I'm looking at buying a used canon L prime for sports and wildlife. I'm looking at keeping the price as close to or under $1300.
So I am thinking of a 300mm F4 and if I need extra I could get the 1.4 tele converter or a 400mm F5.6. I have both a 5D II and 7D bodies.
With your actual field use what lens do you prefer and why?
BTW I already have a 70-200mm F2.8 just incase someone suggests that.
Kaouthia
Posts: 3,080
Lancaster, England, United Kingdom
I can't speak for the Canons, but I find the Nikon 300mm f/4 to be the perfect length. It's 450mm equivalent on crop bodies (I guess 480mm for you on the 7D), and f/4 lets you get that stop faster on the shutter speed.
I originally got the lens about 8 or 9 years ago for shooting wild alligators, rattlesnakes & birds of prey in Florida. These days, I mostly use it for captive birds of prey hunting & with working dogs in the field.
Only sports I ever did with it was covering a couple of golf events, but that's hardly fast paced action.
Keep in mind if you're shooting daylight sports, the f5.6 is fine on a sunny day... I shot a lot of football and baseball at f8 and was still able to keep my speed at 1/800th or faster and the ISO at 400 or below.
If you want to start shooting sports indoors or night games under "High School" quality artificial light you'll definitely benefit from the faster lens.
Kaouthia wrote: I can't speak for the Canons, but I find the Nikon 300mm f/4 to be the perfect length. It's 450mm equivalent on crop bodies (I guess 480mm for you on the 7D), and f/4 lets you get that stop faster on the shutter speed.
I originally got the lens about 8 or 9 years ago for shooting wild alligators, rattlesnakes & birds of prey in Florida. These days, I mostly use it for captive birds of prey hunting & with working dogs in the field.
Only sports I ever did with it was covering a couple of golf events, but that's hardly fast paced action.
obviously you never saw a golfer get pissed and throw his bag into the lake. theres some action for you
Robert Jewett
Posts: 2,266
al-MarsÄ, Tunis, Tunisia
Just a random question...doesn't the 70-200 end up at 5.6 with a 2X teleconverter? You could try that and see if the 400 would be enough for what you do.
Kaouthia wrote: I can't speak for the Canons, but I find the Nikon 300mm f/4 to be the perfect length. It's 450mm equivalent on crop bodies (I guess 480mm for you on the 7D), and f/4 lets you get that stop faster on the shutter speed.
I originally got the lens about 8 or 9 years ago for shooting wild alligators, rattlesnakes & birds of prey in Florida. These days, I mostly use it for captive birds of prey hunting & with working dogs in the field.
Only sports I ever did with it was covering a couple of golf events, but that's hardly fast paced action.
They did not mean the pace of the action but the speed of the lens meaning aperture. When shooting in "dimly lit" arenas you need the fastest glass you can afford. Preferably f/2.8 and faster.
300mm f/4L is not much of a reach for some wildlife photography. It'll depend what sort you are going after. The advantage to the 300mm f/4L over the 400mm f/5.6L is versatility. Think of the 300mm plus 1.4x teleconverter as four lenses for you; whereas, the 400mm would be two if you want to keep autofocus.
300mm f/4L
On your 5dMkII, 300mm
5dMkII + 1.4x = 420mm
On the 7D (1.6 crop) = 480mm
7D + 1.4x = 672mm
400mm f/5.6L
once you put that teleconverter on, you lose autofocus. Thus,
5dMkII = 400mm
7D = 640mm
and while you can put on the teleconverter and manually focus, for sports and wildlife that is a difficult thing to do. Some people do it well, and some of us have become autofocus cripples.
photo212grapher wrote: 300mm f/4L is not much of a reach for some wildlife photography. It'll depend what sort you are going after. The advantage to the 300mm f/4L over the 400mm f/5.6L is versatility. Think of the 300mm plus 1.4x teleconverter as four lenses for you; whereas, the 400mm would be two if you want to keep autofocus.
300mm f/4L
On your 5dMkII, 300mm
5dMkII + 1.4x = 420mm
On the 7D (1.6 crop) = 480mm
7D + 1.4x = 672mm
400mm f/5.6L
once you put that teleconverter on, you lose autofocus. Thus,
5dMkII = 400mm
7D = 640mm
and while you can put on the teleconverter and manually focus, for sports and wildlife that is a difficult thing to do. Some people do it well, and some of us have become autofocus cripples.
That's what I was looking at also thank you
Since nobody has said anything about image quality I'm guessing they are similar
I have both the 300 2.8 and 70-200 2.8 (nikon) and I think the 300 is ok for most sports on a crop sensor body but use it with a 1.4 or 2x on FF.
If you go with a 300 f4 check for compatability with the Canon one as they can be lens specific (they may not fit some lenses do to design of the two items).
For sports and wildlife a 300 alone can be toos short, sometimes a 600 is too short too.
Now and Forever Photo wrote: I'm looking at buying a used canon L prime for sports and wildlife. I'm looking at keeping the price as close to or under $1300.
So I am thinking of a 300mm F4 and if I need extra I could get the 1.4 tele converter or a 400mm F5.6. I have both a 5D II and 7D bodies.
With your actual field use what lens do you prefer and why?
BTW I already have a 70-200mm F2.8 just incase someone suggests that.
Cheers
I shoot both a full frame cameras and a couple cropped sensor cameras. My long lens is a 300mm f/2.8. One thing to remember there is no magnification factor only a crop factor. A crop sensor is not a poor mans 1.5x convertor.
My personal feeling is if you are shooting wild life like birds for example both lenses will not be good choices. For that type of shooting you need fast glass with a long reach. Both these lenses are slow. I would lean towards the 300 f/4 because it is faster, and with a the 1.4x convertor you will be getting a lens of 420mm f/5.6.
With the 5D II AF system you will not want a lens slower than f/5.6 mainly because the AF will not function well.
For sports, it depends on what you are shooting and when. To be blunt both these lenses are slow, but I would tend shoot the 300mm f/4. If you have to shoot at night you will really appreciate that faster glass. Also the shallower depth of field makes for better sports shots.
Kaouthia
Posts: 3,080
Lancaster, England, United Kingdom
Imageri by Tim Davis wrote: They did not mean the pace of the action but the speed of the lens meaning aperture. When shooting in "dimly lit" arenas you need the fastest glass you can afford. Preferably f/2.8 and faster.
Most sports in the UK is in the dimly lit outdoors, but sports isn't something I shoot often.
My two cents include:
Extenders do offer versatility, however they do result in lower IQ, especially away from the centre of the frame.
See the following comparison of Canon 400 f2.8 + 1.4 Extender versus Canon 600 F4
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Revi … &APIComp=0
From my experience with a crop sensor and a Tamron 200-400 F5.6, this range is perfect for general safari animal shots, but too short for birds. Also F5.6 can be really slow, so you need to push your ISO to above 800 in the bright sunny skies of South Africa.
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