Long lens (canon) help
- This topic has 9 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated Aug 17, 2010 at 6:30 am by
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I am ready to buy a long lens for the canon and I would like to hear some feedback from those of you who have them.
Wildlife and sports action will be the target for this lens.Jarrod there are lots of choices. Which to get depends on a number of factors.
I own or have owned and shot with.
400mm f5.6 L ( still use this occasionally for faster in flight birds and with tubes for close in stuff like dragons, butterflies, hummers or when I want to go light and small say with my kayak or on a hike)100-400 f4 L IS (sold, will re acquire one day)
500mm f4 L IS (main wildlife lens)
Have borrowed
Sigma 300-800mm..love the reach and zoom capabilities which amde framing the shot so much easier…but its a beast to lug around and a bear to hand hold.All have their merits where Id choose one over the others. Some factors being focus speed/reach/flexibility with zooms/ease of holding/tracking <
Wildlife:
For most wildlife shooting starts at 300mm, truthfully no matter what lens you have you will usually feel as though you never have enough reach.Four legged or two legged wildlife?
With four legged you may appreciate a zoom lens, with two you will always be at the long end. Dawn/dusk which is common for mammals you might value IS. With birds IS is not as much a factor.Focus speed?
How important will that be? Much as I love the 500mm F4 L, the 400mm f5.6 kicks its ass for focus speed.At times the difference between getting the shot or not.Sports.
As Kurt mentioned your looking at more of a mid range lens (70-200). Also with sports how fast the glass is will be a deciding factor. If indoor sports or twilight sports f2.8 may not even cut it. For sports like basketball/volleyball Id want f2.0 or faster.the combination of fast glass and reach is A) really expensive B) heavy
Budget.
Long lenses are priceyI just bought a Canon 70-200 F4 IS lens for my Rebel XTi and I love it… super fast and works great for this camera dummy. Eventually I want to get a Canon 400-500 mm lens, if I can find a really good deal on a used one.
I will be using it on a couple different bodies.
I already have the 70 200 2.8.
My main body for baseball games will be the 1d Mark iiN (until I get the mark III) I have seen the 400 5.6 in action and it is a great piece of glass for sure, just thought I would check around and get some opinions before I buy. I am also very interested in the 500 F4, there again, wanted to hear from somebody besides the other photographers at the ballgames who want to sell a 500 f4 :).Jarrod,
I bought the 70-200mm f/4 this spring. My first long lens for my XTi. I went cheap and skipped the IS (it also adds a ton of weight). Here are some shots from my month long Montana trip this summer. The bear was about 100-125 yds away which will give you an idea of the reach. The West Yellowstone rodeo shot was only about 40-50 yds. And, the moose was maybe only 20 yds.
I have the 400 5.6.
Cost was the limiting factor between any long prime with IS and the 400 5.6 for me. Obviously..
That I didn’t need the zoom and max sharpness being why I chose the prime over the 100-400. I’m second guessing that now… The lack of IS is a big deal for someone who loves to shoot long most of the time. Why they don’t add a 400mm IS version is mind boggling. I’m sure it’s to get more folks to drop $5000 on the 500…
If I were in that market with moderate amounts of money I think I’d be looking hard at the 300 2.8 IS and some TC’s. I’d probably still keep the 400 forever.
A few of the 400 (this board compresses them pretty bad)
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