What combo for great images?

What are you shooting and in what kind if light? Do you need the flexibility of a zoom or are you just concerned about 300mm?

BTW - The 70-200 is actually more like 112-320 on the 7D II (1.6 crop factor).

I don't have either camera or lens so I can't compare performance. Others would more likely weigh in if you provide a little more detail.

Have you thought about the 70-200 and a 1.4 tele-converter on the 5D III? That might be another combo to consider.

BillsLIPhotos said:

Have you thought about the 70-200 and a 1.4 tele-converter on the 5D III? That might be another combo to consider.

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Tiger Photography

Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. I want to stick to the F2.8 Area thats why comparing cameras.

Shooting mammals in low light is my aim.

For wildlife in sunlight, you probably don't need such a fast lens as f/2.8. I'd rather have a 7D2 and the new 100-400 IS II lens, even if it is a bit slower.

Without knowing what you want to shoot, and under what conditions, we can't answer that question. For example, if you want to shoot sports the faster focusing and variable focal length on combination A is best. If you want to shoot a subject is low light at a long distance then option B is better.

Restricting yourself to f2.8 on both lenses is also a problem: an f2.8 300mm lens on a FF body will have 1 stop thinner DOF than an f2.8 at 300mm equivalent on a crop body. This can be good for subject isolation, but a major problem if you need more DOF. A better comparison would be an f4 lens 300mm lens on the FF body, which is only about $1400 for the lens.

This is a weird question for which there is no simple answer.

Three weeks ago I was doing mammal photography, and I had to keep switching my gear from one lens on one body to another lens on an equivalent body. One minute I was shooting at a red-backed vole (which is a mouse-like thing) at a range of about four feet in poor light. Later I was shooting at large brown bears at a range of 75 to 500 feet in bright light. Later yet I was shooting at Dall sheep that ranged from 1.0 to 1.5 miles out with varying clouds. I could not do all of that with one single rig.

In general for wildlife, you want the longest practical zoom focal length lens mounted on a 1.6 crop body. That makes the assumptions that the wildlife is relatively far off. There are lots of exceptions to this generality. I stated "practical" since some focal lengths look good on paper, but they are logistically impractical. Some lenses are too long and heavy to be easily man-handled without a substantial tripod. Even with the great advancements of Image Stabilization in lenses, you cannot always make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Even if a particular lens has IS, and even if you can handle it without any tripod, there is a good chance that some shots will be best if you do use a moderately serious tripod.

In summary, all of my camera bodies are crop bodies. All of my lenses are zoom lenses.

Beyond that, you simply have to decide what your budget is and what kinds of animals you go after.

7D2 + 100-400MK2 is awesome, check out HDEW cameras i think i paid around £800 for my 7D2 and only £1500 for my canon 100-400MK2, great price deals.

Hi Nimtree,

First of all, I really think both combinations will be able to produce great images. To make any image "great", I would say the photographer is more important than the equipment. That being said, the technical differences between the combinations you mentioned go beyond just the reach of the lens (which you compensated). The differences between FF and APS-C can lead to visible different results of the influence of aperture (DOF etc.) and also ISO. It just takes a little research to find out what is needed if you wanted to create to (more or less) identical images with FF and APS-C. For that comparison, many people do not realize that they have to take the crop factor into account for aperture and ISO as well.

If all this has any importance for the images that you want to take... I doubt it.

To me, it sounds as if the combo 7DII + 100-400 mark II would actually be your ideal solution.

However... if indeed low-light is your main interest, and if indeed 300mm (with no flexibility) is enough, yes... I would say 5DIII with a 300mm f/2,8 would create the better images.

nimtree said:

Hi All,

I am just curious, what combo would produce quality images (assume other things constant) ?

A) Canon 70-200 L IS USM II on Canon 7D II = Effective 105-300 f2.8 IS (Lens costs £1500)

B) Canon 5D Mark III + Canon 300mm F2.8 IS USM II (Lens costs £4800 New)

If combo A results same images as combo B, I am keen on getting a 7D II body.

Click to expand...

I own the 70-200 f2.8 IS II, 300 f2.8 IS II, and 7D II.

Both lenses produce superb IQ on my 7D II and 1D4. I believe 300 f2.8 offers more attractive background blur and thinner dof, and a bit sharper and better contrast. BUT...the 70-200 isn't far behind in these qualities.

If photographing animals that move, the 7D II has an excellent AF system for such things.

I think you should rent or borrow the 7D II and 70-200 f2.8 II. It may be all that you need. It's lighter than the alternative and would save you a ton of money.

BTW, I also rented the 100-400 for a day. It too has superb IQ. But at f4.5-5.6 I don't know how it would work in dim light (as you intend to use it). You'd have to crank up the ISO and I don't know good the 7D II is in low light.

Thanks for your reply BigBen08. I wanted to know from someone who has both the lenses ,like you

My main interest is mammals (including homo sapien portraits )

I have 70-200mm f2.8 IS II and I am getting rid of D3200 to buy a 7D mark II (£800 on ebay)

I cant afford to buy 300 mm f2.8 (new) as I recently bought 70-200, but out of curiosity I was thinking how much would be the difference between combo A and combo B.

Sounds like, NOT MUCH of difference to justify the spend of £5000

I would steer away from f4.5-5.6, for obvious reasons.

Thanks.

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Tiger Photography

This forum will give you an idea of what the 70-200 f2.8 IS II can do...

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1289044&page=1

If you want both f2.8 and 300mm why not take a look at the sigma 100-300 f2.8 . Selling around £2699 in the UK . That would go well on 7Dii