Canon 100-300mm f/5.6 Macro FD Manual Focus Lens

New Hampshire · Apr 7, 2007

Ok, I am kind of "window shopping" the used sections of Adorama and B+H looking for a zoom telephoto lens and came across a [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Canon Zoom Telephoto 100-300mm f/5.6 Macro FD Manual Focus Lens . I am wondering if anyone has experience with this lens. What I want it for is basically wildlife photography (right now mostly birding) and probably used over a set up situation (bird feeder) so it would be tripod mounted. I am willing to sacrafice Autofocus and image stabilization for budget restraints to get better glass. It will be going on a Canon Elan 7NE 35mm.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Brian[/FONT]

Kingpatzer · Apr 7, 2007

I don't . . .but from what I saw on B&H it looks like it's $249. For $100 more you can get a Canon 300mm f/4.0 L FD Manual Focus Lens on that same used site.

The L glass will be much better, and the f/4 will make a HUGE difference as most birds are most active in the morning and evening -- when light is lower.

On the flip side, for $100 less you can get a Canon 300mm f/5.6 FD Manual Focus Lens.

The possible reason to go for the $149 300mm f/5.6 FD is that as a prime lens it will be smaller and lighter than the zoom. There will also be fewer elements so you'll get less color aberration. Both of those mean better pictures over the zoom.

The reason to go for the $350 L f/4 are superior glass and a full f-stop better aperture.

The only thing the 100-300 f/5.6 has going for it is zoom -- but for wildlife use, again, anything under 300mm is rarely used.

Birds are small. Even at only 10-15 yards away they will not take up much of the screen space at 300mm. You won't use this lens except at the full focal length for birds.

For bird photography the 100mm-290mm range isn't that useful. So I think this lens is a bad buy for your stated use. You're either paying $100 too much for what you want to do -- or you're skimping on $100 for superior glass.