CANON EF 70-300MM F/4-5.6 IS II USM
The original edition of this lens was uninspiring, but the redesigned Mark II is a much more exciting proposition
THE FIRST IS USM VERSION OF CANON’S 70-300MM LENS WAS A FAIRLY LACKLUSTRE AFFAIR. THE AUTOFOCUS SYSTEM WAS BASED ON AN ULTRASONIC ‘MICRO MOTOR’ RATHER THAN BEING A RING-TYPE SYSTEM, MAKING IT RATHER SLUGGISH AND CLEARLY AUDIBLE. IT ALSO MEANT THAT FULL-TIME MANUAL OVERRIDE OF AUTOFOCUS WAS UNAVAILABLE, AND THE FOCUS RING ROTATED
DURING AUTOFOCUS, WHICH IMPAIRED HANDLING. THE THREE-STOP IMAGE STABILISER WAS ALSO A BIT OF AN UNDERACHIEVER, BY THE LATEST STANDARDS.
THE MARK II REPRESENTS A RADICAL REDESIGN, BRINGING THE LENS UP TO DATE. IT’S FULL-FRAME COMPATIBLE, BUT EVEN SO, FOR APS-C FORMAT BODIES WE PREFER IT TO THE PURPOSE-BUILT EF-S 55-250MM F/4-5.6 IS STM. YOU GET GREATER TELEPHOTO REACH, EQUIVALENT TO 480MM ON A FULL-FRAME BODY, AND IT BEATS THE SMALLER LENS FOR BUILD QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE.
AUTOFOCUS IS DRIVEN BY A NANO USM ACTUATOR, WHICH COMPRISES AN ‘ELASTIC METAL’ BODY, CERAMIC VOLTAGE ELEMENT AND DRIVE UNIT. THE NET RESULT IS THAT IT’S INCREDIBLY RAPID AND ACCURATE FOR STILLS, WHILE ALSO BEING VIRTUALLY SILENT IN OPERATION AND ENABLING SMOOTH AUTOFOCUS TRANSITIONS WHEN SHOOTING VIDEO. IT THEREFORE COMBINES ALL THE MAIN ADVANTAGES OF A RING-TYPE ULTRASONIC SYSTEM WITH A LINEAR STEPPING MOTOR SYSTEM. THE IMAGE STABILISER IS ALSO UPGRADED HERE, FROM THREE-STOP TO FOUR-STOP EFFECTIVENESS, AND COMES COMPLETE WITH AUTO PANNING DETECTION.
THERE’S NO PHYSICAL FOCUS DISTANCE SCALE ON THE NEW LENS, BUT YOU DO GET A DIGITAL MULTI-MODE DISPLAY, WITH A PUSH BUTTON FOR CYCLING THROUGH OPTIONS FOR FOCUS DISTANCE, DEPTH OF FIELD AND SEVERITY OF VIBRATION. OVERALL PERFORMANCE AND IMAGE QUALITY ARE IMPRESSIVE, AND THE LENS ITSELF IS PRETTY GOOD VALUE AT THE PRICE. HOWEVER, THE LENS ET-74B HOOD IS SOLD AS AN ‘OPTIONAL EXTRA’ AND IS OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE IN THE UK, AT £80. IT’S MORE REALISTICALLY PRICED IN THE USA, AT $45.