I bought this lens with a Canon 350D, my first DSLR. I used this lens exclusively for my sports and wildlife telephoto work for the first four months, until I purchased the Canon 300mm f/4L IS USM. Since then, I have found the 70-200mm lens to be useful for close range sports and with the EF 1.4X TC, if I want a 100-280mm zoom. I find it to be terrific with the extender for sporting applications, even on darker overcast days. I used it exclusively for all my daytime alpine racing photography this past winter (2007: approximately 5,000 images). The AF on this lens is fast and images are sharp at all aperatures, even with the extender. Given the great image quality, solid build, and constant medium aperature, I consider this lens to be cheap, small, light, and extremely useful. I personally think it's the best value in pro telephoto glass, bar none. Look through the galleries below for test/comparison shots and sample images, with and without the extender.