I've been considering buying a long zoom to supplement my 28-105 for some time now. Since I am a student, my choice seemed pretty much confined to either the 75-300 or the 100-300, of which the latter seemed a better choice because of the ring USM and internal focus. Well, I was cruising through the KEH web site, and I saw a 70-210 F4 macro listed there for a reasonable price. My question is, is this lens a bonafide Canon? I've never seen this mentioned anywhere. With a constant aperture, macro capability, and a reasonable zoom range, shouldn't this lens have had some mention? Do any of you have any experience with this lens? If so, I'd appreciate some input on its quality.

Thanks

Ritwick

-- Ritwick Dhar (54s4dharr@vms.csd.mu.edu), February 03, 1999

Answers

There is a review of this lens in the Canon section of photo.net. From the review, it is better than most Canon consumer zooms, but of course you can expect all of the usual zoom limitations.

-- Brad Hutcheson (bhutcheson@iname.com), February 05, 1999.

This lens was, I believe, one of the original set of lenses released with the first generation of EOS cameras. I have owned one for five or six years and have been generally well pleased with it, though it seems to be at its best in the 100-135mm range and not quite as good at around 200mm. I have a Canon 80-200 f2.8 now, but still keep the 70-210 as a backup and for times when I don't want to carry the weight of the 80-200.

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), February 03, 1999.

There was an original 70-210 Canon. Not sure about the glass quality but I think it's somewhere in the neighborhood of your 28-105. Was pretty solid in the build area. A note of caution tho. This is a push-pull config and I've seen several of these that creep in or out depending on their vertical orientation. Depending on age and previous use, any angle past 35-45 degrees might cause some severe change in focal length.

-- Keith Van Hulle (kvh@home.com), February 03, 1999.

The 70-210 f4 looks identical (just smaller) to the 100-300 f5.6L that is still available. No USM, push-pull zoom and a rotating front element. Optically it is not to bad considering the price.

-- Nico Smit (nico@anp.co.za), February 05, 1999.

I too noticed this lens on KEH and ebay. Lot of these seem to be around; somebody posted a question on photo.net on it - is this a hidden jewel?; Bob Atkins replied something like - one of the very early EOS lenses, let's see....here are the Chassuer d'Images results,...no not a hidden gem. See if the thread is still around in photo.net. And dont just accept the term Macro on face value; ask what the minimum focussing dist actually is.

-- Shayok Mukhopadhyay (shayok@hotmail.com), February 05, 1999.

So what I gather from your answers is - the 70-210 is no big deal, go for the 100-300. I don't like the idea of a push-pull zoom myself, you probably cannot get as precise control as that in a turn zoom. The only reason I was attracted to it was the constant aperture and the macro feature.

Thanks to all who responded.

Ritwick

-- Ritwick Dhar (54s4dharr@vms.csd.mu.edu), February 06, 1999.

Get the 100-300/5.6L! It's way better in image quality and well worth the price!

-- Andrew (cocheuk@yahoo.com), November 09, 2001.