Getting to 500mm - help!

[thekingb]

most important, having fun instead of getting frustrated because of the limitation of your lens( sorry, coz I often get frustrated)

That's very good advice. It's too easy to get stuck in a cycle of want want want when it comes to lenses...

Doc- nice setup there! I'll keep my eyes open for one of those monsters!

Q- the 300 + tc has also intruiged me, except that Bryan's review pretty clearly gives the IQ edge to the 400. But that was with the mark II tc. Anyone use the mark III tc with the 300 f/4?

[HDNitehawk]

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...mp=0&APIComp=0

Bryan has the chart for it. The 300mm F/4 with the 1.4x III is not as good. Since you have the 70-300mm L I don't think it would be a good option.

[HDNitehawk]

The 300mm F/4 could be a good option over the 100-400mm IS though, the 300mm with the 1.4x shows to be better in the corners and midframe.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...mp=7&APIComp=0

[jrw]

With regards to the option of using one of the 300's with TCs to get the reach. Having both of them I can say the f2.8 Vii plays much better with the 2x TC than the f4 does with the 1.4x TC. I am finding that when stopped down to f8 or more, that there is only a small amount of CA and distortion which limits the extreme cropping options.

It may be out of your preferred budget range, but has anyone heard anything about the 200-400 f4 with 1.4x TC built in?

[HDNitehawk]

It may be out of your preferred budget range, but has anyone heard anything about the 200-400 f4 with 1.4x TC built in?

If you are referring to Canon's version of this lens yes we have heard about it. It is a fantasy lens that Canon announced back when they announced the 500mm II and 600mm II. So far there is no release date, no preorder and for all we know it was just a (badly timed) April fools joke from Canon. Also it is probably going to be a $12,000 lens (just my guess).

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...ns-Review.aspx

[JJphoto]

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...mp=0&APIComp=0

Bryan has the chart for it. The 300mm F/4 with the 1.4x III is not as good. Since you have the 70-300mm L I don't think it would be a good option.

for 70-300mmL, you will lose AF at 300mm with the TC.

[HDNitehawk]

for 70-300mmL, you will lose AF at 300mm with the TC.

I was actually referring to the 300mm with the 1.4x III not being as good as the 400mm F/5.6. What I meant to say about the 70-300mm L is he has 300mm covered, in that regard the idea doesn't make sense as he is duplicating the reach he already has. I don't think the 70-300mm L with a 1.4x would be a good option.

[jrw]

The last I'd heard was when it was indefinitely delayed last fall. Just hoped that I'd missed some official announcement since with regards to it, as there were some prototypes made before the tsunami. Apparently that is not the case.

[JJphoto]

I was actually referring to the 300mm with the 1.4x III not being as good as the 400mm F/5.6. What I meant to say about the 70-300mm L is he has 300mm covered, in that regard the idea doesn't make sense as he is duplicating the reach he already has. I don't think the 70-300mm L with a 1.4x would be a good option.

oh, sorry Rick. BTW, i agree it's frustrating waiting for those new big lenes, how can u not say it's not a jock, it's more than one year, same thing as the 1D X,

[jrw]

Getting back to the original question, the only way that I have found to get high quality images in the 500 or 600 mm range that will allow major cropping without spending more than $10k on a lens that isn't even available to buy in a store yet is to use the latest generation of TCs with the EF 300 f2.8 II. With the 2x on it, the image quality is quite similar, once stopped down, to the original version of the EF 600. At wider apertures the 600 is better, but for the money it bloody well better be! At least when compared to the pricing of the hopefully coming soon 500 and 600 the 300 almost seems a bargain.

Canon really does not provide many options other than spending lots of money once you want to go beyond the 400 mm focal length.