Lens thoughts? Decisions. Canon l

[bobandcar]

Am starting to save for a good lens, I seem to always be at the longer end of my 75-300.
My thoughts are, and buying used

70-200l f4 and a 1.4 teleconverter
Or
A 300l f4

What are your thoughts.
The 70-200 is sopposed to be very sharp, is it by itself comparable to the 300? So when I add the converter it would be a little less sharp?

I understand the light loss with converter to. It is 1 stop correct?

 

[MLeeK]

What are you shooting? Which one would have more use for you?
The 300mm is a fixed lens and a VERY narrow one at that. Does it cover what you need most? Or would the versatility of the zoom cover more for you?

 

[Overread]

+1 to Mleek's post - you've got to expand on what you shoot, how you shoot and how you feel you're limited by the lens you have now. Both the 70-200mm f5 (+1.4TC) and the 300mm f4 L are very strong and great choices. Each is an ideal lens, but for different situations or styles. You've got to put your criteria on the table otherwise we simply won't be able to give you any specific feedback as to which might be the better choice.

 

[bobandcar]

I am sorry.
I shoot as an amatiur.
My current lens deos go to 300 but it seems that it's not sharp enough. I shoot a lot of birds which is why I looked at the 300. But at the same time I think that I would use the 70-200 as a walk around and add the tc when I go birding

The 70-200 and tc would be a little more price wise. But I think the versatility overrides the extra cost.

Are the 2 lenses comparable sharpness wise?
Even after adding the tc?

Working on a t3i currently and plan to keep it for awhile

 

[MLeeK]

Are you looking at the 70-200 f/4L used or new? What is your budget here?

 

[bobandcar]

Looking at everything used.

Not set in stone but like 1100 or so

 

[bobandcar]

Yes the 70-200 f4l

 

[MLeeK]

How about the 70-200 f/2.8 OS by Sigma for Canon? New right now I believe it's $1299 but used you can pick it up for about a grand. Outstanding lens.

 

[bobandcar]

How about the 70-200 f/2.8 OS by Sigma for Canon? New right now I believe it's $1299 but used you can pick it up for about a grand. Outstanding lens.

Would it still take a tc for the extra reach? And what about sharpness?

 

[MLeeK]

I have it and it's superbly sharp. Really a pretty amazing lens for the money. Yes, you can use it with the Canon TC's or the Sigma's. I don't know about the quality of the Sigma TC's as I have not really researched them in depth at all. I do know the 1.4x is the far better of the two from canon.

 

[MLeeK]

Here are a few things shot with the Sigma on a 7D
Just a snapshot from this summer:




For this image I was actually sitting in the stands so it is cropped quite a bit as well:


Full zoom, extremely high ISO with some noise removal:


Be sure to click into the images, the smaller sizes look softer than they are when TPF resizes.