Furthermore, despite its 300mm focal length, which is usually the limit that can be used for handheld shooting, the handling is superb where portability and handling are concerned. The lens will take you from the natural image reproduction of 85mm focal length to the tremendous compression of perspective and narrow angle of the telephoto effect that is synonymous with the 300mm range. This versatility allows you to search for a subject at an intermediate focal length and then, once you have found it, zoom out to a longer focal length for a close-up shot. Naturally, you have to put a bit of distance between yourself and the subject to do this. To make the lens more compact, its total length had been reduced by increasing the curvature of each lens group.
Aberration is suppressed by the use of high quality glass.
As with a telephoto lens, it is possible to search for and compose pictures in the viewfinder. Telephoto zooms in this focal length range demonstrate their true value when the camera must remain stationary such as in sports, documentary work, stage and wildlife photography and similar times when motion has to be pursued from one place. Perhaps the greatest advantage of these two lenses is their long focal length range which saves valuable time because no lens change is necessary. Precise focusing is required as the depth of field is shallow, and the choice of shutter speed should also be carefully considered. Needless to say, a tripod and a cable release will improve picture quality.