70-200l series

[EandSphotography]

I'm thinking of buying the f2.8 IS 70-200L but i have a few questions i'd like some advice on. Since i cant seem to find a 200-400L lens by canon with a f2.8 i was thinking of just buying a 2x extender for this one but of course i lose 2 stops. What i'm kinda confused about is looking at the chart for the extender it shows the f stop at 5.6 - 64. If it changes the f stop from 2.8 when the lens is at 70mm (actually 140 with the extender) will the fstop stay the same when it's zoomed out to 200 (actually 400) since the original lens is a fixed f-stop?

My other choice would be of course to just buy another lens instead of the extender to give me that distance. Such as the ef100-400 f4/5.6 IS
Obviously the f stop is going to go to 5.6 at 400mm, but that may be better then using the extender on the 70-200.

Any info would be great.

Thanks,
Erik

 

[AlexColeman]

Yes.

 

[EandSphotography]

yes? the fstop would stay the same thruout the zoom? or yes, the 100-400 would be a better choice?

 

[Montana]

Yes, the f/stop stays the same on the 70-200 throughout the zoom range.

And in my opinion, the 100-400 would be a better choice. I have a 2x teleconverter, and only carry it for emergencies, such as needing to pawn it for beer money. In other words, I am not willing to sacrifice that much image quality to get a shot.

 

[Derrel]

If you want a longer lens, buying a 100-400-L would be the better solution for higher image quality than using a 2x on the 70-200-L zoom.

When using a 2x on a 70-200, there is the loss of two f/stops' worth of aperture at every focal length...you'll have a 140mm f/5.6 and a 400mm f/5.6, and you'll get compromised optical quality at every single focal length when the converter is on the 70-200. For instance, if you want to use any focal lengths from 70mm to 200mm, it would be best to have NO converter on the 70-200mm lens, rather than leave the converter in place and use shorter focal length settings.

The 100-400 L is a pretty popular lens, with a well-earned reputation for portability and capability.

 

[DemonAstroth]

If only I could find one for under 1200!

 

[Overread21]

I agree if you want to get to 400mm its best to go for a 100-400mm L or a 300mm f4 + 1.4TC (making an f5.6 420mm) or a 400mm f5.6 L All are around the same price bracket

A 70-200mm f2.8 IS L + 2*TC making a 140-400mm f5.6 IS L does suffer at the long end of the zoom and because of the loss of light and sharpness its best to shoot only in good lighting where you can stop down to say f8 and try and pull back some of the sharpness (whilst also using a low ISO). In addition you can get a better image out of this if you use a pro end camera body - otherwise lower end camera bodies do tend to perform worse with this setup.
An example - taken on a 400D - with 100% crops is in the link below. Not the most ideal light I admit, but I did use flash to give a boost to lighting
little birds photos test - a set on Flickr

It does however work very well with a 1.4Teleconverter - giving a 95-280mm f4 IS L lens with very little loss to overall image quality - and in the best of cases you can hardly tell the teleconverter has been added. However whilst its a good combo for a zoo or widlife centre for wildlife and getting the reach it does tend to fall short when compared to the other longer glass options.

Canon have announced a new 70-200mm f2.8 IS L Version 2 - however its new price is more than double that of the existing lens. Its also not on the market yet so release price plus a few months might lower the price down a little but its still going to be in the high ranges at the very least. Further I have no idea if it will give a significant boost to image quality with the combo to warrent the cost of upgrading. For long glass there are better options.

 

[AliasPros]

I have the 70-200 f/2.8 L and have the 1.4 extender in my BH shopping cart right now, good reviews on there... for the money and for some sports shooting what do you all say yay or nay? The other L is out of my price range this month...