Had mine a little while now and I must say that I am rather happy with it. Considering it's price/weight/aperture I consider this to be an excellent lightweight all purpose telephoto zoom.
The IQ is not quite as good as my big whites true, but it is not far behind and it is a much smaller/lighter and VERY much cheaper lens. AF acquisition and tracking are very good on both my 7D2 and 1DX and good for birds in flight. The short minimum focus distance is nice and handy for Reptiles, larger insects, flora etc - a significant improvement on the Mk1.
The newer IS system is great but I do find that I need to use it with this lens whilst I don't need IS with much longer lenses - strange, perhaps it is just me? Personally I preferred the old style push pull zoom of the previous model but the Mk2 is a much better lens so I can live with this quite happily!
Overall an excellent piece of kit at not silly money! Slap a Canon 7D2 on the back and you have an excellent, portable wildlife setup. Don't forget to add a Canon 1.4 Mk3 extender + a (AF) cheap extension tube and you are covered for most things out there.
The IQ is not quite as good as my big whites true, but it is not far behind and it is a much smaller/lighter and VERY much cheaper lens. AF acquisition and tracking are very good on both my 7D2 and 1DX and good for birds in flight. The short minimum focus distance is nice and handy for Reptiles, larger insects, flora etc - a significant improvement on the Mk1.
The newer IS system is great but I do find that I need to use it with this lens whilst I don't need IS with much longer lenses - strange, perhaps it is just me? Personally I preferred the old style push pull zoom of the previous model but the Mk2 is a much better lens so I can live with this quite happily!
Overall an excellent piece of kit at not silly money! Slap a Canon 7D2 on the back and you have an excellent, portable wildlife setup. Don't forget to add a Canon 1.4 Mk3 extender + a (AF) cheap extension tube and you are covered for most things out there.