Bigma vs 400L 5.6 w/tc

[CountryBoy]

Which will give me the best images at 500mm, The Bigma or the 400 5.6 w/ 1.4 converter.

I know I will lose AF with the 400 w/tc. But i'll have 560mm.

I don't know how the Bigma handles a tc.

The weight of the Bigma won't be a factor here. I just want the one that will give me the best images for birding.

[tekkie]

The bigma will probably be a little better but I think its going to be very very marginal. If the bigma had IS I would have got it but without IS I got the 100-400 and I am very happy.

[CountryBoy]

Thanks tekkie- but I was thinking of the 400L 5.6 prime lens

[asylumxl]

Thanks tekkie- but I was thinking of the 400L 5.6 prime lens

the prime will win every time over bigma imo. just remember adding a tc to it means no AF unless you have a 1 series body.

[tekkie]

ah yes, so no IS anyway :) from what I have seen here both lenses are pretty sharp I think the difference is going to be very small, personally I would go with the 400

or better yet get the 400 2.8 :D if only money grew on trees ;)

[pttenn]

the prime will win every time over bigma imo. just remember adding a tc to it means no AF unless you have a 1 series body.


Actually you can still have autofocus if you cover some of the contacts on the TC. I have the 400 5.6prime and cover 3 contacts, and the 400 still has AF. By covering the contacts, the camera does not see the TC (or something...lol)
Karen

[asylumxl]

Actually you can still have autofocus if you cover some of the contacts on the TC. I have the 400 5.6prime and cover 3 contacts, and the 400 still has AF. By covering the contacts, the camera does not see the TC (or something...lol)
Karen

i know that trick, but alot of people on here will tell you their horror stories in due time here :p

[CountryBoy]

or better yet get the 400 2.8 :D if only money grew on trees ;)

That tree died in the last ice storm !:lol:

[CountryBoy]

I have been leaning towards the 400L. But I can't get the Bigma out of my head, lol.

Another factor that comes into play, is my EX 100-300. With the tc I get 420mm 5.6.
And it handles the tc really good. So I'm having a hard time deciding.

I do plan on getting one of the 500mm primes. But that will be a few years down the road.

[condyk]

Over the years I've had a number of long lenses including those you mention. My own view is that the Bigma is not as strong in image quality as the 100-300mm or 400mm L. However, add a TCon and the gap reduces to what would be insignificant to me. I have the 400mm L and TCon but to be honest I'm not sure if it is any better than the 100-300mm and TCon ... maybe a small amount at best. In your position I would probably stick with what you have unless you are really missing the extra length. If you know you will mainly want 500mm and up then get the 400mm L and TCon, but the Bigma is just more flexible and really images will be not too different overall because the Bigma's Af will probably give more keepers than MF on the 400mm and TCon.

[CountryBoy]

Banironing- You made some good points. Maybe I should shoot in manual focus for awhile with the lens I have. I might find out it's not as easy as I think it will be.