I could have an 'L' but need persuading!! HELP!

[rockabillyrebel]

Really not sure what to do here guys! It was my birthday today & I was lucky enough to receive a nice amount of dollers. I leave for a 6 month holiday in the US the day after tomorrow & so with this money I have the perfect opportunity to get myself a new lens (or 2!)

This is what I have at the moment - a 300D with the kit lens plus a 70-300mm APO Sigma lens. Over the next 6 months I'll be taking landscapes, wildlife, a wedding day, portraits, in fact pretty much everything I see! Upon my return I really want to concentrate on documentry style portrature & nature/wildlife.

This is what I was thinking of doing, sell my Sigma zoom & then purchase a Canon 50mm f1.4 & the Canon 100-400mm L IS. I can't really afford the both so I could just get the 50mm & have a fair bit left over for shopping or I could stretch a bit & get the 2? A worry I have is the weight of the 100-400, I'll be doing a lot of walking around some of your great country & cities & to have that amount of equipment round ones neck is maybe too much??? I did give a thought to not getting the 100-400 but instead get the Canon 75-300mm IS lens which is half the weight plus then I could easily afford the 50mm also. Can anyone recommend the 75-300mm IS?

OH dear I really don't know what to do! :roll:

I need some guidence on this one PLEASE!

Thanks.

[GenEOS]

I wouldn't carry a 100-400 as holiday lens. Shoot the kit lens, buy you some more memory and save the bucks till you get back and can make a descision on which L to buy.
I would suggest the 70-200 over the 100-400 for general use...then you have a f2.8 in your bag.

[garethhhhh]

I'm not too sure how many £'s you have to play with but if you convert your money to dollars & bought your lenses in the USA would it not be cheaper?

Just look at the comparison:

for a 50mm f1.4 and a 100-400mm f4-5.6L

http://www.warehouseexpress.com UK retailer: £1428.00 ($2598.04)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ NY retailer: £876.63 ($1594.90) (imported versions)

EDIT: the 75-300mm IS is not all that great: http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=16&sort=7&thecat=27

[Scottes]

Neither the 50mm nor the 70-300mm are short enough for landscapes. The 300 is almost long enough for (some) wildlife but you'll always want longer. The 100-400 is a monster - you are not going to want to carry that around all the time, and definitely not around the streets.

You might want to look at something like the 28-135 IS ($410)- a great all-around lens, small and will handle most vacation stuff. Keep the 70-300mm and eventually get something longer for wildlife. (Stick to big things for now.)

Alas the 28-135 probably isn't good enough for portraiture. Perhaps the 17-40L ($700) and the 85mm 1.8 ($310)? Again, keeping the 70-300 for wildlife for now.

Oh, tough decisions.

But if you come to the Boston area I'll let you play with the 100-400 and the 17-40.

[rockabillyrebel]

I'm intending to buy once I'm in the US.

[rockabillyrebel]

OK so if I forget the extra zoom & stick with what I've got (which I must say turns out great shots), use the kit lens for landscapes, wouldn't the 50mmf1.4 cater for my portrait needs? It seems I have this opportunity to at last purchase an 'L' lens (yes I know the 50mm isn't an L) but just can't make my mind up! And I'm not one of these people who likes to ponder on their decisions, I want 'L' & I want one now (well next week will do!!) :)

[rockabillyrebel]

Done some thinking & now I might wait till the end of my trip & purchase the 100-400L then. That makes sense to me!

But in the mean time if I had to get one good lens to take care of say a bit of portrait work & for example my day spent at my brothers wedding in June which one would you recommend?

Thanks

(I think I'm addicted to this forum!)

[Canuck]

Hmmm...landscapes and L glass. I have 2 lenses in that order the Canon 16-35mm F2.8L (approx $1400), and Canon 24-70 F2.8L (approx $1200). Neither of them are huge compared to the Canon 100-400L lens. I can highly reccommend both of them, but I think you get better value for money with the 24-70. We have 19mm and 46mm of zoom, respectively. I can say that the 10D I have looks weird w/ the stubbies on them compared to the Sigma 120-300mm F2.8EX lens. So that is my pitch. One bit of advice, do not convert $$$ to £££, you will get ripped off! Unfortunately, I have to do such as I make my dosh un US$ and then get extorted to go to buy GB£. It isn't your fault, but the banks getting greedy and the US$ falling in value. I was beginning to wonder when it hit $1.96 to £1. Can you say ouch?

[CyberDyneSystems]

Grab the fifty,. when your in whatever store that has this stuff,. you'll get to handle the 100-400mm.. and see if it is something your ready to lug around.

[rockabillyrebel]

Thanks everybody for your advice. I'm pretty sure now that I'll get the 50mm f1.4 & then wait until the end of my trip to see how much I've got left to spend.

By the way, my first stop is San Francisco, can anyone recommend a decent photography store in the city?

Thanks once again.

Paul.

[daaaveman]

The 24-70 L is a great "walking around" lens. It would be my choice if I had to see San Fran with only one lens. It's a little cheaper than the 100-400 so you could probably get the 50 for low light situations and the 85 or maybe a 135 for more reach......

Best of luck. Have a great trip. San Fran is a beautiful city.