zoom, you'll probably be very impressed. If you are used to the quality and sharpness of the "L" lenses, You are going to be disappointed.