How does Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM lens perform, and what are the alternatives?

Question

Could you give me some insight about this lens? Canon EF Telephoto zoom lens - 70 mm - 300 mm - F/4.5-5.6 - Canon EF

I find its size very appealing, but I'm not sure of the performance or any alternatives for a Canon 30D. Are there some equivalent lenses from other manufacturers, like Tamron or Sigma? And are they worth the money?

Many thanks!

Answer

The main advantage of the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM lens is that it's compact and lightweight, therefore very appealing for travel photographers who doesn't want to grab too much attention. It's very well built with excellent IS and fast, quiet AF. Provides FTM and non-rotating front, useful for filter users. Only downsides I can see are soft images at wide open aperture and higher price. Comparing to other two Canon 70-300mm versions, images are soft but become better when aperture is stepped down.

A few other alternatives are:

• Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM: It's about 300$ more expensive but the best in this class. This is a pro grade lens.
• Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM: It's about 500$ cheaper, produces slightly better images but heavier and doesn't have FTM. This lens is a good bargain for people looking for a non-pro telephoto lens.
• Tamron 70-300 f/4-5.6 USD VC: It's cheap, provides good images if you can manage a good copy, but lot of faulty production versions with malfunctioned AF has been reported around the globe.

You can compare these lenses ISO Crops from The-Digital-Picture. Reviews of these lenses are linked to their names.

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