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Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 is USM Lens for Canon EOS SLR Cameras

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At a glance

Condition
New
Model
0345B002
Screen size
1 in
Weight
1.4 lb
Color
Black
Lens Type
Telephoto
Compatible Mountings
Canon EF
Warranty
1 year coverage for labor, 1 year coverage for parts

Features 5

  • 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens with f/4.5-5.6 maximum aperture for Canon EOS SLR cameras
  • 3-stop Image Stabilizer for reducing camera shake; ring-type ultra-sonic monitor (USM), Macro Focus Range : 1.50 m
  • Electro-magnetic diaphragm (EMD) helps create attractive background at large apertures
  • Super Spectra lens coating and lens element shaping suppresses flare and ghosting,Filter Thread: 58 mm

Description

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens for Canon EOS SLR Cameras From the Manufacturer Featuring the latest 3-stop Image Stabilizer for outstanding camera shake reduction, the EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM zoom lens also features super responsive autofocus. Replacing the popular EF 75-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM, the world's first interchangeable lens with Image Stabilizer (IS), the lens is expected to appeal to serious amateur nature and sports photographers looking to achieve outstanding results while shooting hand held. Image Stabilizer IS dramatically reduces image blur caused by camera shake. The EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM features Canon's latest 3-stop IS, a one-stop improvement over its predecessor. This allows shutter speeds up to three stops slower than would otherwise be possible, with no perceptible increase in image blur. Photographers normally shooting a 300mm frame handheld at 1/500 second can obtain the equivalent result with a shutter speed of just 1/60 second, vastly extending options in low-light conditions.Gyro sensors detect unwanted vibrations, triggering the corresponding movement of a correcting lens group perpendicular to the optical axis. This alters the light path, returning the image to its correct position on the sensor or film plane.The EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM provides 2-mode IS for shooting immobile subjects. Mode 1 stabilizes the image along both the horizontal and vertical axes. For shooting while panning to follow a moving subject, Mode 2 turns off correction in the panned direction and prevents the effect of dragging the subject back through the frame. IS switches off automatically when the camera is mounted on a tripod, thus preventing feedback loops between the IS sensor and stabilizer motor vibrations.Superb autofocus The micro USM motor found in the EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM employs ultra-sonic frequency vibrations to drive auto focus with unrivalled speed and near-silent operation. Good holding torque stops the lens with precision and accuracy, the instant it arrives at the correct focus point and without overshoot. A high-speed CPU and optimised AF algorithm result in a significant increase of AF speed compared to that of its predecessor.A zoom ring locking mechanism is provided that locks the zoom at the wide-angle setting. This ensures that the lens is carried or stored in its most compact position, preventing possible damage caused by the lens extending and hitting obstacles when being carried mounted on a camera with a strap.Pleasing defocused background The EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM employs an electro-magnetic diaphragm (EMD) with a circular aperture. This helps create an attractive, even defocused background when isolating a subject at large apertures.Image quality By optimizing Super Spectra lens coatings and lens element shaping, Canon's engineers have been effective in suppressing flare and ghosting--more prone to occur with digital cameras due to reflection off the image sensor. By increasing light absorption, coatings reduce reflections off lens element surfaces to deliver crisp, undistorted images with natural color balance.Focal length translates to 112-480mm equivalent in 35mm film format when fitted to EOS 20D and EOS 350D cameras.The EOS system The EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM includes distance metering information, providing compatibility with the E-TTL II flash system of late model cameras such as the EOS-1D Mark II N and EOS 5D. When used in conjunction with Canon's range of EX Speedlite flash units, the lens passes distance information to the flash algorithm for markedly improved flash exposure metering.Accessories for the EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM include the lens hood ET-65B and the lens pouch LP1222 (these accessories must be purchased separately). In keeping with Canon's Kyosei philosophy of living in harmony with the environment, the lens features only lead-free glass.

