content: This was one of my first lens purchases. I initially enjoyed it however as I became more and more serious about photography I found that this lens was not producing the quality I was looking for. For one, the chromatic abberation at the long end was terrible when the image was viewed at 100%. Secondly, when shooting wide open, the images are soft although stopping down a stop or two corrects this. I ended up trading this lens in towards the purchase of an EF 70-200 f/4L IS USM lens.This lens, however, is not a complete loss. The 3-stop IS is fantastic and the focusing is relatively fast and accurate. I would suggest people just starting out on a tight budget purchase this lens if the higher end lenses are simply out of reach especially if you don't plan on making outlandishly huge prints from your photos. That said, if I had to relive this purchase, I would have held out for a lens with a higher resale value and higher quality.