Which Canon Telephoto?

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I have a 7D and 2 lenses, namely the Canon EF-S 15-85MM F3.5/5.6 IS USM and the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM.

I want a telephoto that will get me in close and personal with wildlife / birds long before they take flight because I am in their personal space :suspect:

I can go to about £1k so what should I be considering;

New/Used
Prime telephoto
Tele zoom
200mm plus a 1.4x or 2x extender or should I go for 400mm.

Your thoughts and recommendations welcome.

Cheers.
 
You have a few choices available to you in that budget

Canon 100-400mm L IS
Canon 300mm F4 L IS + 1.4x
Canon 400mm F5.6 L
Sigma 50-500mm OS
or a bit cheaper - Sigma 150-500mm OS

I've had the 100-400mm and that is a cracking lens, but the zoom range makes it a bit of a compromise (Slow, not as sharp as a prime). Since tried the Sigma 120-300mm and while I love the lens, it never feels 'long' enough for wildlife. I now use a 300mm F4 and also a 1.4x converter when needed.

I would steer clear from the 70-200mm + 2x idea - most 70-200mm lenses are poor when used with a converter.
 
The Holy Grail for the birds is the 400/5.6. Have a search for that lens and you will pull up loads of threads on it. You can pick one up new for a smidge over £1000. The other alternative for a prime is the 300/4 IS. This was my choice as it will take a TC and get to 420mm with little loss in quality. A similar price new. This has IS, which many die hard bird togs will tell you that isn't needed for birding as you have a quick shutter speed.

The other canon alternative is the 100-400 IS. This is their best telephoto, some like it, others not so. It has a push / pull zoom which takes a little getting used to. I used to have one of these, and always got on with the zoom.

The primes are sharper than the 100-400 at the wide end. Only you can decide whether you would prefer a prime to a telephoto. I did the change and am pleased that I did. The other cosideration for me over the 300 and 400 was the minimum focusing distance. With the 400 it's about 2 miles (well, quite a way :D) which wasn't going to work for me as I use the 300 on butterflies and dragonflies. I needed a far shorter minimum focusing distance. Another idea is that the 300 takes extension tubes nicely, so that you can really fill the frame with smaller critters.

Hope that helps.
 
Mainly posting in here as this is very relevant to my interests so I want to be able to find it easily again :)

I had a play with a 400 f5.6 recently which was very nice and very manageable hand-held.

Also saw it in action with a set of tubes on which seemed to make it a very capable lens for butterflies/dragonflies etc still giving a massive working distance.
 
The 100-400 L is a very good lens combined with the 7D, and the 300 F4 with the 1.4 TC is on an even keel with it.
On the whole it's down to, do you want / feel you need the extra flexibility of the zoom? over the prime?

I went for the zoom and to be honest it's my most used lens, I love it to bits.

Which ever way you go, soon enough you'll be thinking 400mm isn't long enough either :shake: But that's a whole other kettle of cat food ;)
 
Sigma 150-500 is a great birding lens, excellent value and also with a 1.4 and 2x although manual focus with those attached.

500mm
http://SPAM/c3whur/feb/Img_1663.jpg

with 2x
http://SPAM/c3whur/mar/Img_1986.jpg
 
Another vote for the 300 F4 IS and as others have said it'll take a 1.4 TC as well if needed
 
In general with any sort of wildlife I suppose the longer the FL the better (most times). But yet another vote for the 300mm f/4 and a 1.5x TC.

It's sharper than a 100-400 zoom (I don't care... it is :) ) I'll agree not as versatile. But you'd have 300 f/4, 420 f/5.6 and it's not a heavyweight to cart around.

Of course if money was no object and I could have a sherpa to carry it about for me I'd go for a 400mm f/2.8... but short of a lottery win I can't see that happening any time soon.

cheers
 
It's looking like the general consensus is towards Canon 300mm F4 L IS + 1.4x.

I will watch the for sale section on the forum for a while. Failing any good clear examples on there I will hit the dealers.

Thanks for the help folks.

M.
 
We just got the new 50-500mm OS for my wife. Fantastic lens even open wide and the stabilization is much more quiet and less intrusive than the one on the 150-500mm.

Fantastic lens, would surely recommend it over the Canon 300mm f/4 for birding and I have tried most telephotos available (including the Canon 300mm f4 IS, Canon 300mm f4, Canon 400mm 5.6, Canon 300mm 2.8, Canon 400mm 2.8m, Sigma 120.400mm, Sigma 150-500mm, Sigma 120-300mm, Sigma 100-300mm, Tokina 300mm 2.8 and quite a few more!)

Reason you do not get as many votes for it is that it is a very new lens and few people have owned it.
 
