stevenh0027 Loc: Melbourne Australia

Hi,
I am looking at buying a better quality zoom for my Canon 60D.
I am looking at the Canon Lens EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM
The question is can I use an 'L' lens on a crop sensor camera?
What are the issues when doing this?
What is the forum's opinion of the Canon Lens EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Absolutely. L lenses are all EF lenses, the 60D will mount all EF and EF-S lenses equally.

stevenh0027 Loc: Melbourne Australia

thanks

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

As MT Shooter stated, no problem using that lens, or any other EF or EF-S lens on your camera.
I had the 70-300 L. Sold it a couple of years ago. Good lens. Very sharp. Fast focusing. Excellent IQ. Two things to keep in mind are that it does not come with a tripod ring and you can not use it with an extender. The Canon tripod ring is an expensive add-on. I forget why you can't use extenders. The only reason I sold mine was because I bought a 100-400 L II. Otherwise, I would still have it. No complaints about it.

Edit: I believe that it is only Canon extenders that can not be used with the 70-300. If I remember correctly, you may be able to use some 3rd party extenders.

billnourse Loc: Bloomfield, NM

I had this lenses and found it to be very good on my 70D. Sold it to get the faster 70-200 f2.8 II for sports.

Bill

Toment Loc: FL, IL

Don't put an EF-s lens on a full frame Canon...vice versa is fine

EdJames81

As others have said an L lens is fine on crop sensor camera. Just one thing to remember is that a 70 - 300 will be an effective 112 - 480 lens, so it won't be any good if you want to shoot wider than 112mm. If you want to shoot wide the Canon 28 - 300L IS lens is an effective ~45mm - 480mm. I own a Canon 28 - 300L and can confirm it is an excellent lens that is well built, sharp and has great image quality. The only disadvantage with the 28 - 300L is its size - it is a big and heavy lens, but you have to take the rough with the smooth right? I mitigate the effects of carrying a heavy lens using the Lower Pro Toploader AW 75 sling back - this takes a bit of the weight and also keeps the lens well protected and saves it from knocks and scrapes when I am carrying it around. Just a thought.......

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

I bought the 70-300 same lens some time back when i have an older crop censored camera. Went to my local camera store to inquire about a 1.4 extender. They told me don't bother. I kind of recall that it looses autofocus plus some other issues so I passed. I did, like you, spring for the 100-400 II and a 1.4 extender (On a 5dII) and wow!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

As stated, it's a fine lens and will work great on a 60D (or any other Canon DSLR body, for that matter). One of the hallmarks of L-series lenses, Canon's own definitions of what qualifies for designation as a premium lens, is that it must be compatible with any and all EOS cameras past, present and future.

As mentioned, it's a rather large, heavy lens (though close to size and weight of a 70-200/2.8... not as big and heavy as 100-400mm). So you might want the optional tripod mounting ring for it. Canon's own Tripod Ring C made for the lens is rather pricey at about $179. But there are third party/Chinese clones available that are a lot less expensive. For example, a Fotodiox clone costs $45. There are even cheaper ($20 or less), but I'd be very wary of those. Some clones are weaker plastic and simply won't hold up. If you buy the lens and a clone tripod ring, be sure to get the ring from a reliable seller (B&H, Adorama, Amazon, etc.) where you can easily return it if the fit or materials are poor. I'd avoid exceptionally low priced items from unknown/overseas sellers on certain auction sites!

The 70-300L is a popular lens among sports/wildlife photographers. With effective Image Stabilization it's generally good for handheld shooting, although for how long depends upon you and it will start to feel heavy to most people after some time. As a USM lens, it's fast focusing and good tracking moving subjects, with good technique and depending to some extent on the camera it's used upon. As an f4-5.6 lens, it's not particularly "low light" capable, the way an f2.8 zoom or telephoto prime might be.

USM also isn't ideal for videography, if that's something you plan to do. An STM lens or the new "Nano USM" in the recently introduced EF 70-300mm IS USM II would be better for video work.

As others have noted, the Canon 70-300s cannot be used with Canon teleconverters. They simply won't fit, due to the protruding front element of those TCs, that has to be able to fit inside the rear barrel of any lens they are used upon. The diameter of the 70-300L at the rear is large enough, but there's still a problem with the rear elements of the lens coming in contact with the protruding front element of the Canon TCs. So it's officially listed as "not compatible". Third party teleconverters, such as Kenko, etc., that do not have protruding front elements are able to be attached to the lens without that problem, but still won't be able to autofocus on a 60D. Your camera is "f5.6 limited"... adding a 1.4X teleconverter to the 70-300mm makes it for a 98-420mm combo that's f8 (at the long end, where it matters)... That's not enough light for your camera to be able to autofocus. (80D, 7DII, 5DIII, 5DIV, 5DS and 1DX-series models can focus an f8 combo.. though with some limitations, depending upon camera model.)

If you want to compare the image quality and other aspects of the EF 70-300L with other Canon 70-300mm models or other lenses you might already have, The-Digital-Picture.com does a pretty good job testing and comparing Canon cameras and lenses. There's a full review of the lens there, that you might find helpful.