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Author's Rating:

Pros: Size, build quality, image stabilization, USM

Cons: Image quality, weight

Author's Review
I bought this lens for the reason most users are probably thinking of buying this lens (assuming image and build quality are givens): the size. The idea of having a 300mm lens that is only 4" long was hard to resist. While many things about the lens are attractive (the build quality, the size, the USM, the IS) ultimately I found the optics to be weak. I performed an all-day comparison between the DO and the 70-200 L F4. Shooting everything imaginable in every light imaginable across the entire aperture range, the L was the hands down winner in every setting. Even enlarging a 200mm L image to the size of a 300mm DO image, the L image was superior. The L had better contrast, better sharpness, better focusing feel, better everything. Oh, it's also $500 cheaper. I'm not sure where the weakness in the DO lens originates, (glass quality? the DO?), but something's keeping this lens from matching the image quality of the L. Would I prefer to carry around a 4" lens instead of a 7" lens? Absolutely! Would I sacrifice image quality to do so? Not a chance.