Specs 35

Brand Canon
Focal Length Description 70-300 millimeters
Lens Type Telephoto
Compatible Mountings Canon EF
Camera Lens Description Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 is USM Lens for Canon EOS SLR Cameras
Lens Telephoto
Compatible Camera Mount Canon EF
Maximum Focal Length 30 centimeters

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Top Amazon Reviews


An excellent general purpose zoom telephoto lens
Product Packaging: Standard Packaging
Conventional wisdom holds that the more powerful a telephoto lens you mount on your camera, the more you may need a tripod for shake-free images. With patience and breath control many photographers have long been able take crisp handheld shots with lenses of focal lengths up to 400mm. That ability can now be extended to almost everyone through technology. The best modern DSLRS can produce crisp handheld images with short exposures at high ISO settings and, coupled with good image stabilization lenses, can effectively expand the focal length (or power, if you will) of lenses that can be used to advantage without a monopod or tripod. Still, it remains the case that a great percentage of the distant images that most amateur or enthusiast photographers will want to capture can be taken with telephoto lenses that do not exceed 400mm. In that case, any lens that covers all or most of the range between 100mm and 400mm is a reasonable candidate to add to your photography kit. If you feel an unmet need to take frame-filling moonrises behind a ghostly oak tree on a remote ridge, you can get a dedicated 1000mm lens later on. For a general purpose telephoto lens, this 70-300mm zoom can't be beat. In my experience the optics have produced crisp images at any focal length and at most aperture settings, though images taken with apertures at the middle of its range (f/11, for example) appear just slightly sharper than ones taken with a wide open lens. Canon has thoughtfully included two different image stabilization modes for the benefit of individuals who use the lens in different ways. Mode 1 is for general purpose image stabilization when the camera is held still to capture a stationary field of view. Mode 2 is used for panning shots in which the photographer is following an item or individual in motion. This mode locks out attempts to correct for blur in the direction of camera motion. And you can of course lock out IS altogether if you are so inclined. Autofocus can also be locked out in case you are shooting nearby objects from a tripod and want to pick the exact focal point of the image field yourself. The word "macro" is printed on the lens, but that strikes me as a little aspirational. I would consider this lens a close-focusing zoom, as you can get fairly close-up images of smaller objects that are a little distance away. Minimum focusing distance is just under five feet, and at that distance the 300mm setting will let you fill the frame with an object about five inches wide. This could be a good lens to capture images of large winged insects and even hummingbirds, as those interesting subjects are notoriously intolerant of close approach by photographers. For true macro photography of flower details or smaller insects, you should mount a different lens. At the other end of its zoom range, focal length in the 70-135 range is excellent for portrait photography or casual snapshots that isolate individuals or groups of two or three in large gatherings. Build quality is excellent, options for use are rich, optical performance is excellent and the lens, though not tiny or light, is compact and manageable. Canon makes other, more expensive lenses with similar design features that might better satisfy the most critical photographers, but in light of the relatively low cost of this lens and its great flexibility, this has to be one of the best general purpose lenses that Canon manufactures. Recommended. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2013 by David Wilson

Reach out and touch somebody!
Product Packaging: Standard Packaging
This lens for me is for shooting wildlife, nature scenes and sporting events like football and basketball games. Inside of the box you will find the Canon lens, the lens CD disk and the Canon warranty card. Make sure that the lens number on the Canon warranty card matches the one on your new lens. One of the first things that you will notice is that the lens has a lock on it to lock it closed and protect it. Make sure that you lock the lens when carrying it or storing it in your camera bag. The lens has an USM focusing motor and the focus can be set to automatic or manual modes. It also features image stabilizer feature that can be turned on or off. I like that the stabilizer buttons are recessed so they cannot be easily switched by accident. The stabilizer system can be set in Mode 1 or in Mode 2. Mode 1 is dual axis stabilization and it is good for shooting stationary objects. Mode 2 is single axis stabilization and it is more suited for photographing (panning to shoot) a moving object. The image stabilization on this lens is excellent and it dramatically improves your long range photography. Slight motions in the camera can affect you photograph quality and this feature is what is required to improve your photography. This feature is what makes this lens worth the money. The lens is quite long when fully extended and you have to be careful that nobody runs into the lens at a sporting event for example. Make sure that you retract and lock the lens when you are not using it. I also purchased a lens cover to reduce light glare on the lens and I recommend that you get one especially if you shoot a lot of outdoor photographs. I included some images of the lens cover in my attached video. If you think the lens is long, then you should see it with a lens cover! I reverse the cover for added protection when the camera is not in use and I am just carrying it. I am very happy with this lens and the quality of the photographs that it takes. The focus has been clear and fast and the image stabilization is excellent. I recommend this lens as it has been an excellent addition to my Canon 7D camera. I rate it at 5 stars. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2013 by JJCEO

