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Long lense for wildlife etc
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Hi guys
I need to buy a new longlense
I have two main uses, wildlife type stuff, and longer general stuff, like parties etc.
I use a canon eos 350d.
I have been looking around at all the different options and have come up with one or two i like
1. canon efs 70-200 L is & 1.4 extender – its an f4 lense so means it will go down to f5.6 with the extender, but will give me a focal length of around 450 or so.
2. Sigma 70-200 f2.8 & 2 * extender – longer focal length but no image stablisation
3 canon 100-400 L is – longish focal length & image stablisation but f5.6 to start with
4. canon 300 L f4 & 1.4 extender – not sure if this will give me the flexibility
so what do you think,what do you guys use
I have about 1500 euros or so to spend and just looking for a flexible and cost effective option
thanks in advance
steve
Steve,
One other option to consider would be the “Bigma”.
Thats the Sigma 50-500 and I think it would be within your budget.I have the canon 100-400, love it and can’t fault it, the IS is a god send, can shoot a silly shutter speeds at 400mm, actually its 640mm on the 20D sensor. I’ll be posting a shot i took today of a dipper with my lens, shot at 1/60 f5.6, hand held and it’s perfectly sharp.
Not sure if the 1.4x will be of any use, i tried it with my 100-400 and my 20D and it wouldn’t auto focus, tried it on a 1D body and it worked perfect, so i’m looking forward to the day when i can afford a 1D.
Trouble with wildlife photography is you can never get close enough and your normally working at the limit of your lens, my dream kit is a 600mm f4, a 1D body, 1.4x and 2x extenders. Extenders are fine to a point but when you can get a lens to do the same job i’d go for the lens. Try one to see if it works on the your camera with whatever lens you decide to buy first.I have the Bigma 50-500mm, it’s a heavy beast at 4.1lbs but it’s a great lens at 100-500mm range, sharp and quick to focus but not as fast as some the fixed aperture lens.
It’s also going to be significantly cheaper that it’s main rival, the Canon 100-400mm L.
The Bigma is ?1199 and the Canon 100-400 is ?2050 at Conn’s Cameras.i use a 70-200 l 2.8 i know its a faster lens that what ur looking at, but i would definately opt for this format lens, even in the f4 range with the extender, jack up ur iso todays cameras deal well with the noise levels and its a very usable lens for every day stuff. its the most used lens in my pack without a doubt, and ive spoken to a lot of pros that feel the same way, its extremely versatile.
If it was me I would go for the 100-400… its a very nice lens to use (having tried a friends for a while)… IS is a lifesaver and the focal length would be good for other things apart from wildlife. If its purely wildlife I would go with the 300 F4 and 1.4x converter… I have exactly this combination and it works great on both 5D and 20D. Have a look at my cock pheasents over here….
https://www.photographyireland.net/viewtopic.php?t=2192
Top one was with th 5D, 300 and 1.4x while the bottom was with the 5D and 300 without converter…! I actually like the focal length better on the 5D than on the 20D and also think it focuses better on the 5D…!
Richie
freshphoto wrote:
i use a 70-200 l 2.8 i know its a faster lens that what ur looking at, but i would definately opt for this format lens, even in the f4 range with the extender, jack up ur iso todays cameras deal well with the noise levels and its a very usable lens for every day stuff. its the most used lens in my pack without a doubt, and ive spoken to a lot of pros that feel the same way, its extremely versatile.
not very good for wildlife though because even with a tele conv you wont be close enough!
If you want a lens for wildlife and that you could use for other things…go for the Canon 300 F4 IS (if you can’t find a 300 F2.8 second hand). I wouldn’t go with the Sigma because if you ever want to sell it, you won’t get the same money for it. The canon will hold most of it’s value. The canon is an awesome lens too…even with a 1.4x on it. I wouldn’t rate the 100-400 either…it’s a newspaper snapper type of lens. Isn’t the sharpest lens Canon have produced.
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