400mm Canon / Canon Fit

Mel_P

Mel_P

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Hi - I have the 70 -300 mm DO IS USM lens which is an excellent travel lens and has suited me till now. Like most people I find that 300mm is a bit short for birds, wildlife, etc and am looking to extend to 400mm.

I am attracted by the canon 400mm f/4 DO lens (+extender) but at £5.2k this is a big investment for half a dozen uses a year.

Any other (not TOO heavy) suggestions, canon or otherwise, please at a lower price level (£1-2k)

(I have a Canon 5dMKIII + access to a 7D)
Thanks, mel
 
Canon 400mm f5.6 is a superb lens. Nice and compact for a 400mm and not too heavy.
£700-800 second hand.

Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 which can be used with a TC to give 420mm f4 (using a 1.4TC on FF)
£800 upwards second hand

Canon 300mm f2.8 which can also be used with a TC as above. This is the best lens I have ever owned, but maybe be a bit pricey for your budget.
£2500 upwards second hand.
 
wippers said:
Canon 400mm f5.6 is a superb lens. Nice and compact for a 400mm and not too heavy.
£700-800 second hand.

Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 which can be used with a TC to give 420mm f4 (using a 1.4TC on FF)
£800 upwards second hand

Canon 300mm f2.8 which can also be used with a TC as above. This is the best lens I have ever owned, but maybe be a bit pricey for your budget.
£2500 upwards second hand.
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I would agree with this.
 
I think you'll be manual focus with the teleconverters down at f/8, although best to ask the Canon experts. I think the older 1D bodies would autofocus, but not sure about the 5D MKIII. If you need 500mm of reach look at the Sigma 150-500 or 50-500.
 
Laudrup said:
I think you'll be manual focus with the teleconverters down at f/8, although best to ask the Canon experts. I think the older 1D bodies would autofocus, but not sure about the 5D MKIII. If you need 500mm of reach look at the Sigma 150-500 or 50-500.
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The 5d mk iii will autofocus at f8 with the new firmware
 
Thanks for info Laudrup/ itsme93 :) - I will have a look at Sigma lenses this evening - up to now have stuck with Canon.

Mel
 
Bigma or the 100-400L I would suggest, if using the 100-400L invest in an EX Extender 1.4x as that will also help an awful lot!
 
[QUOTE=m.

I am attracted by the canon 400mm f/4 DO lens (+extender) but at £5.2k this is a big investment for half a dozen uses a year.

I am quite a fan of the 400DO, just bought a 2nd hand one and these are available at around £3000-£3600, mine is a 2010 lens and I've been using it on its own and with a 1.4 extender.
Don't be put off by claims the lens isn't sharp, that's rubbish and although it does lack contrast slightly, a tweak in photoshop sorts that out.

Easily hand held as well, lighter than the 300 2.8.

With the 1 Dx and the extender, it's fine, with the 7D on it s own also results are good.

I found the 400 5.6 a bit slow to AF, and lack of IS also was a pain, but it's cheap.

Don't know where you live, but if it's near me (unlikely!!) you are welcome to come and try it out.

George.
 
Flightphoto said:
Bigma or the 100-400L I would suggest....
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Make sure you are happy with the push/pull focusing on the 100-400. Not everyone like this, me included.

George said:
I found the 400 5.6 a bit slow to AF, and lack of IS also was a pain, but it's cheap.
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I had a 400/5.6 and found that the AF was absolutely spot on and plenty fast enough. Have a look on my website. Many of the aviation stuff was with this lens. In fact my sharpest ever aviation shot was with this lens.
I worried about the lack of IS initially, but with high shutter speeds generally needed for both birds and aviation, it's not really a necessity. :thumbs:
 
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Yea, Gareth, a lot of people like the 400 5.6, and it certainly is a nice light lens, just didn't suit me.
 
Gareth's right about the push pull, especially when taking photos of aircraft and birds as it gets a bit knackering on your arm if you have no tripod!
 
I had a Canon 100-400 L and I didn't mind the push/pull zoom as I found it natural to work but it's not for everyone. I then got a Sigma 150-500 OS for my aviation and wildlife shooting and it's a cracking lens. It's not the lightest of lenses but it's a damn good lens for IQ and the OS system is fantastic. Mine's sharp wide open and even better when stopped down to f8. It's my most used lens throughout the summer and it's usually connected to one of my bodies.

I've recently started using a Canon 70-200 f2.8l IS MkII and a MkIII 2x converter as an alternative on the other body when necessary and I've been getting some great results from that on my 5D3. If you want to have a look at my Flickr at some of the results, most of the aircraft and wildlife shots on there have been with my Sigma.
 
