Canon 500 f4 or not?

buzzbob wrote:

Hi all,

I have the Canon 500mmf4 IS II sitting in my room. I bought it used and have another couple of weeks to decide whether to keep it or not.

I am in two minds over this lens purchase. It’s a significant amount of money for me and I’m keen not to make a mistake.

I like and want it. One of the reasons I felt confident about buying it was that big whites generally keep their value and when I sell it ( as I will a few years down the road when I’m too old to use it - I’m 65 now) I assumed I would recoup my money.

However I believe Canon are planning RF 500f4 IS and 600f4 IS lenses which will make mine obsolete. I realise these will be pricey but I still anticipate a glut of the older lens on the used market as many pros and serious users upgrade with the release of the rumoured pro - level RF camera.

RF lenses are universally great performers but will no doubt be out of my range

On the other hand, Canon are also rumoured to be planning the release of DO version RF lenses of 500mm or 600mm f4 which probably compete favourably on price with my used lens and drive the value down.

All of this makes me less confident in my purchase and the attraction of keeping resale value seems diminished considerably.

Am I justified in my concerns? I could wait until next year and see what happens but it could realistically be 18 months or more before any of these new lenses are available.

Would you advise going ahead with my purchase, or holding off?

Thank you

i am 70 and plan to keep my canon 600mm f4 II for as along as i can hoist it! i am not ready to buy into R cameras yet, i have my dslrs and they work perfectly the way i want them to.

no doubt the future R big primes will be going for a lot more! i doubt if the used 500 f4 II/600mm f4.0 II will flood the market because they can easily be mounted on R cameras without losing any IQ. so i think canon big primes are future safe, IMO, i wouldn't worry about them at this point. if you like and have use for this 500 f4.0 II for a decent price, i wouldn't hesitate to get it. good luck.