Wanting To Buy 300 Or 400mm Lens Are They Worth It?

[Benji&Cuddles]

Am thinking of getting a Canon 300mm or 400mm lens

for taking photos of Motor bike racing and sailing boats

at distance.

Has anybody used them if so do the photos still look good

with such a big Zoom.

If you have any photos to show that would be a great help.

Cheers

Edited October 16, 2009 by Benji&Cuddles

[Ripley]

I have a Canon 300mm - do you mean prime or zoom? The 300mm I have is a prime. I have only used it twice and mostly with a teleconverter which drops the aperture down to 5.6. It's a f/4 with IS in it. It's very sharp and I've managed a sharp enough shot hand holding it at 1/30 of a second (that wasn't intentional, I had left the settings on for a shot in good light and it was a grab shot). My pics are at home on the portable drive, I might be able to post one up tonight if you do mean the 300mm L prime and not a zoom.

Edited October 14, 2009 by Ripley

[Benji&Cuddles]

It is the zoom I am after as I will be on the beach

taking photo's of the Yacht's racing.

[Ripley]

OK, a few DOlers have the 100-400, I can't help you then.

[rubiton]

IF you get a 100-400mm get a monopod to hold it steady - slightest movement at extreme zoom with fuzz the image. Same rule applies to the 70-300 (or similar) if you are right at the extreme hold it very steady - hold your breathe - though hard it can be done without a monopod.

[kja]

Yes, the 100-400L is totally worth it. I love mine. It takes a little patience and practice at the long end hand holding but it's a great piece of glass!

[Ripley]

Take your pick

[Guest Tess32]

The 100-400mm is awesome

[kja]

Here's some fun I had with my 100-400L a while back -> Click Me.

[Benji&Cuddles]

I think I am sold

[polomum]

Pics with this lens on your site kja are FANTASTIC..........just wondering how this lens would work for polo pics (needs to be REALLY fast) Hoping when we sell our house to buy the 70-200 AFS 2.8 lens Nikon (my dream lens) but wondering if this lens would work ok.....have to do some googling to see if other 'lesser' photographers get good pics with action as well.......!!!!!!!! I guess sunny days would be a must for fast action pics with this lens????? Sorry to jump in on your thread Benji&Cuddles!!!!!

[polomum]

Just googled Tokina 80-400 as well......might suit you as well......haven't looked up prices etc Don't know if it's fast enough for polo but maybe motor sports would be ok........

Try this forum for Canon it talks about this lens above.......http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=206338

[kja]

The 100-400 will perform admirably for action shots. Of course, to freeze action with any lens you need to have a fast shutter speed. I find that shooting my doglets romping I like to be at 1/640ish or I miss nailing more frames.

Lots of light will mean you can keep the ISO down and your camera body is what dictates how high your ISO can go with acceptable results. Better bodies give you not only faster AF capabilities (and more accurate/wide spread/sensitive AF points) but better performance at higher ISOs so if you are doing a lot of shooting where these two factors are important it's a good investment to spring for a body that will give you the best chances for the results you want.

The 100-400L is used for all sorts of sports and action by amateurs and pros alike, so it can definitely do the job.

[Guest Tess32]

Just remember at 400mm it sucks up light like you wouldn't believe, so even on a brightish but dull day your ISO is going to be reasonably high.

[Ripley]

Just a question, are prime lenses sharpen than zooms - L ones I mean.

[kja]

Depends on who you believe on the ol' internet

And how much you want to pixel peep.

L lenses are excellent pieces of glass but they may not be perfect. In my humble experience a lot of the things that people mention like "softness in the corners" etc about any lens aren't noticeable unless you are really really going out of your way to look.

Often primes will have the edge against zooms because they do one thing and do it in the best way possible. We're talking about good quality primes here, not POSs.

Zooms have come a long way over even just the past few years. The L series and several of Canon's (and other brands) top quality non-L zooms are serious prime competitors while offering the flexibility of different focal ranges. There are plenty of very very good lenses that don't carry the L marking and companies are coming out with higher and higher quality all the time.

As with all things camera, it really depends on what your needs are and what "issues" might niggle you. Someone who rarely shoots wide open on bright days might not give a fig that a lens has a bit of CA fringing - for someone like me, that's a deal breaker most of the time. Someone who doesn't need 2.8 on their 70-200 lens will find the much cheaper and lighter 70-200 f4 is a superb lens that meets their needs the majority of the time.

Unfortunately for those looking at that magical 100-400 range, Canon's L is about the only serious contender. There are some that are pretty good in the range but there's still a good difference...for some, that difference might not matter, for others, it's worth it to drop the extra cash.

Edited October 18, 2009 by kja

[Ripley]

I used to have the 70-200 f/4 non IS L but no more and now have a 300mm f/4 IS L (prime). I've found it pretty sharp and still sharp enough with the 1.4 teleconverter, but not so great to track birds in flight when the teleconverter is attached, it clunks and doesn't lock focus as well, but on its own without the teleconverter (also an L, wouldn't put anything else on it), it's great. Love it.

eta: I've only tried it once on birds in flight with a teleconverter so I'll have to try it again when we next get out and about.

Edited October 18, 2009 by Ripley

[kja]

Yeah, TCs will really slow down focus and stuff