Expensive, yet still a bargain!

This lens had barely hit the "streets" when I first tried to buy it. Advance publicity had made it such a hot item that it was unavailable for weeks. By that time cooler, more sensible minds had convinced me I shouldn't purchase it. I bought a much cheaper 75-300mm lens and gave it barely a thought for the next couple of years.

UNTIL...I found myself once more shooting at a school talent show where flash would be intrusive and though I was using fast film my shutter speed was still 1/30 or 1/60! The distance was too great for my faster 100mm or 50mm lenses. Grinding my teeth, cursing I remembered the numerous times this problem had reared its ugly head. Dog shows, school events, museums. Quite suddenly I realized that people advising me against this lens were speaking to their photo needs and experiences...not mine.

A review of the specs showed all to be in order. It used the same filters as the 75-300mm lens I first bought. The closest focusing distance was identical. It was several ounces heavier but easily handheld. A call to the used photo dealer told me I'd recover about half of the purchasing price on my old 75-300mm lens. I decided for it and am happy that I did.

In the right circumstances the lens is a godsend. Image stabilization really works as well as Canon claims it does! Sharp images at slow shutter speeds become a fact of life. Naturally, the immutable laws of physics remain. The IS feature protects the image from hand/camera shake and NOT subject movement. So it cannot yield a sharp image of a moving object at a slow shutter speed.

Low light shooting is now far less frustrating with much better results. This lens has repeatedly demonstrated to me that the best bargains in life aren't always cheap. My next goal is to save for the 28-135 IS lens.