Not for the faint of heart!

This Canon lens is for serious photographers only. I use this lens for day and nighttime athletic contests. This lens allows slower shutter speeds while hand-holding. Optics are of highest quality. A bit on the heavy and long side, not a lens to tote around lightly. Comes with a tripod ring, because you couldn't mount the camera on the tripod and expect it to stay together with the lens hanging off the front. Also has two functions of stabilization--one for vertical only stabilization, and one for both horizontal and vertical stabilization.

If one follows the directions as to when to use these settings, pictures will be sharp. The size of this lens draws a crowd, which makes me security conscious of the equipment. At around $1600, this lens is not cheap, but worth every penny.

Well made, all metal, no plastic. This lens will stand up to lots of use, professionally and for the VERY serious hobbyist. The zoom is slightly awkward at first, as zooming is done thru a push/pull motion. However, once learned, with the zoom friction set just right, framing and zooming can be done as a second nature. Truly a professional lens, and all that that implies..