If you had the choice.. Canon 100-400mm or 300mm F4?

Raider · 31 May 2006 at 20:59

Having contacted a few sellers I thought I was alarmingly close to buying a Canon 100-400mm L IS.

Then on FM I read that a lot of people rate the 300mm F4 L IS above the 100-400mm F4-5.6 L IS. Now obviously the 300mm F4 is going to be better at 300mm than the zoom lens, but is the superior quality worth it at the expense of losing the zoom range?

For a few extra £s I can get the 300mm F4 + 1.4x convertor so I could have some flexibility if I really wanted to do some long range stuff.
But if the quality is pretty close then I'd be tempted to go for the all-in-one product.

But then again having F4 300mm rather than F5.6 300mm is pretty handy..
Arrrggg.. any opinions? Ta

morgan · 31 May 2006 at 21:02

i tried the 100-400 and i have to say i was very dissapointed - could have been a bad example but I was left with a frown. a 300F4 will be superior IMO. add a 1.4 and you have an awesome piece of kit...not as versatile, but in range it will be the business

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 31 May 2006 at 21:02

Ive been getting pretty ****** off with my 100 - 400 lately. If I needed a zoom range then i'l love it.

Cant really comment on the 300 (does the F4 have IS ? If so prob get that)

Sorry to hijack your thread but I was gonna make one anyway.. Is there a way to make the 100 - 400 more smoother to push and pull. its a ball ache when your zoomed in at 400 and need to zoom out when panning something ?

SDK^ · 31 May 2006 at 21:05

What will you be using the lens to photograph ?

Raider · 31 May 2006 at 21:05

The 300mm F4 does have IS yeah.

The push-pull thing does sound a bit strange.. is it that odd to use? :confused:

I'm a bit worried about having nothing in my bag between 50mm and 300mm. Guess I'd need to get something not too pricey to plug the gap.

Raider · 31 May 2006 at 21:08

SDK^ said:
What will you be using the lens to photograph ?

Well a mixture of things. But mainly wildlife and other outdoor stuff that I might be shooting whilst out walking etc..

I don't do anything like motorsport or airshows, but generic medium range useage would be good.

SDK^ · 31 May 2006 at 21:09

If it's mainly wildlife then go for the 300mm F4 IS and 1.4x extender

Raider · 31 May 2006 at 21:12

SDK^ said:
If it's mainly wildlife then go for the 300mm F4 IS and 1.4x extender

In what situation would you recommend the 100-400mm then? Just thinking of my current Sigma 75-300mm when I'm out an about, I either use it in the 75-100mm range for portrait stuff, or 300mm for distant stuff.

So maybe a 100mm prime would supplement the 300mm nicely.

Matt · 31 May 2006 at 21:15

Personally i'd get the 300mm F4. I wasn't really 'that' impressed by the 100-400 i had

Primes are cooler anyway

SDK^ · 31 May 2006 at 21:20

Raider said:
In what situation would you recommend the 100-400mm then?

The short end of 100-400L is sometimes useful for Motorsport when you are close to the track and need to zoom out.

Other than that you'll always be a max length.

dod · 31 May 2006 at 21:46

morgan said:
i tried the 100-400 and i have to say i was very dissapointed - could have been a bad example but I was left with a frown. a 300F4 will be superior IMO. add a 1.4 and you have an awesome piece of kit...not as versatile, but in range it will be the business

Could have been a bad example, here's mine at 400 F5.6

resize and smartsharpen for the first, no processing on the 100% crop. A 300mm F4 should be slightly sharper but I'm not sure how much benefit you'd see day to day. I actually like the push/pull, I find it faster than the twist type. No problems with dust either.

Dfhaii · 31 May 2006 at 21:47

I'd definatly go for the 300 F4 IS, though I may be biased as I don't own any zooms. It'll be quicker, higher quality, nicer to use etc. If you need a something in the middle and have some coin to spare then a 135 f/2.8 and 200 f/2.8 would be nice, or there is the Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 (cheaper than the Canon f/2.8 version).

Everyone loves primes.
Col

dod · 31 May 2006 at 21:57

Dfhaii said:
Everyone loves primes.
Col

Only prime I like is my macro, otherwise it's zooms all the way, far more flexibility and less chance of dust when you're faffing about changing lenses. I actually just bought the 50mm again recently and I'd forgotten how much I hated it. Horrible thing.

SDK^ · 31 May 2006 at 22:57

I love my 100-400L IS but Wildlife always demands maximum focal length so why buy something that is heavier, slower and not as sharp when you'll rarely (if ever) use the shorter focal lengths.

If you need a wildlife lens and are on a tight budget then the 300mm F4L IS is a no brainer !!

Sleepyd · 31 May 2006 at 23:14

If it were me parting with the cash it'd be the 300mm F4L everytime.