OEM PN 10064 1000BASE-EX SFP 1310NM 40KM DOM

I tried this lens after testing the more expensive 70-300mm IS USM and was very surprised. Although reviewers tout the IS USM model that sells for 3x, I found the sharpness, color balance, and lack of distortion in this model to be as good, if not slightly better. Shooting at 100, 200, and 300mm into a group of large leaf trees near my house, it rendered the image without need for fixing in software later; I could hardly find any CA or distortion using my EOS 50D. Edges and corners all remained clear and like the center of the image. CONS: no IS means higher ISO and shutter speed. I quickly picked up the knack of shooting both higher shutter and ISO values to compensate for hand shake. This worked out very well in daylight, but for low light it would probably not be ok. So if you are shooting daytime, daylight or a brightly lit (studio lighting) indoors then this is a great value lens. But for mixed or low light, probably not. Bokeh was ok but not stellar.

This is the beginner of the beginners telephotos in my humble opinion. It is fairly simple as telephotos come seeing as how it has exactly one select-able feature; an auto focus on off switch. Be that as it is; it is a surprisingly good lens for the price, just beware of its limitations. A lack of image stabilization can be frustrating when shooting in a breeze or at low shutter speeds. Even with a steady tripod I still found myself having to try and shield my camera since even the smallest vibration would throw the image out of focus. The auto-focus feature is a little inaccurate, but that is to be expected. I didn't find this to be too much of a bother shooting landscapes. But shooting sports (Something this lens was intended for) it became a bother. The auto-focus is not nearly fast enough to shoot anything except maybe golf. I shoot at paintball events and found myself using the manual focus since I was actually faster than the auto-focus even though I was running, dodging, and sliding everywhere to get the shots. I will give it this though; it is a very sturdy lens for the price. It took multiple paintball hits directly to the lens and one glancing blow, resulting in only a piece of the filter ring being blown off. Since it is fairly inexpensive, I am not too worried about damage since it would only be a small loss should the lens actually crack. Overall, not a terrible lens. But still not good enough for more advanced shooters. I will hold on to this one though as it is my designated paintball lens.