Which Lens??? 100-400mm L IS or 300mm f4 L IS???

[SupraSonic]

Both are good lens.. I used them both but my favs EF300mm, because its prime and "solid"build.

[L33t]

what do you mean

[Bill M.]

I have the 70-200 f4 IS and the 100-400 and I actually find myself using the 100-400 more. The 70-200 is definately the sharper lens but I like the versatility the 100-400 gives me most of the time. The lens is great for outdoor sports and places like the zoo. The range you have, especially if your using a crop camera is very useful (a 640mm 5.6 isn't bad at all). I'm sure the 300 will give you sharper images at that focal length but I personally don't want to be tied down to only one focal length.


The push-pull really isn't that bad and I got used to it fairly quickly. I would go with the 100-400. Just my .02!

[Daniel Browning]

The 300mm f/4 IS at 300mm with no 1.4X gives you a full stop more aperture than the zoom. But as soon as you put the 1.4X on, the zoom pulls ahead in image quality (and focus speed and bokeh, I bet):


ISO 12233 comparison of 300mm f/4 IS + 1.4X and 100-400 at 400mm


Therefore, if you plan to use a focal length of 300mm the most, and very rarely, if ever, use 400mm, then I would recommend the 300mm prime. Or, if it's more importnat to have f/4 aperture (and you'll live with shorter focal length to get it), I would again recommend the prime.


But for all other purposes I would recommend the zoom.