Canon 300mm f/2.8 L USM EF-Mount Lens {Gel}

The EF 300mm f/2.8L USM is a professional level large-aperture telephoto lens for Canon EOS SLR Bodies.  The 300mm f/2.8L USM is an premium lens for demanding photographers who want the best high magnification images.

Canon L-Series lenses are the company's best products with no effort spared on the optics and physical construction.  The excellent optical design features a very bright maximum aperture of f/2.8 and makes use of artificial crystal fluorite and UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) glass lens elements that help minimize dispersion and abberations.  All the optical surfaces have multi-layer anti-reflective coatings to maximize contrast and minimize ghosting.  Consequently, image quality from the 300mm f2.8L is brilliant.

The 300mm f/2.8 L USM is a most excellent portrait lens; it delivers very flattering compressed perspective, allows use of just a narrow amount of a background, and wide open it produces quite a bit more background blur than most lenses which are shorter and slower.  It's excellent sharpness, superb light gathering prowess, and ability to isolate subject matter lend themselves to a wide range of other applications too.  When you have ready access to such a versatile available-light tool you're really only limited by your imagination.

Several amenities are provided to allow focus set-up customization including focus preset and recall controls, three manual focus seek speeds, and a focus range limit switch offering ranges of infinity to 3m, infinity to 6.5m, and 6.5m to 3m.  The USM (Ultrasonic Motor) provides the fast and quiet autofocus Canon had become known for.

Introduced in 1987 the EF 300mm f/2.8L USM is one the classic original EF designs; with outstanding optics and revolutionary fast USM powered autofocus it's one of the great lenses responsible for Canon becoming the market leader among professional sports photographers.  The extremely well received and successful EF 300mm f/2.8L USM was in production for well over a decade.  In 1999 Canon released a sucessor the EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM with Optical Image Stabilization, mechanical manual focus override, weight reduction, and reduced close focus distance.  The original Canon 300mm f/2.8L USM continues to be a strong performer and has remained popular with serious shooters aware of it's considerable capabilities.

Key Features

• Professional level 300mm telephoto for EOS SLRs
• Narrow 8°10' angle of view (diagonal)
• Equivalent to a 480mm when cropped to APS-C format
• Excels in applications from portraiture, to sports & action photography
• Superior image quality
• Incredibly sharp with excellent contrast and color reproduction
• Fluorite & UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) glass elements improve contrast and reduce color-fringing
• Bright f/2.8 maximum aperture maximizes versatility
• Produces beautiful background blur
• Eight-bladed aperture diaphragm
• USM (Ultrasonic Motor)
• Focus preset and recall controls
• Focus range limit switch
• Close focuses down to 3m (9.84ft)
• Motor powered manual focus with 3 different speeds
• Rotating tripod ring with strap mounts
• Drop-in filter holder
• Compatible with the extensive line of Canon EOS EF-Mount camera bodies

Available accessories include Lens Hood ET-118 Lens Hood, Front Lens Cap E-137, and Canon EF Extenders.