Very nice lens
Product Packaging: Standard Packaging
I got my wife a new camera, a Canon Rebel T3i, after using her old camera, a Canon Powershot S5 IS, to shoot a full moon rise. The moon rise photo would have been very good but it was a dark moon rise (the sun had set maybe 15 minutes before) so when I brightened up the landscape it was a bit noisy (not a lot but more than I wanted). We had driven quite a long distance to see this so a better camera seemed reasonable. The next full moon was the Super Moon of May 05, 2012. We got the camera with the 18-55 mm kit lens but decided to go with the EF 70-300 mm IS USM lens instead of the 75-300 mm lens that was also available in a kit. On some practice shots of the moon before the full moon I was getting some pretty sharp views. As I learned more about the camera the technique improved, like using Live View which avoided the mirror bounce, using a shutter release cable, and zooming to 10X which showed that my old tripod would shake for 5 seconds or so and then be steady enough to see the image motion from the earth's rotation. I also calculated that at 300 mm zoom I needed to keep the shutter speed to faster than about 1/10 second to avoid more than about 1/2 pixel image smear because I wasn't tracking the moon. The resulting pictures were quite sharp, better than what I had found out on the web when I looked for moon photos through this lens. When I showed an employee at Best Buy one of the images on my iPod he said I hadn't got it with that lens, I said yes I did. I used autofocus on the moon. But it didn't work on the stars or planets with Live View so I tried a trick, autofocus on the moon, switch the lens to manual focus, then point to the star or planet. Wasn't sure that would work but it did. I pointed at Saturn and was able to detect the rings. Not very well, no dark space between the rings and the planet (I think that will be possible when they open up a bit more in 2 or 3 years). The crescent of Venus was also visible with this lens. Haven't tried Jupiter yet but it should show a disk and moons. Mars should also show a disk when it is close enough. I'm not suggesting this is a good lens for shooting planets, I just tried it to see how sharp it is and was happy with it. My wife finally got to try this lens when we went to find some eagles. They were mostly far away but her first shot clearly showed some and the image stabilization worked very well. By pressing the shutter halfway the stabilization is activated and the image really gets steady. That was one reason I went with this lens. We went to see the Super Full Moon rise and found a few members of the local camera club there with their big lenses. A Super Full Moon is not really a big deal, it's just when the full moon happens near when the moon, in its elliptical orbit, is closest to the earth. It's a bit bigger (apparent size) and a bit brighter than other full moons. The weather wasn't promising and at moon rise time nothing was seen, but maybe 20 minutes later or so a bit of it was seen peeking through the clouds and it finally got up out of the haze. Got some shots with this lens. The full moon in November 28 is the farthest from earth full moon of the year, I guess that would be a submoon, opposite of the supermoon. The apparent diameters of the May 5 and Nov 28 full moons will differ by about 14%. Back to the lens, there are only a couple of negatives I can think of so far, and they may not be a problem for everybody. The lens cap could be better, might not be able to use it with a lens hood in place. That's easy to replace. Also the front of the lens rotates and will be an issue with polarizing filters. This may not be a big deal, haven't tried it yet, but the following may work. Zoom, focus, adjust the polarizer, then focus again. The last step may not be needed and should be such a minor adjustment that the polarizer should be ok. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this lens. Update 2012 May 18: I read another review that said this lens could autofocus on a star. In the above I stated I couldn't autofocus even on Venus but I was using Live View, not the optical view finder. When I tried the optical view finder it focussed on Venus with no problem and I got a handheld shot at 300 mm that showed it as a small crescent. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2012 by Raymond E. Sterner

