haroldross Loc: Walthill, Nebraska

I am getting ready to sell my Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens. I wanted to take a few photos to show examples of what the lens is capable of. I have never really been too excited about the quality of the images from this lens- even on a full frame body. Perhaps I am being overly critical of this lens but I want to be honest about why I want to sell it.

Here are two screen shots showing part of a streetlight taken at 300mm on my 7D MK II (the lens tends to work better on the cropped frame body than my full frame bodies). The screen shots are showing different parts of the same photos. The photo on the left was taken at f/11, the center photo was taken at f/8, and the photo on the right was taken at f/6.3. Diffraction is evident at f/11. At f/8, the photo is the clearest of the lot- still it is marginal in quality. All three shots were taken with the proper lens hood attached.

I have not used this lens for a few years except to try it out on different camera bodies. The results have always been sub par so it went back in the closet. Time to make room for another lens.

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JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Looks to that they are out of focus. Does your camera have micro focus adjust? I did this on my longer lenses and the focus is right on now.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

It was one if my first lenses. I seldom use it now and I don't think there is even a market for it. I will probably give to someone starting out eventually.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

In general, due to their far more crowded sensors and smaller pixel sites, and greater magnification needed to produce any particular size image/print, crop sensor cameras are much more "demanding" of lenses. So it's interesting that you find the 70-300 works better on a crop camera than on a FF.

That lens appears to have an "f8 sweet spot".

If you didn't MFA the lens, carefully use a tripod for your test shots, use mirror lockup, etc., etc. to eliminate absolutely everything from the comparisons other than the lens itself, at the various settings... there really isn't a whole lot of validity to tests like this.

BTW, there's another thread a where someone is looking to buy a 70-300mm. It's the original poster in: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-332660-1.html

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I agree with assessment this lens works best at f/8 and on older DSLRs with smaller sensors. I put this model up for sale a long time ago and showed some of the winners from the lens with XTi and 7D mountings: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-133782-1.html

haroldross Loc: Walthill, Nebraska

Yes, I have done the AF microadjustment at 300mm and 70mm using Reikan's FoCal.

The shutter speed for f/6.3 was 1/1000; f/8 was 1/640; and f/11 was 1/320. These shutter speeds are like they should be, i.e., F/8 allows for twice the light compared to F/11 so it is only reasonable that the shutter speed for f/11 is twice that needed at f/8.

At 70mm the lens sharpness is not too bad but at about 210mm, it goes downhill fast.

I did use this lens on an old Canon XSi that we had at the office and the results were fair.