The lens takes amazing pictures. Its build quality is really nice too! It has USM and has full-time manual focus. It’s really sharp and produces really good bokeh.
I have not tried the other versions of this lens (f4 IS, f2.8, f2.8 IS) but for the price of this lens, unless you plan to do low-light or sports photography this is definitely the best. The other versions are not worth the extra money.
Check out my flickr page for shots taken with it and my Canon 400D (and new 40D).
For a more in-depth review check out this excellent review at the-digital-picture.com.
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