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Canon EF 300mm F4 IS vs Non-IS

Started 2 months ago | Discussions
GMSchneider New Member • Posts: 9
Canon EF 300mm F4 IS vs Non-IS

Hello everyone!

Wondering if anyone can help me out with a question about these two lenses. My question between the two pertains to the focusing speed of the IS model. I got a great deal a couple years ago on a Non-IS version and I know people say the Non-IS version is sharper than the IS one. I've been using my lens more for indoor sports because I own an R6 and high ISOs look very good on it. But the issue I'm running into now is that I'm missing shots because the lens isn't focusing fast enough. I'm willing to give up image quality if it focuses faster. Does anyone know if the IS version has the same internals as the Non-IS but just with the IS mechanism? Or did Canon change it up on the newer version. Thanks in advance!

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Sittatunga Veteran Member • Posts: 5,413
Re: Canon EF 300mm F4 IS vs Non-IS

GMSchneider wrote:

Hello everyone!

Wondering if anyone can help me out with a question about these two lenses. My question between the two pertains to the focusing speed of the IS model. I got a great deal a couple years ago on a Non-IS version and I know people say the Non-IS version is sharper than the IS one. I've been using my lens more for indoor sports because I own an R6 and high ISOs look very good on it. But the issue I'm running into now is that I'm missing shots because the lens isn't focusing fast enough. I'm willing to give up image quality if it focuses faster. Does anyone know if the IS version has the same internals as the Non-IS but just with the IS mechanism? Or did Canon change it up on the newer version. Thanks in advance!

The IS lens had 15 elements in 11 groups of which three in two groups were the IS mechanism and four in two groups were the focussing part (which moves what looks like 25mm over the focus range). The older lens had 8 elements in 7 groups but I've not seen a block diagram (or even the actual lens).

Rock and Rollei Senior Member • Posts: 2,916
Re: Canon EF 300mm F4 IS vs Non-IS

I've still got the older lens - bought it many years ago very cheap at the time because it had a mark on the front element. These days, it's a bit temperamental - some days AF doesn't work until the lens "warms up", other days it's fine. No parts available for it, so I don't use it for critical action work any more. My memories of it were as reasonably speedy, though.

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John Crowe
John Crowe Veteran Member • Posts: 3,476
Re: Canon EF 300mm F4 IS vs Non-IS

I had the 300/4 L for ten years before replacing it with the older 300/2.8 L.  I am surprised you are having difficulty.

I know from lenses that I have had Canon made strides with their AF systems during the 90's, which makes sense.  I suspect that the 300/4 IS from '97 has a better AF system than the 300/4 from '91.

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OP GMSchneider New Member • Posts: 9
Re: Canon EF 300mm F4 IS vs Non-IS

Thanks for the responses! I think my lens may just be showing it's age and an upgrade for a couple hundred bucks might be well worth it!

 GMSchneider's gear list:GMSchneider's gear list
Canon EOS-1D X Canon EOS 7D Mark II Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Canon EOS R6 Canon Extender EF 1.4x II +5 more
Sage Senior Member • Posts: 2,596
Re: Canon EF 300mm F4 IS vs Non-IS

According to the attached Canon document, both versions of the EF 300mm f/4 lenses are excluded from Canon's list of lenses capable of focusing at the max FPS of the R6 Mark 2.

https://cam.start.canon/en/H001/supplement_0080.html

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gcrimmins Regular Member • Posts: 104
Re: Canon EF 300mm F4 IS vs Non-IS

I have the IS version of the lens but have never used the non-IS version. I would say the AF on the IS lens is adequate, but not as good as the AF with the 300mm f/2.8. It's by no means unusable for sports, but I occasionally miss a shot that I think the 2.8 lens would have nailed. The 300mm f/4 IS also seems to be having some AF problems with my R7, while it works fine with my DSLRs. I'm not sure if there's something wrong my my lens or if this model of lens just doesn't play nice with the R7 for some reason. I keep wishing that Nikon would offer their 300mm f/4 PF in EF mount.   So I guess this is a long-winded way of saying that if you want better AF, the F/4 IS lens probably won't be a step up from what you have. It does focus much closer than the non-IS lens, and of course has IS, if either of those features are useful to you.

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