British Wildlife Centre + 50-200mm 2.8-4

boxerman wrote:

As far as I noted, only one of your shots was with the 100-400. Of the 50-200 shots, only one was < 100 mm, hence NEEDED the 50-200.

So, what do you say about the convenience/usability/quality comparing the 50-200 with 100-400?

Obviously, the 50-200 has a bigger aperture, but is that a deal--the deal--here, for you?

I try to answer your questions and why I ended up getting the 50-200.

I originally bought both the 35-100mm 2.8 and the 100-400 for safari. So for camera A I have the 100-400 mounted onto it and camera B is 35-100. While both the 100-400 and the 35-100 can be used for other applications other than safari. I'd found there were times when the 35-100 didn't have enough reach and the 100-400 wasn't wide enough. So in the end I had to take both lenses with me when really I need one zoom lens that could sit in the middle of their zoom range. By taking both it meant carrying more weight, less room for other lenses, either both zoom lenses needed to be mounted onto their own camera body or I try to avoid lens swapping.

So I mostly bought the 50-200 for convenience, it has weather sealing and having the extra half of stop of light compared to the 100-400 was the icing on the cake. So by having the 50-200, there are times when I only need to bring one telephoto zoom instead of two and this made me more flexible.

For IQ, since I don't know anything about lens construction I can't give you a specific answer. However, I noticed when it comes to image quality both the 100-300 and the 100-400 are very similar in style. The 100-400 is better for it added contrast, slightly sharper and the bokeh is smoother. However the differences between the IQ of the 100-300 and the 100-400 isn't huge but it's better.

The lens construction of the 50-200 appears to differ from the 100-300 and the 100-400. For one the lens is sharper and pick out detail better than the 100-400. The other noticeable difference is the lens has a 3d pop but the 100-400 images appear to be flat. So both lenses gives a different look. Both photos of the zebras which are below, they were taken roughly in the same week, one in Kruger and the other in Sabi Sand. I personally prefer the look of the 50-200.

50-200

100-400