Good all around long zoom lens without hefty price tag.
Product Packaging: Standard Packaging
To give you a little background for this review, first, few words of introduction. I am not a professional photographer; however I consider myself experienced amateur. I have been into photography since film, starting with 35 mm mirrorless cameras, then moving onto SLR and then, when first digital cameras showed up, I bought my first, under 1MP point and shoot. Currently I own Canon 20D, 40D, 70D and 5DMkII. I also had a brief encounter with Nikon SLR as well as own several point and shoot digital cameras, including underwater and 3D. I also print quite a few of enlargements at home using Canon large format printers (13x19). My photography subjects include landscapes, cityscapes (both daytime and nighttime), nature, aerial shows, people, astrophotography and various others. I do not shoot weddings and usually do not do typical portraits and my animal photography experience is somewhat limited. I am not a pixel peeper. I do not tend to overanalyze photos and do not usually do extensive technical tests. For me it is mostly about look and feel and the perception rather than technical data. Now, to the actual review. I have owned this lens since 2006 so I have had some time with this and took quite a few pictures with it until I bought the 70-200 f/4L IS. This is the lens to which I will be making most of my comparisons. This was my first of the lenses I purchased together with 24-70 f/2.8L and with Canon 20D. My initial impressions were very good. It felt pretty solid, the focus fell fast enough and, being my first IS lens, I was very happy with the handholding at the high end of the zoom. The quality of pictures I was getting very surprising to me. They were sharp enough; colors were really nice and overall I could not complain. This was of course long time ago and with 20D. Then I purchased 40D and was even more happy with the lens for quite a few years until someone talked me into 70-200 f/4L IS. Recently, I got into shooting aerial shows and some bird photography and started missing the long range; therefore before jumping into buying something else, I decided to revisit this lens. This is one of the very few times I did some extensive comparison tests and here is what I found out. Pros: Gets you that long reach wen needed yet short end not too bad on full frame. Comfortable in handling. Not too heavy and has a zoom lock. Very good color reproduction. Not the type of 70-200 f/4L IS but it cost less than half of that lens. Very sharp in the middle of the frame. Quite close to 70-200 f/4L IS on 5DMkII. Not so much on the 70D. When comparing it to 70-200 f/4L IS, both on 70D, the difference is visible, but at 100% view, and smaller sizes get quite close. I did quite a few comparisons from tripod in pretty challenging indoor light conditions, at f/5.6 and 100 ISO and I am quite impressed after all these years. This is all in full 100% view. At smaller sizes differences are much less noticeable. I would say that for prints up to 8.5x11 most people will not notice the resolution difference. Sharper than the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM, which I also own, at comparable focal lengths, especially at the long end. Does not get too soft at the long end. Autofocus fast enough if you learn how to use the lens and camera combination. I had so few out of focus photos and get less of them the more I used it. Not sure if I would risk it for aerial shows since I have 70-200 f/4L IS and it works great for that, besides of course missing the longer focal length (more crop). IS works very good and helps quite a bit, especially at the long end. Decently priced. Cons: Gets little soft when you move away from the center. Little softer at the long end but again not that much. Not as sharp in the middle on crop sensor (70D) as it is on full frame. This kind of surprised me but at the same time it needs more light at f/5.6 so should have been expected I guess. Again, this is at 100% view. Autofocus and IS noisy, especially compared to newer IS zoom lenses. Lens hood not included. Yes, I will put this as con, because Canon hood is not cheap and when I bought it there was no aftermarket available. Neutral: I am not so concerned with vignetting as newer cameras can correct for this pretty well or you can do it in DPP if preferred. It has some but in general gets corrected very well and if you shoot crop sensor or crop full frame photos it should not be an issue. No manual focus in AF mode. Some may consider it as con but I almost never do that especially on long zooms. If I use manual focus I switch to manual focus, therefore this is not a problem for me. Conclusions: Very good general purpose long zoom lens. If you shoot full frame, want to save some money and especially if you crop a lot in the middle of the frame, I would not hesitate to recommend this lens to you. On the 5DMKII on comparable focal lengths it was as sharp in the middle as 70-200 f/4L IS was on 70D. If you shoot crop sensor, then the verdict depends on whether you are willing to spend twice as much on 70-200 f/4L IS or almost four times as much on 70-200 f/2.8L IS or try some other options out there. The difference in quality of photos may not be as noticeable as you think, however the handling difference would be quite substantial in favor of 70-200 f/4L IS. Will I keep it? Maybe, it depends on whether I really will want or need ;-) more reach than 300mm. If I decide that I do not than I will most likely keep it and use it more often going forward. Attached below are few sample photos. Unedited, just some with 50% Digital Lens Optimizer applied. All taken with 40D. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2015 by J. S.

