Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM Review

 

Outstanding image quality, rock solid construction and relatively light weight: the Canon 300 2.8 IS is one of the very best superteles currently in production. Even though I already had the 600 f/4 IS, I have added this beautiful lens to my lineup, because its small size and portability make it a better choice when I need to reduce the weight at minimum. Other than that, the bright aperture is a great plus for low light photography.
 
 

Lens Specifications

 
 

Description

As all Canon superteles, the 300 2.8 has extremely good built quality - it is a rock solid lens, made of magnesium alloy and weather sealed with rubber gaskets. Even though it can not be considered "featherweight", it is one of the lightest and smallest superteles (only the 400 f/4 DO and the 200 f/2 are smaller and lighter).  
 
Next to the lens mount there is a 52mm drop-in filter holder; personally, I consider it quite useless, since I never use filters with superteles. That said, even if you don't plan to use it (I know very few photographers that use filters with such lenses) you have the leave it in its place, because it is a part of the optical system.  
 
The lens has a sturdy tripod collar. Unlike the fixed collars of 400/500/600 superteles, the tripod collar of the 300 2.8 is removable. Since I often handold the lens, I appreciate this possibility, that reduces a little the weight and makes the lens easier to handhold.  
 
Next to the tripod mount there are five switches and a button. The first one is the Focus Limiter switch: you can choose between 2.5meters-infinity, 2.5mt-6.4mt, 6.4mt-infinity. Reducing the AF range improves visibly the AF speed, and it is particularly useful in low light or with non-professional cameras. The second switch is for AF/MF. For wildlife photography, I use always autofocus: this lens has "Full Time Manual Focus", too, so it is possible to focus manually in every moment, even if the focus switch is set on AF.  
 
The image stabilizator has two switches. The first one allows to turn it on or off. The manual supplied with the lens tells to turn off IS when you mount the lens on the tripod, but this is wrong, as Canon itself has stated in many other occasions (see the Canon CPS FAQ for more information). The first generation IS created some problems when the lens was mounted on the tripod, but the supertele have second generation IS, that can be kept on even with tripod, unless you are using a truly stable support and perfect sharpness techniques (remote release and LMU) - in this case, I recommend to turn off IS, otherwise you get blurred photos.  
 
The second IS switch allows to select the IS Mode 1 or the IS Mode 2. The Mode 1 correct shake both horizontally and vertically, while Mode 2 acts only vertically: when you use this lens for panning, you have to select mode 2, otherwise the IS will try to compensate your (intended) movements.  
 
The last switch works together with the "SET" button and the focus preset ring. The focus preset is a very useful function that allows to memorize a distance, and to come back instantly to this distance when you turn the FP ring. To use the FP, set the switch on "I" (active) or "((" (active, with beep). Focus on the distance that you want to memorize and press the the SET button. Now, you can instantly come back to this distance turning the FP ring; if you have activated the FP in "((" the lens emits a little beep when the focus is achieved. This function is very useful when you photograph subjects at very different distances: for example, you are photographing a pair of egrets far away, but you know that a kingfisher might perch in every instant on the branch 10 meters in front of you. Set the focus on the branch, save the distance and then come back photographing the egrets. When the kingfisher finally arrives on the branch, turn the FP ring, and the lens will focus immediately on the right distance.  
 
The focus ring is very large and very smooth; it allows precise manual focus and it may be useful even during AF: it allows to reduce the time for AF acquisition. In some situations (e.g. low light, low contrast subjects, etc), the AF takes some time to find the right subject, but you can help it turning the focus ring close to the subject. As already said, this lens has FTM, so you can use manual focus in every moment, even if the AF is turned on. Next to the focus ring, there is a much slimmer ring: it is the already mentioned "Focus Present" ring. Rotate slightly this ring to move the focus on the memorized distance.  
 
Next to the front of the lens there are four back buttons. These are the AF lock buttons: press one of them and the AF stay locked until you release the button. Personally, I find then quite awkward: I prefer to use the AF lock button on the body of the camera. The AF lock is very useful when you are photographing a still subjects: you can focus on the eye with the center AF sensor (the most precise one), then lock the focus and recompose the photo.  
 
The lens hood is extremely large, but surprisingly light. It is also extremely expensive to replace (it costs US$ 380!), so it better to don't lose or damage it ;-) All Canon supertele don't have a real lens cap, but they use a leather-style cap that covers both the front element, the hood and nearly half of the lens body. I am not a fan of this cumbersome cap, and I prefer to use the LensCoat Hoodie, that has a simpler, easier to use design.
 
 

Similar Lenses (for Canon EOS)

Both Sigma and Tamron offer 300 2.8 lenses; they are much cheaper than Canon, but they don't come even close in term of built quality, AF and image quality. The only real "alternatives" to the 300 2.8 are the super light Canon 400 f/4 DO IS and the bigger, heavier Canon 500 f/4 L IS. I recommend the Canon 400 f/4 DO IS only if you absolutely need its small size and weight, otherwise the 300 2.8 is a better lens in every respect; it is brighter and sharper.  
 
