500mm F/4L II vs 600mm F/4L II

[thekingb]

I don't use the 16-35mm at all.

If I don't use a lens much at all in a 12 month cycle, I sell it. Now I have just four (although my wife seems to think I have 10). Makes it easier (both cash-flow and mentally) to fund that next big lens purchase? So what's mine going to be....I drool over the 500 II, but it's not gonna happen any time soon.

But to your earlier question, I'd get whichever lens you will use most often in the greatest number of shooting scenarios. I know that for me, between the two, I would likely use the 500 more; the 600 is pretty darn big.

BTW, I'm not fully following your conclusion that the 600II with a 2x has worse IQ than the 500II with a 2x. To my eyes the center actually looks better on the 600II with 2x; but the corners are much better on the 500II with a 2x.

[HDNitehawk]

BTW, I'm not fully following your conclusion that the 600II with a 2x has worse IQ than the 500II with a 2x. To my eyes the center actually looks better on the 600II with 2x; but the corners are much better on the 500II with a 2x.

I noticed this to. The corners and mid frame are very much better on the 500mm II. It appears the corners and mid frame will be unusable on the 600mm by my standards. It will probably be 10 years before we see a 500mm III, and if Canon keeps heading the direction it is going there will be only full frame high end cameras, the corners and mid frame will really matter.

[thekingb]

I noticed this to. The corners and mid frame are very much better on the 500mm II. It appears the corners and mid frame will be unusable on the 600mm by my standards. It will probably be 10 years before we see a 500mm III, and if Canon keeps heading the direction it is going there will be only full frame high end cameras, the corners and mid frame will really matter.

That's a good point, especially about full frame vs. crop. I live in 7D world and tend to think of these lenses as single subject wildlife lenses where the center is what matters most. But we're in the same boat here. 500II!!!!!

[Vern]

I'm new to the forum and joined after benefiting from reading the great reviews from Bryan and advice from the senior members.

I just returned from a week at the NC coast test driving the new Canon 500mm f4L IS II and I had a few things to share plus questions to add to this thread. Surrounding kit with this great lens - 5DMKII, gitzo tripod with Really Right stuff full gimbal, Canon 1.4 and 2X version III extenders. Needless to say, I loved the lens - I have the 300 f2.8L IS II and was struck by how light the 500mm is now - doesn't seem that much harder to handle than the 300 (though I backpack with the 300, and probably wouldn't with this lens - weight + volume too high). I used it primarily to capture seabirds in flight and wading birds. Per the 500 -vs- 600 question, I almost never took the 1.4X off this lens for these applications. The sharpness, color and contrast were great with the 1.4X (some flare trouble with backlit subjects relative to the lens alone - my impression anyway) and I used the 2X for wading birds with good IQ results as well. Questions: 1) Is 'live-view' with 5X or 10X the best means to manually focus with the 2X extender? This was challenging even with slower moving subjects and I had to use the IS set on #1 to stabilize enough to focus accurately at 1000mm, which generates a problem with tracking as it corrects for your attempts to move with the subject (windy conditions meant quite a bit of vibration, so I needed IS help while focusing). 2) What pins can be taped to permit autofocus at f8? 3) I used IS mode 3 for most of the in flight shots (lens + 1.4X) - which came out very sharp when I executed everything else properly (luckily light levels were not an issue). Should I have used IS mode 2 instead? Shutter speeds were usually faster than 1/2000, so maybe it doesn't matter?

What I learned: 1) I need the 5DMKIII autofocus ability b/c the 5DMKII focusing ability was the major limitation to good shots of birds in flight (ordered one last night). 2) Although the IQ of the 500 with the 2X was fine (when I manged to get the focus right before the subject was out of frame), not having autofocus with a 1000mm lens is a non-starter for me (too much frustration) - unless someone has advice on how to enable this without buying an older Canon body just for this purpose. 3) I think I'll buy the 600mm instead of the 500, as others here have said, "you are almost never too long..." and since the 300 works exceptionally well with both teleconverters, the 600 will give me more autofocusable reach when I can carry a bigger lens. It isn't as sharp with the 2X as the 500, but w/o autofocus, the 1200mm wouldn't be that useful anyway (I think...).

Speaking of the next edition of these lens (per Nitehawk) - why doesn't every supertele come with a built-in 1.4X converter customized to that lens (like the 200-400 that's "on the way")? For almost every application with these lens, fiddling to change the extender will lead to lots of missed shots and per the discussion in this thread, everyone tries to add as much flexibility in focal length as can be manged given the huge investment in the basic lens.

Thanks for reading.