Review by an experienced but non-pro level hobby photographer.
Product Packaging: Standard Packaging
I purchased this Canon zoom lens with full knowledge that I was not buying the extraordinary pro-level picture quality that Canon provides in their L-model Pro-lens line, but to be very honest, I have been very pleasantly surprised that a lens that sells for less than half the price of a comparable Canon 70-300mm L-model zoom lens would have such good picture quality. Frankly, for those who may be considering the $200 Canon 75-300 zoom lens, I say forget that low cost alternative and just go for the Canon 70-300 IS USM zoomer instead. The picture quality I am seeing with this medium priced Canon 70-300mm IS USM zoom lens on my Canon 70D for landscape, wildlife, and auto-sports photography is very good indeed -- probably not quite L-model quality but still very good for advanced non-pro photography. There may be a very slight lose in picture quality when shooting at the full 300mm zoom setting, but if so it is definitely only a small amount. And so long as the photographer uses the lens like any other long zoom lens in terms of lens settings and is careful to shoot as much as possible at higher shutter speeds and uses higher f-stops and ISO settings when doing hand-held shooting (especially at the more extreme zoom levels), the lens provides very decent photo quality. The USM AF is plenty fast and accurate enough to allow the lens to be used for action-sports and photographing flying birds or running animals; and action sport photography is especially aided by the fine dual IS setting built into this lens that assists panning action sports photography. One other feature I really like in this lens is the ability to lock the lens-zoom so that when carrying the lens around on your camera it does not always droop down by going to the full zoom position as does the low-priced Canon 75-300mm zoom. I personally believe this lens is one of the better long-zoom lenses available in terms of what one gets for their money. If you have the bucks to buy the Canon pro-level L-model 70-300mm zoom I say definitely go for it, but if you're like most of us experienced but non-pro hobby photographers I believe this medium priced Canon 70-300mm USM IS zoom lens is the way to go -- and bang for the buck is why I gave this product a 5-star rating. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2016 by R. Olsen

Excellent Replacement for my Older 75-300mm
Product Packaging: Standard Packaging
A bit heavier, wider and much longer than my old reliable EF 75-300mm lens. Obviously it has the same "reach" but the Image Stabilizer makes all the difference in the world. It comes with two mode selections, 1 for stationary targets and 2 for targets in motion. I played around with both when shooting a plane that I could see the colors but no detail. I used both modes to shoot the target. Later when I brought the images up in iPhoto, with Mode 1, I could see the plane's US Navy side markings with a very slight blur. With mode 2, all the plane's markings came in so clear I could now read the tail letters, an amazing difference. Same result with birds I shot flying around some evergreen trees and power lines. When they were stationary, Mode 1 gave me some great shots. I used the lens to shoot two basketball games. Overall I'm very happy the results, most action (fast-paced) photos were clear and the lighting vibrant. I experimented with both the AF/MF functions, with my 75-300mm by best distance shots came when using MF, so far with this lens, the best distance shots are coming with AF. I have a Canon T4i and used the AF function to video birds, planes and sporting events with mixed results. This brings me to my one and only "CON" with this lens, the Image Stabilizer makes a "ton" of mechanical noise in a serene environment, although with sporting events, I hardly notice it. Shooting video using the onboard mike amplifies the noise (worse than wind). Reading reviews and blogs confirmed to me that this is a normal function so I'm learning to ignore it when shooting images and do workarounds when using my camera's video function. Well that's my review, I love the lens and I am satisfied that it is a worthwhile upgrade over the 75-300mm. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2013 by Sarge

