Canon EF 90-300 mm f/4.5-5.6 USM review - Summary

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Canon EF 90-300 mm f/4.5-5.6 USM

14 October 2007

Arkadiusz Olech

11. Summary

Pros:

very good picture quality in the center of the frame and at the edges of the frame at 90-200 mm focal length
small chromatic aberration at 90-200 mm focal length
small distortion
small coma at lower focal length range
good performance in bright light
quiet and quite fast autofocus

Cons:

weak picture resolution at 300 mm focal length
very big chromatic aberration at 300 mm focal length
visible astigmatism
mediocre autofocus accuracy
weak build quality

The Canon EF 90-300 mm USM was a nice surprise for us. For the price, the lens offers a lot. It won’t disappoint us in the most important category – the picture resolution at 90-200 mm focal length – although at 300 mm its results are weak, as is the case with other lenses with the same parameters.

Is there anything that would make us reluctant to recommend this lens? Unfortunately, yes! The experience we have with long-term usage of the plastic dominated EF-S 18-55 mm or EF 1.8/50 II class lenses are that even with careful usage, good quality performance lasts only for a year. After that, problems emerge since the picture resolution is degrading and it will be pointless to send it in for servicing, since you’ll invariably receive a note that says “the looseness is normal for this equipment category”. In other words, you get what you paid for. The old saying “he who buys cheap, ends up paying twice as much” is perfectly suitable here. If you decide to purchase this lens, you’ll have to live with the consequences.

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Sample shots:


Camera: Canon 300D Parameters: 90 mm, f/4.5, exp. 1/2500 sec, ISO 400 File: JPG, 3072x2048 pix, 2.5 MB	Camera: Canon 300D Parameters: 90 mm, f/4.5, exp. 1/125 sec, ISO 400 File: JPG, 3072x2048 pix, 2.9 MB	Camera: Canon 300D Parameters: 200 mm, f/5.0, exp. 1/3200 sec, ISO 400 File: JPG, 3072x2048 pix, 2.3 MB

Camera: Canon 300D Parameters: 135 mm, f/5.0, exp. 1/1600 sec, ISO 400 File: JPG, 3072x2048 pix, 2.4 MB	Camera: Canon 300D Parameters: 300 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/1600 sec, ISO 100 File: JPG, 3072x2048 pix, 1.8 MB	Camera: Canon 300D Parameters: 300 mm, f/6.3, exp. 1/320 sec, ISO 200 File: JPG, 3072x2048 pix, 2.5 MB