Have You Used the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Zoom Lens?

[nilesh0640]

I keep reading that this is one of the worst Canon lenses. How many people here have actually used one of these lenses to make that determination? I am looking for a zoom for my Rebel and Elan film cameras.

[kvbarkley]

Even putting the optics aside, it does not have IS which is very nice to have on a telephoto lens.

[normadel]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Many say the EF 75-300 series are crap lenses. Many others are quite happy with them. Sure, other lenses may offer superior optical qualities, but what's significant to you can be very different than to me.

Your Rebel and Elans will do very well with this lens for a modest investment.

[deebatman316]

The AF motor is also very slow and is noisy which is typical for lenses with Micro Motor. This AF motor was first released in 1993 and was retired in 2012. Then was replaced by STM (Stepper Motor) in 2013. Which is much quieter and faster than Micro Motor. This lens is also quite difficult to use in low light due to the slow aperture. The AF motor is way too slow to keep up with moving objects such as sports. My old EF 70-210mm F/4 lens with an Arc Form Drive AF motor focuses faster than that lens and has no IS. Arc Form Drive was the original EOS AF motor released in 1987. 

[normadel]

There are always choices one has in deciding what is wanted and what can be afforded.

[ebiggs1]

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Many say the EF 75-300 series are crap lenses. Many others are quite happy with them."

When I did the DSLR 101 program many of the folks had that lens. My daughter-in-law has that lens. You see it all has to do with the market it is aimed at. That market is totally fine and happy with it. This is the so-called "soccer mom" lacking for a better term. After all a lot of these people are satisfied with an iPhone camera.

Now as you progress up the scale of photographer skills, wants and requirements, then no, it isn't the top dog of a lens. For instance for me or any person that had my career I would destroy it in short order as the build isn't nearly where the gear I need has to be.

So as my friend above has said, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

[kvbarkley]

"I would destroy it in short order as the build isn't nearly where the gear I need has to be."

Maybe you need to be more careful with your gear! 8^)

[Ron888]

Some years ago i used several generations of this lens,including this one specifically. It's quite soft towards the long end and lacking a little contrast.You can get some good images but more often they're well below that you'd expect from a modern zoom like the EF-s 55-250mm.
Of course you cant use the 55-250 on a full frame body so your stuck with the 75-300,Canon's much better 70-300 image stabilizer,or third party lenses

[ebiggs1]

"Maybe you need to be more careful with your gear! 8^)"

There is a reason why full time working photographers don't use this lens and it isn't an IQ issue. For you guys that are simply hobbyists I am sure it is OK. For day in day out has to be there use, not so much. I don't see why you find that difficult to understand.

[Waddizzle]

It’s a pretty good lens for its intended use.  I found that I needed to use fast shutter speeds.  It was pretty good on a tripod. 

 

 

 

on a tripod.