It's youth football season, so clearly, I needed another piece of high quality Canon glass. "Reach", and "Speed" were essential qualities for shooting football in a variety of lighting conditions, so this is the lens that I chose. With a constant aperture of f/2.8, I was able to shoot from mid-day to dusk. Toward the end of the day, under the stadium lights, I was still clicking away and getting amazing action photos! Reach, at 200mm was not a problem. I was able to capture action on both sides of the field with plenty of detail. With my EOS 7D, I have an effective maximum focal length of 320mm at f/2.8!!
Autofocus with this lens is INCREDIBLY fast and acceptably quiet. It took me a few minutes to figure out the little switch on the side though. On the barrel of the lens near the AF/MF switch is another switch labeled "1.5m infinity/3m infinity". I soon learned that switching it to the "1.5m infinity" setting allowed me to focus on "near" objects, whereas the other setting was for distant objects.
The images through this lens have turned out far better than I had expected. I am seeing an amazing amount of color, detail, and contrast. So far, I've captured backyard birds, sports, and even some flowers. I can't wait to shoot more wildlife, and am looking forward to an incredible football season!
The versatility and quality of this lens far outweigh the cost or weight. Given that this lens costs $1000 less than the mk.II version, I can easily live without Image Stabilization.
I guess the hardest decision about this purchase was where to buy it from. If I purchased direct through Amazon, I could get it for a dollar or two cheaper AND get 4% back in Amazon credit. This package through Beach Camera however, came with a bundle of goodies. Although I didn't need any of the accessories aside from the UV filter, I was nice to share camera goodies with friends and family. My daughter was particularly excited about the Bower VTSL1200 tripod and camera bag.
5-stars all the way!
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