All these shots were hand held. I had IS on some of the time, not at others. Now I discover that the standard EXIF data doesn't seem to record the IS setting, so I can't tell which is which.

In any case, here are my first working impressions. First, the lens is big. The Canon 350 XT with this lens mounted will does not fit in my Domke bag, so that's will take some adjusting to. That said, the 70-300 handles well and fits in the hand. I found it easy to use. Hand holding takes some care but was not difficult.

The lens did a pretty good job keeping up with the somewhat unpredictable action of a kids soccer game. Focusing was generally fast enough to follow the action, but I don't think I was quite fast enough for either the action or the lens. Some of the sample photos are very sharp while others look sharp but reveal slightly missed focus when viewed at 100%. I attribute that to myself rather than the lens. Clearly, at least when paired with the 350 XT, there's a learning curve to getting the most out of this lens.

The lens does extend when zooming, but it didn't seem to change the feel or balance of the lens in use. In fact, I didn't notice it most of the time.

When image stabilization was turned on, there was a slight additional whiring when focusing, but it is not a noisy lens by any means although visually somewhat imposing.

I don't have a hood yet to fit the 70-300, but don't see any obvious problems with flare.

The lens seems sharp at all focal lengths, and its images are pleasing to the eye in terms of color and overall feel. It seems noticably sharper than my Sigma 18-125 at comparable focal lengths, although I haven't tried side by side comparisons.

I've included five photos as well as crops from each image showing additional detail. All exept Harriet, our black and white cat, were shot as large jpegs using Canon's spiced up Parameter 2. Resized but with no further post processing. Harriet was a RAW image converted without any post processing except resizing.

All in all, I'm very pleased with my first outing with Canon's 70-300 IS. It feels good, handles well, and produces fine images. Recommended? Definitely. As good as the "L" alternative? I have no idea, but I'm more than satisfied for now, at least.