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

I have this lens and I am very happy with it and it comes with the name 'Canon' so you can purchase this one without any discontent.

If you are comparing it with the Canon 55-250mm, then remember its the EF-S which is non-compatible with the full-frame DSLR's.
If you are comparing it with the cheaper non-IS (Image Stabilization) version i.e. the 75-300 USM and the 75-300, don't even think of purchasing it without the IS, other than that, optically they are very different.

If you are thinking that money is all that matters and you get the same with the Tamron or Sigma with IS and same optical quality and around 10G's cheaper then its your call.

Overall, I am a happy buyer, even I know how soft it gets (only during bird-photography at 300mm), mostly its just tack-sharp and focuses really fast. I use it on my Canon 550D.

Happy Shopping!

Canon EF 70-300mm IS USM is a great lens comparing to other telephoto zoom lens of Canon at a very cheap & reasonable rate. The picture quality is excellent.

Sporting a 3rd generation image stabilizer, the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is designed to be handholdable at a shutter speed up to 3 f-stops slower than a non-stabilized lens at the same focal length.

Using the 1/(focal length) rule, this lens can be handheld at 300mm with a shutter speed of 1/45 of a second (of course, your mileage may vary). I am getting sharp handheld images consistently at 1/4 or 1/5 second shutter speeds at 70mm and at 1/25 second at 300mm on a full frame body.

An 8-blade circular aperture gives the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens a good defocused image quality (often referred to as bokeh).

Overall the the lens is GREAT.

One of the better Canon glass . Vastly reduces any camera shake and the pictures come out awesome due to negligable shake induced blur.. Tremendous in low light conditions and I have taken some fantasic pictures using this lens..

Not a very easy walkaround lens and one has to be really st this up for telephoto even tho its comparitively lighjt for such level of focal length... fantastic AF and zoom...

Buy this...my few cents...

I've been using this lens for almost a bit above an year now.It never fails to amaze me with its capability.The IS gives you up to 3stops advantage when handheld.And the lens takes tack sharp photos.thanks to the auto focus being assisted by the ultra sonic motor.

70-300 mm is a very very widely marketed telephoto zoom.Sigma & Tamron sell the same focal length range for less than 10ks.But they can not be compared to this gem of a lens.
The cheaper alternatives do not have IS & are optically highly inferior.....
i used to own the Tamron equivalent.... & i know the difference in image quality.Some older model Canons like the 75-300 mm are still being marketed in countries like India.....but this is way better as the research & development done by canon on this lens is visible from the picture quality....
The build is also solid...
Those of you who need to use the lens at the extreme tele end may feel a bit uncomfortable when comparing to the highly acclaimed teleshots..... but those are taken mostly using dediacated telephoto lenses & not handy telezooms.
There is another lens from Tokina,its an 80-400mm,which may seem comaprable but that to doesnt have IS & very slow focusing..For the tele end a tripod is must......
Whoever is buying this lens....do invest in a tripod also.You will astound yourself with the resulting photographs.

This is a real good lens. Very comfortable to handle.
Only issue i have (with i can happily ignore) is the noise it makes. But thats ok :) .