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modchild said:
I had a Canon 100-400 L and I didn't mind the push/pull zoom as I found it natural to work but it's not for everyone. I then got a Sigma 150-500 OS for my aviation and wildlife shooting and it's a cracking lens. It's not the lightest of lenses but it's a damn good lens for IQ and the OS system is fantastic. Mine's sharp wide open and even better when stopped down to f8. It's my most used lens throughout the summer and it's usually connected to one of my bodies.

I've recently started using a Canon 70-200 f2.8l IS MkII and a MkIII 2x converter as an alternative on the other body when necessary and I've been getting some great results from that on my 5D3. If you want to have a look at my Flickr at some of the results, most of the aircraft and wildlife shots on there have been with my Sigma.
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How do you rate the 2x mk3 TC with the 70-200mk2 Stuart ?
 
Tugster said:
How do you rate the 2x mk3 TC with the 70-200mk2 Stuart ?
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I've been using the 1.4 mk3 TC and 70-200 mk2 a lot, and it is absolutely excellent...AF seems not to suffer and IQ excellent also.
I find with the 2x af's a bit slower and hunts more, but iq still very acceptable.

Worth calibrating with FoCal, however, Tug.
 
Tugster said:
How do you rate the 2x mk3 TC with the 70-200mk2 Stuart ?
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I'm quite liking it TBH. I still get a very fast AF with it and although there's a hit on IQ it's not bad enough to make me stop using it in the future. I tried it out in the park the other day and got these and many more with equal IQ. These were all taken handheld at f5.6 and I've got a good few more stopped down to f8 that are sharper. After looking through the files I got from my 5D2 and 100-400 L there doesn't seem to be a great difference in IQ. It'll make a great backup to my Sigma 150-500 OS on the times I need 2 long lenses. These shots have only had minimal PP as I haven't had time to do much else but a crop and then chucked on Flickr.

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George said:
I am quite a fan of the 400DO, just bought a 2nd hand one and these are available at around £3000-£3600.......Don't be put off by claims the lens isn't sharp, that's rubbish and although it does lack contrast slightly, a tweak in photoshop sorts that out.
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Same as you George, I bought a secondhand 400 DO and I love it. I honestly don't understand why people are so dismissive of them when you get 400mm with that extra stop of light, they're easily portable and also very sharp. Yes, they're expensive but that's quite a package you get in return. I would avoid a very early model though. Mines a Nov 2006 and it's wonderful.

Edit:- I occasionally use it with a 1.4x Kenko 300 pro DGX and the IQ does not degrade noticeably.
 
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George said:
I've been using the 1.4 mk3 TC and 70-200 mk2 a lot, and it is absolutely excellent...AF seems not to suffer and IQ excellent also.
I find with the 2x af's a bit slower and hunts more, but iq still very acceptable.

Worth calibrating with FoCal, however, Tug.
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modchild said:
I'm quite liking it TBH. I still get a very fast AF with it and although there's a hit on IQ it's not bad enough to make me stop using it in the future. I tried it out in the park the other day and got these and many more with equal IQ. These were all taken handheld at f5.6 and I've got a good few more stopped down to f8 that are sharper. After looking through the files I got from my 5D2 and 100-400 L there doesn't seem to be a great difference in IQ. It'll make a great backup to my Sigma 150-500 OS on the times I need 2 long lenses. These shots have only had minimal PP as I haven't had time to do much else but a crop and then chucked on Flickr.

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8720235122_e144ddd2c1_b.jpg
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Thank you for your real world reviews, I've just purchased a second user x2 mk3 so I'll give it a whirl next week on the 70-200 and also my new 400.. I'm quite optimistic about it. The 1.4 mk3 is excellent, I hope the x2 is similar on my kit.

I have Focal George so may give it a try with the different combinations, how long does it take ?

Oops sorry, taking the thread off topic.
 
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Just to finish on the Focal Tug, with a 1 Dx it's longer as it's not totally automatic, and I found the 1.4 and 2x extenders gave less accurate results, but still an improvement which was worthwhile.
 
WilliamC said:
Nice idea but I have a feeling it won't be a very big club!
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Well, William, not to hi jack the thread, but it is relevant, I wonder how many people have this lens?

Think I might start a new thread!
George.
 
George said:
Well, William, not to hi jack the thread, but it is relevant, I wonder how many people have this lens?
Think I might start a new thread!
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It is relevant although reading the above perhaps discounted on cost.

I'm up for a new thread! It'd be interesting to compare opinions and photos from those who actually have the 400 DO.
 
Always thought the 400 f/4 was a strange lens. From its pricing to the lack of contrast it looked a bit of a lame duck from Canon, which is surprising given their supertele R&D must be second to none. A used 300 f/2.8 IS with both extenders would be about the same price and much more versatile. That's the lens I went for.
 
OK, well I'll start a new thread just now....
 
WilliamC said:
It is relevant although reading the above perhaps discounted on cost.

I'm up for a new thread! It'd be interesting to compare opinions and photos from those who actually have the 400 DO.
Click to expand...

New thread started...
 
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