Zoom lens advice

Huss

Huss

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Huss
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Hi all,

Well I am still very new to the forums here and haven’t posted much myself yet. But a big browser as there seems to be some fantastic photos and togs on here. Anyway I digress and the reason for my post is that I am after some helpful advice. I am really quite new to the whole photography scene (started in March) but have fallen in love with it all, with photography most definitely now becoming my main hobby.
I am currently the owner of a Canon 450D and I am looking to compliment it with a good quality zoom lens to go with my 50mm prime and kit lens. Given I have aspirations of shooting stock photography in the future, once I have the skill set. I want something that will grow with me.
So on to my options. I am in the very fortunate position of having a family member who works for Canon and so I can get access to a discount. What this means is that I could get either of these two lens
EF 70-300 mm F4-5.6USM IS
EF 70 – 200mm F4L
Here is where the problem starts, the difference between these two lens is only £50, which should mean that this is a no brainer and the L series Lens should be the way to go right? But I like the idea of IS on a zoom lens and the extra 100mm. I have heard image quality is comparable on the two but would welcome any feedback from real world users. Alternatively can anyone else suggest a viable alternate?
Thanks for taking the time to read my post and any help advice that can be dispensed.
 
I think you've nailed the decision making porcess yourself - do you want the long zoom (personally I never use my 70-300mm since I got the 70-200 L f/4), do you want IS (can't comment, none of my lenses have it) and do you want a faster aperture when it's zoomed (this is the one that does it for me...),

Think about the build quality too - the L glass is lovely.

My suggestion can only be based on my own situation - I have a 70-300 (non-IS) which I'm about to sell on since I never touch it now that I've got the 70-200 L f/4. It's great quality and incredibly fast to focus.
If you later decide that you still want the longer zoom then maybe see what your discount is on a 1.4x teleconvertor which would turn your L glass into a 280mm f/5.6

Only you know the type of shots you'll be taking and whether IS is required.
 
I went through a similar process, you need to decide if the extra 100mm is required. The IS is great - on the 70-300 IS it's the newer 2 position IS - 1 for both horiz & vert stabalisation, 2 for just vert - thus allowing you to pan with it.

The 70-200 is a very nice lens and a constant F4 throughout the range is a bonus.

A few questions to ask yourself:
What are you going to use the lens for and how close can you get to your subject (do you "need" the extra 200 + range)

I spoke to several people when I was trying to choose, they all rated both lenses and I don't think you'd be disappointed with either (y)

Sorry this perhaps doesn't really help :shrug: I found it a difficult decision
 
Thanks for the really prompt replies so far, keep them coming:)

As for uses, well I think I would use the zoom mainly for wildlife, so perhaps the extra zoom is needed. I guess I was expecting someone to say at just £50 extra for a L series lens the decision is clearer, but I guess not
 
Huss said:
Thanks for the really prompt replies so far, keep them coming:)

As for uses, well I think I would use the zoom mainly for wildlife, so perhaps the extra zoom is needed. I guess I was expecting someone to say at just £50 extra for a L series lens the decision is clearer, but I guess not
Click to expand...

The 70-200mm f4 or the 70-300mm f4-5.6 will be very limited for wildlife photography, unless you can get very close to the subject the focal length just isn't enough, even for zoo photography (need to focus beyond the cage) a better choice would be the 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 lens, but that will be the next step up in £££

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Canon-Lenses/Canon-Wildlife-Lens.aspx

Peter
 
I have the 70-300 IS on the 400D. (I am a little dissapointed with it at the long end but people on here are convincing me to be happy with it and stop looking for problems).

The IS on this lens is great, turning it on and off shows me just how unlikely I would be to get a hand-held shot at 300mm (I find it difficult to use a tripod shooting birds in my garden, need more practice as the blighters are just too fast for me!)

One thing to consider, is that the 70-300 IS lens is not compatible with extenders. The 70-200 L should be, should you require longer reach in the future, a 1.4x extender should be usable I believe.
 
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