The Canon 500 f/4 L IS is "only" 1.3kg heavier, but it is much more cumbersome to carry around. On the other hand, it is much more reach - with the 2x, you get a quite good 1000mm f/8, while the 300 gives "just" a 600 5.6. I recommend the 500 f/4 if you really need the maximum reach for small birds and shy wildlife; otherwise, if you can live with the reach of the 300mm, you have a much smaller lens, easier to carry with you than the big 500 f/4. Of couse, if you can afford both the 300 2.8 and the 500 f/4 or the 600 f/4, you have the best of both worlds - portability and, when you need it, extreme reach.
 
 

Image Quality

Remember that you can easily adjust color, distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting with Photoshop; even though I list every aspect of image quality I don't consider these aspects very important as the other three that can not be corrected with Photoshop (sharpness, contrast and flare). You can enhance a little sharpness and contrast with PS, but the results are not as good as a photo taken with a lens that is sharp and contrasted.

As you can except, the image quality is outstanding - in my opinion it has the hightest image quality of every EF lens currently in production.
 
 

Image Quality (with Canon 1.4x TC)

The Canon EF 1.4x gives you a good, but not outstanding 420 f/4 - the image quality is usable even wide open at f/4 (the aperture that I'm going to use more often with 300 + 1.4x), and it improves by stopping down to f/5.6 or f/8.
 
 

Image Quality (with Canon 2.0x TC)

The Canon EF 2.0x gives you a good 600 f/5.6 - the image quality is usable even at f/5.6, the aperture that I'm going to use more often with the combo, even though there is a clear improvement by stopping down to f/8.
 
 

In-depth look: sharpness with teleconverters and comparison with 600 f/4 IS

Since I'm going to use often this lens with TCs, I was curious to test it with Canon 1.4x and 2.0x TCs, and to compare it with the 600 f/4 L IS. The following images are 100% crops taken near the center of the image; the photos had been converted from RAW without any enhancement of contrast or sharpness. Of course I used tripod, MLU, and I repeated the test to ensure precise and realiable results.

Overall, the results are in line with my expectations, even though I expected a little better IQ with the 1.4x. The sharpness of the bare lens is truly outstanding - it is even sharper than 600 f/4 IS at all apertures! With the 1.4x, instead, there is a clear loss of sharpness and contrast, even though with good post processing I doubt you would see the difference between a photo taken with and without the TC, unless you print really large. The 2x performs as expected; wide open there is a big sharpness loss (even though it is still not as bad as 600 + 2x), but it is still usable, while at f/8 it is pretty good.
 
 

Image samples

The following samples show the image quality of the Canon 300 f/2.8 L IS USM, with and without TCs. The photos has been taken in RAW format and converted with Photoshop CS3; I processed each photo to optimize the image quality (contrast, color, sharpness), and I saved them as high-quality JPEG for web display. You can download both the processed JPEG and the original, untouched RAW files.  
 
Click on the image to download the full size JPEG sample, or use the RAW link to download the untouched RAW (large file!). Please respect the copyright! This image can be printed only to evaluate the quality of the camera, for personal purposes. All other usages are prohibited.

The Lion King - Canon 300 2.8 IS, ISO 100, 1/60 f/4 JPEG / RAW - the 300 2.8 at its best. The detail is awesome!
 
 
 

Julia the Cat - Canon 300 2.8 IS, 1.4x TC, ISO 400, 1/400 f/4 JPEG / RAW - wide open with the 1.4x TC, at 420mm
 
 
 

Lion King and son - Canon 300 2.8 IS, 2.0x TC, ISO 100, 1/13 f/5.6 JPEG / RAW - wide open with the 2.0x TC, at 600mm
 

 
 

Other Reviews

- Canon EF 300 f/2.8 L IS USM review by The-Digital-Picture (Bryan Carnathan) 
 
- Canon EF 300 F/2.8 L IS USM user reviews su Fred Miranda Forum
 
 

Conclusions

Pros 
 
. Outstanding image quality, even wide open 
 
. Good image quality even with teleconverters 
 
. Bright aperture and good reach (with TCs) 
 
. Fast autofocus 
 
. Image stabilization (very useful, even though quite old) 
 
. First rate built quality; weather sealed 
 
. The minimum focusing distance of 2.5 meters allows to photograph small subjects 
 
. Relatively small and light, compared to other super telephotos 
 
. Easily handholdable 
 
. Not exaggerately expensive 
 
 
 
Cons 
 
. I'd have liked to have 4 stops IS
 
 

Conclusion

The Canon 300 f/2.8 is one of the best Canon lens ever made; it has awesome image quality, and it is an excellent and versatile choice for many genres of photography - nature, sport, portrait. With the teleconverters you get a very good reach, and its size makes it much easier to carry around than 500 or 600 teles. If you don't need the extreme reach of 500/600 + TCs, the 300 2.8 is a fabolous lens, very highly recommended!