Zoom lens question

[bellevilleguy]

I'm new here, lots of good answers to questions, so here I go. I was considering purchasing the Canon 70-300mm IS, doing lots of research on this lens it seems it may be worse than what it replaced, with build quaility and the vertical blur issue alot prople have with it, I am second guessing getting this one. I do realize price is a factor under a 1000 = not so good???

So what about the next level of lenses, such as the Canon EF 300mm F4.0L IS USM... I've never used a fixed focal length lens before, does this mean that 300mm is always in your face when using this lens? Sorry if this a dumb question...

Would this lens be a better choice, Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM. It seems I would have a better working distance 100-400mm to play with instead of 300mm all of the time. Am I on the right track here? I want something for wildlife shots, and IS for handheld would be nice as well.

I am really dissappointed about what I hearing about the 70-300mm, as I imagine a lot of people are. I was just expecting more from it, hopefully Canon will have a fix for this lens in the near future, cause it is more in my budget than those "L" series lenses !!

 

[TonyHowell]

The L prime shoulds alway produce better images than any zoom. I got one as I was using my 100-300 F5.6L at 300mm all the time.

In fact I would go as far to say that the 300mm + 1.4 extender gives better results than the 100-400. But the latter does have the flexibility of the zoom, and image quality is still superb enough for most.

I suppose the answer lies in the question, what wildlife do you like to shot?

Are we talking small birds that you cant get close to or are we talking big animals that are fairly tame?

for birding in the UK i use the 300 F4L + 500 F4.5L and the 1.4 sometimes

Tony

 

[ajax]

If you are shooting SMALL wildlife, like birds, the general experience is that you can never have too long a lens. Most people who use a zoom for birds, find that they are shooting at maximum lenght 90% of the time. So instead of having a 100-400 zoom and using 400mm most of the time, you may as well rather gat a 400 mm prime lens which wlil be sharper.

On the other hand, a zoom is a much more flexible lens, which you can use for alot of stuff other than wildlife. A 400m lens is not useful for much else other than wildlife (or far spoprts). If you travel and want to take general shots as well, you can use the wider angle of the zoom.

It all boils down to deciding WHAT you are wanting to use the lens for.

Good luck.

I'm new here, lots of good answers to questions, so here I go. I
was considering purchasing the Canon 70-300mm IS, doing lots of
research on this lens it seems it may be worse than what it
replaced, with build quaility and the vertical blur issue alot
prople have with it, I am second guessing getting this one. I do
realize price is a factor under a 1000 = not so good???

So what about the next level of lenses, such as the Canon EF 300mm
F4.0L IS USM... I've never used a fixed focal length lens before,
does this mean that 300mm is always in your face when using this
lens? Sorry if this a dumb question...

Would this lens be a better choice, Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS
USM. It seems I would have a better working distance 100-400mm to
play with instead of 300mm all of the time. Am I on the right
track here? I want something for wildlife shots, and IS for
handheld would be nice as well.

I am really dissappointed about what I hearing about the 70-300mm,
as I imagine a lot of people are. I was just expecting more from
it, hopefully Canon will have a fix for this lens in the near
future, cause it is more in my budget than those "L" series lenses
!!

 

[bellevilleguy]

That's good info. thank you.. The main use for the lens would be birds, hawks, Owls and such as I often come across these in dead trees as I am driving here in Canada all the time. I guess with the 70-300mm being much softer at the end of 300mm, the 300mm prime would be a better choice for me.

Thanks again

 

[rfk]

Or 70-200 F4 with 1.4 TC... if you don't mind the speed loss.

Works well for me.

RK

 

[yongbo]

For bird, I have the Bigma, but always use the 500mm end. Maybe I should get the Canon prime. Here is the 400mm f/5.6, $50 rebate is available.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&tag=yongbojiangco-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&path=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB00009USW3%2Fsr%3D8-1%2Fqid%3D1148318285%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_1%3F%255Fencoding%3DUTF8
--
Yongbo
http://www.photo96.com/

 

[HarryLally]

There is a complete thread on here about just this lens. Canon know about the problem and are attempting to fix it. In the meantime, many outlets have run out of stock while they await the modified lens. I'm hanging on for it myself as the photozone test was so good. Ditto the 70-200 f/4L. Go to:

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/canon_70300_456is/index.htm

Michael

 

[bellevilleguy]

I was looking at the "Bigma" too, still may consider it along with one of those Canon Primes. That 400mm Prime is a nice lens too, a lot of money, but nice...

 

[bellevilleguy]

That's a pretty good review about the 70-300mm, Its just too bad Canon does not openly confirm the issue. I hope that a publically annouced fix can be had for this lens because it is a very nice unit, at a very nice price. I'd hate to order one only to get a copy without the fix if that ever happens of course.

 

[yongbo]

Just a few samples from my Bigma, it's more flexible and I prefer not using teleconverter.



100% crop, untouched:







--
Yongbo
http://www.photo96.com/

 

[TonyHowell]

I was looking at the "Bigma" too, still may consider it along with
one of those Canon Primes. That 400mm Prime is a nice lens too, a
lot of money, but nice...

--

The 400mm F5.6 is as cheap as chips, are you sure you didn't see the 400mm F2.8?

I found the 500mm prime great but just too big and heavy for my puny frame to carry around.

I will get a 400 F5.6 the next time I pass the canon shop!