Test of Quality. Canon 300mm L IS USM F2.8

Two weeks ago I purchaced the much sought after and highly rated Canon 300mm L IS USM F2.8.I had become more and more frustrated with the Canon 100-400mm L IS USM F4.5. It had served me well for three years but I had noticed the autofocus struggling far too often especially in low light and at distance.

All the reviews I read placed the 300mm F2.8 amongst the best Canon lenses ever made, but with a 5k price tag it was out of my range.Pristine second hand ones on ebay can sell for around 3.5k. Luckily one evening I noticed one for sale on a birding blog site and struck a deal for less than 2k by swaping two lenses I no longer used into the bargain.
My first outing with the new lens immediatly told me that this was a piece of quality glass. Quite heavy but not clumbersome . The large objective lens allows tons of light to flood in and the autofocus works faster than a pissed off woman texting.
So far everything was looking good. The ergonomics of the lens and camera together work well allowing my right hand to work the camera and my left hand to cup and support the lens comfortably.
Though it is still early days for me using this lens iI am very impressed with it's performance. The first thing that hits you is that at close quaters its fantastic....as the photos below shows...please click to enlarge and notice the subtle tones of the feathering on this Lapwing, taken out of the car window under a pale grey sky.

Take a minute to look at the detail in the feathering and also the sharp edges along with the very subtle tones and colours.
The Lapwing is part of the Plover family, it has been called Northern Lapwing, Lapwing, Green plover and also Peewit.