Interesting development with 70300IS

you mean the lens "sags"? why wouldn't it also sag in the horizontal position?

i guess it's too early to know.

ed rader

I love mine but the barrel is loose like others have complained about. I dont seem to have any other issues with it though.

My lens returns tomorrow (Wednesday), so they've told me, and I'll post the findings shortly thereafter. I like the lens so much that I can't see myself parting with it. But we'll find out soon enough.

Minor understatement sir

condyk wrote:
Minor understatement sir

I like My 120-300...

Anything new to report on the 70-300 IS?

if its that soft sideways, i'de hate to see it upside down

He posted here (https://photography-on-the.net …php?p=1133820#p​ost1133820) some pictures taken 1/28. Apparently, the problem persists. I'll have to doublecheck some pictures I took recently that I wasn't happy with and see if they were vertical or horizontal. I'd almost forgotten about that being a possible contributor to poor performance.

My 70300IS has been to Canon twice now, returned both times with no apparent fix. My Canon rep has told me he is more than willing to exchange it, but I am not confident it will be remedied as IMO it's a design issue. The lens extended at 300mm comes out far enough for there to be "enough play" between the outer barrel and inner barrel such that IQ is distorted. If you push the inner barrel up or sideways, you'll move it ever so slightly, but you can see through your VF the IQ change. When in vertical position, the lens' inner barrel ever so slightly "droops" enough such that IQ degrades; remember, the barrel at 300mm is quite far, and this isn't L build. Here are some recent snaps to show the differences, you be the judge:

http://www.pbase.com/f​stopjojo/verticalprob

I really like the lens, and I really want to keep it as there is nothing like it for travel and walking around with such reach, lightweight, and IS. IQ otherwise is quite impressive. See this as most were taken with the 70300IS (horizontal orientation, except for the last image, and you can see the problem): http://www.pbase.com/f​stopjojo/arboretum

Also, note that I have tried 3 copies and all do the same thing, which is why I am fairly convinced it's a design issue, not a copy to copy variation. Especially being able nowadays to view @ 100% so easily and readily, it makes it easier to discover these kinds of issues. FWIW my 70200IS and 100400IS do not exhibit any problems in vertical orientation. And from 70-220mm, the 70300IS is really fantastic even in vertical format.

I'm still deliberating what to do next. For now I'm keeping it.

Given that the vertical problem only seems to occur past 220mm, I think your thoughts about keeping the lens make sense. It gives you more horizontal range than the 70-200 for a little less money, less weight, and with the addition of IS. The vertical issue is unfortunate to be sure, but it doesn't seem like a deal breaker for most of us.

thats my thoughts exactly. i have this lens, and absolutely love it. and to tell you the truth, ive never taken a portait oriented shot with it, so im gonna go do that right now, and post my resuslts, see if i can help debug this bastard of a problem.

You might want to check the thread linked in my sig -- it appears that Canon is now fessing up to the problem and actively working on a solution.