Canon 300mm F4.0 IS

Eirebear

I have the opportunity of getting this lens fairly cheaply at the minute from an old friend, i was asking about a lens for sport before, and obviously i cant afford the F2.8 that i covet so much
Anyway the guy has never used it for sport so cant really give me any idea if its any good, and due to him being in Canada i cant really try before i buy...

Any advice, should i go for it?

soccerc

Eirebear wrote:

I have the opportunity of getting this lens fairly cheaply at the minute from an old friend, i was asking about a lens for sport before, and obviously i cant afford the F2.8 that i covet so much
Anyway the guy has never used it for sport so cant really give me any idea if its any good, and due to him being in Canada i cant really try before i buy...

Any advice, should i go for it?

I can't comment on Canon. I got the Nikon f4 300mm earlier this year solely for sports and would recommend it.

However, in poor light it struggles and under floodlights or indoors forget about it.

Eirebear

thimblefull wrote:

I can't comment on Canon. I got the Nikon f4 300mm earlier this year solely for sports and would recommend it.

However, in poor light it struggles and under floodlights or indoors forget about it.

Thanks Thimblefull, what would you use for these situations? I'm coming up to a stage where im going to have to evaluate (by evaluate i mean buy) lenses to cover every possible situation i can think of (landscape, portrait, sports, indoor, outdoor etc etc) so i cant go for the top price lenses all the time and im trying to figure out where my limits would be.

soccerc

Eirebear wrote:

Thanks Thimblefull, what would you use for these situations? I'm coming up to a stage where im going to have to evaluate (by evaluate i mean buy) lenses to cover every possible situation i can think of (landscape, portrait, sports, indoor, outdoor etc etc) so i cant go for the top price lenses all the time and im trying to figure out where my limits would be.

The f4 is now redundant in my kit, new home sought.

I've recently picked up two f2.8's, an 80-200mm and the 300mm along with a 1.8 50mm. These would be expected to fulfll all my present needs.

In addidtion I still have the 18-55 and 85-200 kit lenses I got with my first dslr a D50. The former can be handy in some situations but I don't expect to use it too often. The latter is now just taking up space in my bag though its small sie means it may yet come in handy.

It's only since I've begun to enjoy and take sports snapping more seriously that I felt the need to upgrade.

Borderfox

I shoot a lot of low light stuff and my bag is full of lenses that are f1.8 - f2.8. This covers all my bases. Lenses are Sigma 18-50 f2.8 (soon to be upgraded to a Canon 24-70 f2.8) Canon 85mm f1.8, Canon 50mm f1.8, Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS. This selection of lenses make up my core gear and cover everything I do. I would recommend any of these because when you go to wide unchanging aperture you generally get better quality.

Eirebear

At the moment...this may change after a little more research my lens quota will look something like this.

EFS 10-22mm
EFS 70-300mm F4-5.6
EF 300mm F4
EF 200mm F2.8
EF 100mm F2.8
EF 50mm F1.8
17-85 kit len which i actually really like using.

And a 1.4 ext.

The ones in bold i already have, so im really looking at the prime lenses for buying at the minute, and my funds should comfortably cover that.
I'm still not completely sure of my direction at the moment so im trying to keep a decent spread.
Can anyone suggest any additions (removals) from that list?
this is pretty much the extent of my budget so i cant go into the top end of the market too much.

Borderfox

Canon 135 f2. Personally I would get the 300mm f4 IS as it can be pretty handy and will take a 1.4x tc very well. Canon 17-40 f4 L. I would reccomend the 70-200 f2.8 IS as its a very versatile lens which can cover a lot of work.

Eirebear

Thanks, thats given me some food for thought, I know the 100mm 2.8 is a good portrait lens, would it be worth ditching that (or maybe the 200?) for the 135?

soccerc

The only bit of glass gear on my wish list now is the 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S but I think I'll have to wait for 25 Dec for that:D as my recent spending spree has come to an end.

Borderfox

From the reviews I have read and pictures I have seen from the 135 f2L I would make space for it. Have a look through the threads, some of the image links are broken but go a page further as all are real world images

Samples of the 135 f2L
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=105818

Samples of the 17-40 f4L
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=134756

Samples of the 300 f4 IS
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=163433

A good source for full size images of lenses examples
http://www.pixel-peeper.com/lenses/canon/

evilhomer

Borderfox wrote:

From the reviews I have read and pictures I have seen from the 135 f2L I would make space for it. Have a look through the threads, some of the image links are broken but go a page further as all are real world images

Samples of the 135 f2L
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=105818

Samples of the 17-40 f4L
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=134756

Samples of the 300 f4 IS
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=163433

A good source for full size images of lenses examples
http://www.pixel-peeper.com/lenses/canon/

Damn it BorderFox!!!

Those links are going to cost me a fortune now!

Borderfox

They are a pretty good source for real images to give you an idea what can be achieved. Sorry Evilhomer

evilhomer

Borderfox wrote:

They are a pretty good source for real images to give you an idea what can be achieved. Sorry Evilhomer

Yeah they look like a great source of images. It seems to scan the exif data on Flickr (the last link)

I wouldn't worry about the lens thing, I was bound to find an excuse at some stage

positron

Brilliant links Borderfox, thanks a million!!