Canon's incredibly popular compact, long-range shooter has finally received the L treatment it always deserved with the recent release of the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM Telephoto ($1,570) .

In September of 1995, Canon introduced a revolutionary new lens, the EF 75-300/4-5.6 IS USM. The revolutionary aspect of this lens was the incorporation of an optical image stabilizer system which allowed the lens to be hand held at shutter speeds two stops slower than could be done with a...

With the introduction of the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens, Canon has replaced one of its most popular lenses and its first image stabilized lens - the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS .

The Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS is a wonderful lens. It's made mostly of alloy; even its filter threads are metal.

Canon offers five different 70-300mm zoom lenses in its product lineup. Why so many? They obviously think this is a popular and practical focal length range and I happen to agree. I even own one of them myself-the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM-but the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM tested is the mac daddy...

This lens is simply awesome. It checks every box in the image quality department: it is sharp, has good contrast, essentially normal distortion for such a long zoom, and very little to no chromatic aberration (that I could notice on the shots I took so far).

Sharp as hell; good contrast; hefty; quick and accurate AF; pleasing bokeh

A tad slow; comparatively heavy; sizeable; and somewhat expensive

It's just a joy to use, and very sharp. It's also a significant step up from the Tamron 70-300 VC, you'll have no worries shooting wide open at 300mm with this one! Perfect on APS-C. Also, do not underestimate how important portability is, it's very compact at 70mm.

Sharp throughout zoom range at f5.6, colour and contrast fantastic; Auto focus is amazingly fast, IS is superb; Very compact, not overly heavy; Metal filter threads; Zoom lock means hood can be stored in reverse orientation and still removed without zooming the lens out

None, well, maybe price; The relatively slow aperture and extension on zooming are not cons, in lens terms they are necessary design compromises to make it the size, weight and focal length range it is

When we first saw the new Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM lens, we thought it just looked like a standard 70-300mm lens with a white overcoat on. After using the lens for some time, we're blown away by the image clarity, sharpness, build quality and speed of focusing.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM replaces an earlier generation EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM model that was discontinued in mid 1990s. The lens is one of about a dozen telephoto zooms in Canon's modern lineup, and is one of the only two consumer (read non L, non DO) telephoto zooms that implement an...

Handling and features Canon have given the 70-300mm range an L-series makeover and as a result this lens sports silent autofocus, with full-time manual override, weather sealing, optical stabilisation and tougher build quality than you might normally find on a lens covering this range.