For an all-in-one lens, this unit is amazing

The suitability of gear depends on what you want from it and what you are prepared to do to get it. That means not only money, but also what you are prepared to carry.

The kind of photography I enjoy most is outdoors, travel and wildlife photography. Within those differing genres lie a wide range of photographic opportunities and requirements: everything from panoramas to close-ups of detailed objects.

It is totally pointless to compare this unit to a fixed-focal-length lens - they are made for totally different purposes. It is like comparing apples and oranges. Of course a FFL lens should perform better, but they are fixed lenses and this unit is a super-zoom and should be judged against its peers. Even so it does pretty well against many more modest zooms.

When I travel and am limited for space or weight I want a lens that will adequately cover all the bases. I got the Canon 28-300L lens for that purpose and, married with a decent camera body, it does everything I could hope for from a lens of this range. The zoom range is amazing, and I find it sharp and able to handle most situations - although I don't tend to photograph in low light conditions.  The images are sharp and the apertures are fine for separating my target from the background.  I can crop an image right down and it still looks fine to me, which is all I can ask...

Yes, it is heavy, and if you are not prepared to carry it don't buy one. I don't carry it on a neck strap, I have it on a holster or in a pack with a decent straps to distribute the load over my shoulders or on a pelvis strap. The alternative to me would be to take multiple lenses and bodies (still with a weight penalty) and I prefer not to as I have learned not to change lenses in the field if I want to reduce the risk dust infiltrating my camera gear. My point is that one heavy lens is less hassle than several lighter lenses - at least for me.

The lens is a Push-Pull variety and that can be seen as a good or bad thing. Some people like the speed with which the P-P format allows you to zoom in and out. Others find it problematic.  All lenses that extend beyond the outer casing will offer a risk of "bellows effect" sucking and pushing dust and other contaminants into the lens and body. This lens has sealing to limit this, and it can be reduced further by using a sealed camera body and/or wrapping a plastic bag around the body of the lens in difficult conditions.  If Canon ever issue a 28-300 rotating unit I would probably buy one, (I did that with the 100-400MkII) but in the meantime I'm happy with just not zooming at a fast rate to reduce the risk.

Conclusion:  this is not a new lens, but it I an amazing piece of kit and it deserves respect, even today.

I purchased my Canon EF 28-300mm zoom about 18 months ago specifically for use when traveling. Since then I’ve taken it on 3 trips and it has performed as expected. I mount it to my Canon 5DS-R and it produces excellent results. I combine it with my Canon EF 11-24mm zoom and have a wide range (11-300mm), covered with 2 lenses.

If I had to do it again, I would have purchased this lens sooner, like when I purchased my 5D3 in November 2012. Highly recommended for those who love to travel and are looking for a one lens solution.