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I use a 150-500 Sigma on my Pentax and I am very pleased with it. It's not pin sharp at F6.7 at 500mm , but stop it down a couple of clicks and the results for a £750 lens are remarkable. Well worth checking out.:thumbs:

I have the 100-400 for my 50D and it is not as clear cut as I expected as to which produces the better image, especially at the long end.
 
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If you're happy using a prime rather than a zoom then the 300 f4 IS is a fabulous lens and £1000 will get you a really good used lens plus a 1.4x converter.

I traded mine for a 70-200 2.8 but ONLY because I wanted the flexibility of a zoom - the 300 was a superbly sharp piece of glass
 
I have both the Canon 100-400mm and the 400mm. Was recently able to compare both at Gigrin Farm (Red Kites) and as expected, the 400mm is sharper than the 100-400mm.
I personally don't like the 100-400mm push-pull zoom... However it's a very versatile lens with the the addition of IS - which I use a lot for non birding applications..
Neither are much use for low light birding as I recently discovered when photographing Barn Owls, as rather slow. This has also stopped me looking at the Sigma 50-500mm/150-500mm as
they are even slower, plus it's pot luck if you get a good copy it appears....

John
 
I used to have the Sigma 150-500mm and found it too slow to focus and very soft. I now have the Canon 300mm F4 IS and it's super sharp, although mine's quite a noisy b****r.

Absolutely love it, and as has been said, it's not too heavy. Not tried it with my 1.4TC yet.
 
I was looking at the Sigma offerings but reports put me off and steered me back to Canon options. There are some significant different prices amongst the UK dealers so I guess a few phone calls on Monday should secure a decent discount :-)

M.
 
Definitely the 400 f5.6

Kerso has them at the moment for £949 and that's the chaepest I've seen them lately from a reputable source
 
Greywolf said:
Definitely the 400 f5.6

Kerso has them at the moment for £949 and that's the chaepest I've seen them lately from a reputable source
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Forgive the ignorance but I have not dealt with Kerso before. Are these UK spec Canon original kit, thats an amazing price given that I have not even seen the 300 at that price?
 
micloi said:
We just got the new 50-500mm OS for my wife. Fantastic lens even open wide and the stabilization is much more quiet and less intrusive than the one on the 150-500mm.

Fantastic lens, would surely recommend it over the Canon 300mm f/4 for birding and I have tried most telephotos available (including the Canon 300mm f4 IS, Canon 300mm f4, Canon 400mm 5.6, Canon 300mm 2.8, Canon 400mm 2.8m, Sigma 120.400mm, Sigma 150-500mm, Sigma 120-300mm, Sigma 100-300mm, Tokina 300mm 2.8 and quite a few more!)

Reason you do not get as many votes for it is that it is a very new lens and few people have owned it.
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Sorry for going O/T, but WTF is going on with your avatar :D

Seriously though, you've tried all those lenses and the 50-500 beats them all :eek:
That is somewhat shocking.........

I'm going for a new zoom soon, and this thread has opened my eyes a bit.
 
iPhoto said:
Forgive the ignorance but I have not dealt with Kerso before. Are these UK spec Canon original kit, thats an amazing price given that I have not even seen the 300 at that price?
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Kerso's lens come from the US, but they are covered by Canon International warranty if there's a problem, so you can send back to Canon UK. Ian is a really top bloke and will help you out if ever needed. His receipts are UK and are absolutely accepted by Canon as the real mcoy.
 
Mike.P said:
Interesting, thought you were going to say the Canon lens walked all over the Sigma.
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Hi Mike.

Don't get me wrong, it may well do so yet.

Thus far though, the 150-500 has had all the advantages. It has the extra length, I have had it for about 18 months so I know how to get the best out of it and I have had it out in the sunshine (remember that?).

The 100-400 has shown some flashes of excellence, but it is not a faultless sinecure though.
 
I have bought a Canon 7d and a 300 IS F4+1.4 converter from Kerso, great price and excellent service. He is very well thought of on this forum and one member had cause to make use of the warranty and had no problems at all.
 
Thanks for the advice and the heads up on using Ian at Kerso.

The order has gone to Ian for the Canon EF 300mm F4.0 L IS USM lens, Canon EF 1.4X II and a HOYA 77mm UV Filter :-)

This forum is both informative and a saving on the bank balance :-)

M.
 
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iPhoto said:
Thanks for the advice and the heads up on using Ian at Kerso. I have found he is very prompt and helpful on the email no matter what time of the day or night :-)

The order has gone to Ian for the Canon EF 300mm F4.0 L IS USM lens, Canon EF 1.4X II and a HOYA 77mm UV Filter :-)

This forum is both informative and a saving on the bank balance :-)

M.
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A fine combo it is too, my 300mm F4 IS is definitly the best long lens I have owned to date.

Although not sure this forum will be counted as a saving by many. How often do people spend more than their initial budget base don advice, reviews and samples posted here :lol:
 
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