Canon 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III EF

Canon 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III EF. If you’re looking to purchase this lens I always check Adorama and Ebay for good deals. It helps me if you purchase it through one of these links here in this review. When you purchase through these links it financially enables me to devote time to develop this site further. Thanks for the help! -Todd

Barrel
Plastic.

Weight
16.7 oz (474g).

Focus Type
Auto Focus.

Focus Ring
Rubber on Plastic.

Close Focus
4.9 feet (1.5 meters).

Filter Threads
60mm, Plastic.

Aperture Ring
None.

Diaphragm
7 blades stepping down to f/45.

Mount
Canon EOS Metal Mount.

Made in
Malaysia.

 

 

 

100% Crop

 

Corner

 

Sharpness

75mm:
f/4: Decently sharp with some chromatic aberration and spherical aberration reducing contrast a little bit.

f/4.5: Quite sharp with better contrast and a fair bit of chromatic aberration.

f/5.6: Very sharp with nice contrast but still a little chromatic aberration.
f/8: Sharp all over with great contrast and only a hint of chromatic aberration.

135mm:
f/4.5: Little bit soft with some chromatic aberration and spherical aberration reducing contrast more then 75mm.

f/5.6: Quite sharp with better contrast but still some spherical and chromatic aberration.

f/8: Sharp all over with great contrast and only a hint of chromatic aberration.

300mm:
f/5.6: Little bit soft with quite a bit of chromatic aberration and a little spherical aberration reducing contrast.
f/8: Quite sharp with better contrast but still quite a bit of chromatic aberration.

Vignetting

75mm: Not too much vignetting at f/4 and stopping down to 5.6 is almost clear and by f/8 all is gone.
135mm: A little more vignette at f/4.5 but is almost entirely gone by f/8.
300mm: A fair amount at f/5.6 and is almost gone by f/8.

Distortion

75mm: Slight Barrel Distortion.
135mm: Quite a bit of Pincushion Distortion.
300mm: Not much more Pincushion Distortion then 135mm but still a fair amount.

Recommendations

Optics:        ★ ★ ★
Mechanics: ★ ★ ★
Usefulness: ★ ★ ★ ★
Availability:  ★ ★ ★ ★
Overall:        ★ ★ ★ ★
Out of 5

This lens is a steel of a deal these days and is an incredible light and simple lens to use. People are spending $1,200 more for lenses that do basically the same thing. Newer lenses have image stabilization which is great but a little crazy these days with the extremely high ISO capability in the modern DLSR’s. On a 35mm film camera at 300mm this lens would have to be used on a tripod or with really high ISO film but today you can crank up the ISO and keep shooting and hardly see any noise.

The lens is almost all plastic and feels cheep but I have not yet broken any I have owned or had any problems. This is a very simple lens and not much can go wrong in it other then breaking some plastic parts from jamming the zoom or focus which rarely happens for most people.

Optically this lens is great stopped down a click or two and really nice sharp contrasty images. There is quite a bit of distortion and at the long end of the lens you will get quite a bit of chromatic aberration which can be reduced in post production.
If you want a fantastic 300mm zoom lens, have a camera with good ISO capability, and won’t be using this as your main lens all the time then grab one. They are great!

 

Did this review help?
My hopes are to take the time to continue developing this website with more test photo based reviews. If you are ever interested in purchasing this lens or other photography equipment please do so through these links here in this review. I always check Adorama and Ebay for good deals. This helps support my family and allows me to take more time for the site. The best part is this site is free for you and I link good deals I find!

Sometimes these links will actually give you better deals then typical retail prices! I personally buy from the links I have listed whether looking for new gear or fun old stuff. I can personally attest to their good & safe service from years of experience. Thanks again to you, our readers, for supporting us! -Todd