>Hi guys, it's my first article, I hope you to appreciate it. So, let's talk about this lens.
Many amateur photographers before or later come to buy this lens: it's cheap, and several websites state it to be an excellent compromise by adding a (relatively) good quality image to a very low price (don't really know how much it costs in USA... here you can find it at about 150 dollars, new).
I used it a lot, in the past on the EOS 350D, and now on my 40D, and I think I know very well this lens to help you out in the case you are interested with it.
So, let's come to the quality image, that's the most important thing in a lens: well, it varies from very good, from 70 and 135 mm, to good from 135 and 200, to become almost horrendous over 230 mm. 300 mm are almost useless. At 300 mm, this lens produces very soft images, low details and contrast.
This lens brings the "MACRO" singature. What does it mean? Well, you see, the minimum AF distance is about 1,5 m. But over 200 mm the Macro mode become available: it allows a minimum AF distance of 0,85 m in this mode. So, although it's not a real macro lens, it makes out with this practice quite well.
The real problem, at least the one I notice with my model, is the AF motor. It's damn terrible! Slow, inaccurate, noisy. I've never minded the noise, really, but the other 2 flaws are just terrible. You see, when you use a telephoto lens you have little DOF. And a little error in the AF can cause your photo to be useless trash. So you'd have to shot some pictures of the same subject just to make sure you'll achieve a clear image, and while it is possible with static objects, it becomes impossibile with dinamic subjects.
You should ask: can I obtain good photos with this lens? The answer is: YES. You can, ad I did. But never trust 100% the AF, and try to focus many times, shoting many images to be sure you'll achieve the best results.

Here are some examples of what you can obtain:


So, should you buy this lens? If you can't afford a better zoom, this is maybe the best choice when it comes to price. If you want quality, anyway, this lens could disappoint you.

I rate this lens with a 6,5/10.

Thank you for reading, bye.

Luca