Fantastic
I've been using this now for a few weeks and am loving it. I love that it has two functions for stablazation. One helps with panning and that happens to be what I do quite often with taking photos of birds. The zoom on it is better than the 250 just by a smidge. I have gotten some really wonderful photos with this and for the price I think it has paid for itself already compared to some of the other more expensive lenses that I can only dream about. I have champagne taste but am on a water budget so going cheaper is my only option. So glad this is a quality product and thanks to all the reviews here as that's what swayed me into taking a leap of faith. September 24, 2014 Update- I've been using this lens almost non stop all Summer and now it's acting up. I am having trouble finding that sweet spot on focusing and I have more photos come out blurry than clean. It seems to act up quite a bit with humidity also which is really irriating me to no end. I also have been having a problem with the light blarring out on me. I really don't think the light meter here is working right with this lens since I have other lens that the photos come out beautiful with. I wanted this basically for a bit extra distance and to be honest I should have saved my pennies and bought a better lens. I love Canon so this is something that upsets me to know that Canon has backed this lens. I just can't see them backing something that would be defective in such a short time. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2014 by Brake4Moose

Not a bad lens. Better than the old 75-300mm IS, but get the 70-200 f/4L instead.
Product Packaging: Standard Packaging
I owned this lens' predecessor, the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS. That lens was horrible. When I read many good things about this new 70-300mm IS lens, I thought it was time to upgrade. But, it was difficult to decide whether buy this lens or the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L. I bought this lens and it was my mistake. While it has numerous improvements over the 75-300mm IS, there are still some shortcomings with this lens that keep it from competing with the similar-priced 70-200mm f/4L. First, starting at around 150mm-200mm and getting worse as you approach 300mm, this lens gives images that look soft (no, I'm not using any filters!). This is not an issue of focus, but of low-cost consumer-grade optics. You can stop the lens down and get some improvement, but then you lose your depth of field. (EDIT: The sharpness problem with my lens was the result of using it in portrait-orientation, a defect among the first batches of this lens. Canon repaired the lens for free and it became sharper, no matter the orientation, but still not as good as the 70-200mm f/4L). Second, the focusing speed is slow. New in this lens is variable-speed focusing; as the zoom passes 200mm, the focusing speed slows. I assume this is to prevent the missed-focus hunting common with its predecessor. But, this makes it harder to track moving objects and keep them in focus. Third, this lens suffers from very ugly purple chromatic aberration. This lens really shows this problem too, in that even small bright objects develop purple halos. Finally, the lens gets larger as you zoom, the lens gets larger when you focus, the front of the lens moves when focusing, the focus ring moves when auto-focusing, the zoom retracts by itself when pointed upward (EDIT: last item was fixed by Canon during the above-mentioned service), and I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting... But none of these problems exist with the 70-200mm f/4L. This is not "the hidden L lens" as one reviewer said, it is nothing but a common consumer lens with a big price tag. The IS feature is the single sole benefit. If you have very shaky hands you might just need this lens. If you have very steady hands, with IS you can use this lens in the dark of night (assuming you have a very still subject). The 200-300mm range is nice in theory, but a tack-sharp photo from the 70-200mm f/4L at 200mm is going to look better cropped than a 300mm full-frame photo from this lens. If what you want is a very high quality lens that will give you sharp photos in daylight; buy the 70-200mm f/4L lens instead, it even comes with a hood. The hood for the 70-300mm IS lens is another $40, making the 70-200mm f/4L a lower priced lens (and it even comes with a bag!). UPDATE 10/3/11: I'm now using my 70-200 f/4L with a Canon 7D and it is fantastic. I cannot fathom why people even consider this 70-300 given the economical availability of the 70/200 f/4L. The extra 100mm and IS isn't worth it given the major drawbacks of expanding size, rotating front element, plastic construction, and lack of comparative quality. You don't need IS as much as you think you do, especially if you've been taught how to shoot steady and follow the simple rule of using exposure speeds that are numerically higher than your current zoom setting (at 200mm make sure it's at 1/200 exposure time or faster). ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2006 by derux
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