Considering an upgrade instead of a new lens - 100-400mm vs 70-200mm f2.8 IS M2 +TC

I feel for you. I'm doomed now. I participated in a workshop this morning with Jennifer Wu ( Majestic Peak Images?fine art nature photography by Jennifer Wu ) . The Canon rep was there with multiple things to play with. After shooting mostly with my own equipment, I tried the 70-200 MK II. Although I avoided them most of the morning (for fear of serious glass envy), I broke down and shot a few heron shots with the 1D Mk IV, the 500/4, and the 1.4X TC ( http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll249/icassell/CI7E3219-Edit.jpg ). Now there is no way I will ever be happy with anything shorter than a 400 and I'm trying to find a truck that has the 500 falling off the back.

On a different tack, I also tried the new 17mm TS ... what a beautiful piece of glass!

YOU SUCK!!!! LIKE BIG TIME!!!!!!!!! :lol:

I am so waiting for the 1D MkIV to show up with big brown. D@#* I hate weekends.:confused:
:lmao:

Frankly, although I liked the 1D, I'm very happy with my 7D and don't really lust after the 1D body. On the other hand, that lens is to die for.

For sports I love the advantages the 1D gives. Not so much fps but in focusing ability in various ways.
 
1 neat shot
2 you FOOL! You should have stuck to something shorter - now you are truly doomed indeed ;)

ps if you find that truck please do keep an eye out for one with a spare 300mm f2.8 IS L falling off it as well.

and out of interest how did the workshop go - besides testing fancy shiny gear - and how was the Me 70-200mm?

Have a look here, i shop here

Canon Auto Focus - Aperture Photographic Tel. 020 7242 8681

I almost had a fit when I saw the price on the 800mm L -- till I saw the FD mount part! :lmao:

And I could sell the 70-200mm and afford that 2ndhand 300mm f2.8 instead of the M2 70-200mm -- its very very tempting, but I don't like losing that 70-200mm range as it would leave me just with my 150mm in that area - which isa good lens, but not as easy to focus+recompose with (the focus is so tricky at long distance when doing it manually) and its AF is nowhere near as fast.

Gah why can't there be easy answers!!
 
1 neat shot
2 you FOOL! You should have stuck to something shorter - now you are truly doomed indeed ;)

ps if you find that truck please do keep an eye out for one with a spare 300mm f2.8 IS L falling off it as well.

and out of interest how did the workshop go - besides testing fancy shiny gear - and how was the Me 70-200mm?

Have a look here, i shop here

Canon Auto Focus - Aperture Photographic Tel. 020 7242 8681

I almost had a fit when I saw the price on the 800mm L -- till I saw the FD mount part! :lmao:

And I could sell the 70-200mm and afford that 2ndhand 300mm f2.8 instead of the M2 70-200mm -- its very very tempting, but I don't like losing that 70-200mm range as it would leave me just with my 150mm in that area - which isa good lens, but not as easy to focus+recompose with (the focus is so tricky at long distance when doing it manually) and its AF is nowhere near as fast.

Gah why can't there be easy answers!!


Home | The National Lottery - home of Lotto, EuroMillions and Instant Wins :lmao: :mrgreen: :lmao: :lol:
 
but I do wonder if with the overall improvement it might not be an idea to sell my 70-200mm f2.8 IS L and upgrade to the new versio (the cost of upgrading not being much different to getting the 100-400mm when done with added sale money from my 70-200mm).

If this helps, I have the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II and just bought the 2x Extender. For my wholly amateur purposes the combo works extremely well. Below are some high school lacrosse pics taken on an overcast day with this combo on my 1D II:

l13.jpg


l4.jpg


l15.jpg


l18.jpg


l21.jpg


l22.jpg


l7.jpg


l23.jpg


Two of the moon with this same setup:

moon.jpg


moon2crop.jpg


And one Turkey Vulture taken with the lens/extender on my 5D:

w21.jpg


I was so far away from this thing that I still cannot believe I even got a shot this decent. For me, the combo is potent and I couldn't be happier with the setup.
 
Thanks CMT!
And someone has also done some comparisons of the 70-200mm M2 + 2*TC against the 100-400mm L
70-200 f/2.8 IS II + 2X TCII vs 100-400 Wide Open - Canon Digital Photography Forums

Honestly that along with the photography review site that shows comparison shots and I have to say I think I know what I'm doing! Going to wait and see how well the shots come out of the guys 350D (just incase the TC quality is a 1D trickery ;)) but the results look good enough in comparison and certainly very usable, even when wide open.

A single lens that does both tasks - adds almost nothing to my bag weight or bulk and will certianly be good enough to backup a 300mm f2.8 :) The only pains will be selling my lens and paying out as much for a 2ndhand 300mm f2.8 on the lens (but I could not lose my 70-200mm for hte 300mm, much as I like it 70-200mm is just too versatile and usefull a range to lose for me).
 
Honestly the more I read the more I think that if one were to get a good copy of both the 50-500mm and the 100-400mm the overall performance against each other would be pretty close - especailly if you stop each lens down to f8 at the long end which one would do idealy (its a zoom and at its weakest point so you'd want to avoid shooting wide open if you could).
I suspect until someone can do a comparative review with serveral versions of each lens (to ensure no variation manufacture is a problem) we won't get a clear answer on things, but I suspect if one gets a good copy of either lens one would not feel highly pressured to uprade to the other (though interestingly there are afew looking to shift from 100-400mm to the 50-500mm)
 
Don't you just wish you could go into a store with your camera, pull out a whole bunch of copies of each lens, and work through them to find the best?

I'm probably going to get the 400/5.6 -- there doesn't seem to be much disagreement that it's a great lens.
 
Assuming that the lack of optical image stabilization doesn't bother you, the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM does get good reviews.
 
Don't you just wish you could go into a store with your camera, pull out a whole bunch of copies of each lens, and work through them to find the best?


Mine lets me pretty much try out almost anything (well not the S2).... even let me walked around town with their demo M8 a few years ago. This is the advantage of building a relationship with a good local shop.
 
Mine lets me try stuff too. Unfortunately, even though they are a Sigma dealer, they don't stock much Sigma stuff and they have to order it. That means you're not able to try it first.
 
Well, I broke down and bought a used 400/5.6 from another bird photographer I know. He's fedEx'ing it on Monday. I figure that if I made the wrong choice, I can sell it for similar to what I paid for it.
 
I bet you you don't sell that lens! Heck I'd happily own it if given the option
 
I've seen a lot of images made with that particular copy. I asked him if he could ship me some of his talent in the box with the lens :) . The downside, since I've seen those images, is that I won't be able to blame the lens if my images aren't any good.
 

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