I have a Canon eos 5 with the 28-105 USM.

Now I want to buy a tele zoom.

Wich one is the best? 75-300 IS USM or 100-300 USM ?

Thank you

Nuno

-- Nuno Januario (nuno.januario@alcatel.pt), September 16, 1998

Answers

It really depends on how you will use it. I have the 75-300 IS myself, and it is very useful for those times when you need to made a grab shot and don't have time to set up a tripod. I have not used the current 100-300, but I have used an older 100-300 f5.6. The older lens did seem to be a little sharper than mine, but not really enough to worry about. Also, I'm not sure if the new 100-300 USM is a one touch zoom or not, but the old one was, and it was a pain since it would self zoom when pointed down, and do the opposite when pointed up. Mounted on a sturdy tripod both lenses will likely give very similar images. Handheld at 1/30 sec. the 75-300 IS wins hands down. ( Or any speed below about 1/180, which is my limit for handholding a 300mm lens)

-- Brad (reloader@webtv.net), September 16, 1998.

Have you considered a used 80-200 2.8L? I know that it's a little bit shorter than the range you've specified and that it doesn't have USM. But IMHO, the performance is way better than any other consumer zoom and it only costs couple hundreds more (comparing to the IS). It's just something to consider. Good Luck

-- Paul Visina (visina3@hotmail.com), September 22, 1998.

Consider the Canon 100-300L. It,s optics are superb, it,s cheap for an L lens (less than $600), but the downside is its ancient arc form drive AF. I used one for about 3 mos and the slides , using Sensia II ISO 100 under an 8X loupe, were tack sharp edge to edge.

-- Jeff Hallett (franjeff@alltel.net), February 11, 1999.