300L 2.8 II and 400L 2.8 II

I figure at what I paid for my 500 Vs what the new one will cost, I got a helluva deal...

I know I did on my 300 'cause mine was nearly half what the new one will cost.

Jay,
I kinda feel the same way: I paid $2600 for my first gen 300. And I'm as happy as a clam with what I get out of it....and at about what....37% of the cost of the new one.....I can live with it's "shortcomings".

The MTF on the 400mm f/2.8L IS USM II has me drooling. Is there anything called perfection? This is it. 100% diffraction limited lens.

4x4rock wrote in post #10794489
I need to send my 300 2.8 I to Canon for check up now. Ever since I've read the announcement, the lens became a dud

No disagreement on lusting after the new 300.
But the 300 MkI is the sweetest piece of "dud" glass I have ever used.
To me, it falls into the same category as the ongoing 35L MkII upgrade rumour.
It's tweaking almost perfection into possible perfection.
But boy do you pay for it.
Greg

I just went outside and pushed my old-crapy 300, for laughs, to see if it was still any good.

This is 1200mm, ISO-12,800, wide open, handheld at 1/160th.
Looks to me like the IS is pretty good, AF with TC's pretty good. Detail wide open not bad, though noise started to muddy things up a little.

I'll probably pass on an upgrade. The new lens does look sweet, but not worth the upgrade $$, for me anyways. The old one is still a most excellent lens. The new lightweight 400 is super tempting though.

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Amidst all of the drooling and ooh-ing and ahh-ing I have to raise the spectre of (lens) death.

Canon are well known for not repairing non-current-production glass. This leads to a number of questions for me:

1) How long do I have before my less than a year old 300 2.8 IS MkI becomes a paperweight due to failure?

2) So do I just dump it now, get the 70-200 IS MkII and accept that I never deserved the 300 2.8 to begin with?

3) Or do I go over to Nikon and at least enjoy the fact that they focus on backward-compatibility with older lenses? How is Nikon for repairing out-of-production hardware?

Sorry, I'm just really freaking out about this. I LOVE the 300 2.8, but I can't afford to have it drop to zero value on me overnight with no warning. I'm a lucky amateur, and if that's a genuine risk, I need to make some hard decisions...

I suppose there's always option 4 - save up the extra $3k+/- and upgrade, but the current glass doesn't need to be upgraded. For $3k I could (nearly) get the 35 1.4 and 85 1.2.

Uggg...

mitsu13gman wrote in post #10803144
Amidst all of the drooling and ooh-ing and ahh-ing I have to raise the spectre of (lens) death.

Canon are well known for not repairing non-current-production glass. This leads to a number of questions for me:

1) How long do I have before my less than a year old 300 2.8 IS MkI becomes a paperweight due to failure?

2) So do I just dump it now, get the 70-200 IS MkII and accept that I never deserved the 300 2.8 to begin with?

3) Or do I go over to Nikon and at least enjoy the fact that they focus on backward-compatibility with older lenses? How is Nikon for repairing out-of-production hardware?

Sorry, I'm just really freaking out about this. I LOVE the 300 2.8, but I can't afford to have it drop to zero value on me overnight with no warning. I'm a lucky amateur, and if that's a genuine risk, I need to make some hard decisions...

I suppose there's always option 4 - save up the extra $3k+/- and upgrade, but the current glass doesn't need to be upgraded. For $3k I could (nearly) get the 35 1.4 and 85 1.2.

Uggg...

Just go and enjoy your 300,it will be good for servicing for a long time yet.

Yep. Same here. Went to the local HS game last night. The old non-IS 300 still seems to work okay.

File Name _U4M6617.CR2
Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark II
Firmware Firmware Version 1.2.6
Shooting Date/Time 8/27/2010 7:40:48 PM
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/640
Av( Aperture Value ) 2.8
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 320
Lens 300.0mm
Focal Length 300.0mm
Image Size 3504x2336
Image Quality RAW
White Balance Mode Color Temperature(5200K)
AF Mode AI Servo AF

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mitsu13gman wrote in post #10803144
Sorry, I'm just really freaking out about this. I LOVE the 300 2.8, but I can't afford to have it drop to zero value on me overnight with no warning. I'm a lucky amateur, and if that's a genuine risk, I need to make some hard decisions...

Uggg...

The 200mm f/1.8, 70-200 f/2.8 IS, and 300mm f/2.8 Non-IS all still command a good price relative to their original selling price in the used market. The lens will likely not drop significantly in value for years to come.

Plus one on that. As long as the EF mount is a current mount, the $$ value will be there. When (if) the day comes that mount is phased out then the value plummets. Ask the guys that have a bunch of FD mount lenses about that.

Edit: besides that, just because you cannot get official Canon factory authorized service, that does not mean all hope is lost. There are independent shops that still service many of these non-current lenses and bodies.

The price jump in the UK is enormous, apologies if already posted by someone.

Warehouse Express lists

300mm f2.8L IS Mk1...£3594.00,,,Mk2 £7499.99
400mm f2.8L IS Mk1...£6469.00...Mk2 £11499.99
1.4X ............ Mk2....£269.00....Mk3 £549.99
2X...............Mk2..​..£269.00....Mk3 £549.99

Prsumably these will improve but a very big jump.

Lester Wareham wrote in post #10805993
The price jump in the UK is enormous, apologies if already posted by someone.

Warehouse Express lists

300mm f2.8L IS Mk1...£3594.00,,,Mk2 £7499.99 Mk1 RRP £5629
400mm f2.8L IS Mk1...£6469.00...Mk2 £11499.99 Mk1 RRP £9810
1.4X ............ Mk2....£269.00....Mk3 £549.99 Mk2 RRP £420
2X...............Mk2..​..£269.00....Mk3 £549.99 Mk2 RRP £420

Prsumably these will improve but a very big jump.

RRPs for old models shown in red.

WEx are obviously quoting the RRP for the new items, hoping that the early adopters will pay anything to be the first to own them. I guess that we'll see prices drop to around 63% of the RRP a few months after the new ones become available.

Still means the 300 2.8 Mk2 will be around £4800 - which is a lot more than the £2800 I paid for a new one two years ago.

hollis_f wrote in post #10806451
RRPs for old models shown in red.

WEx are obviously quoting the RRP for the new items, hoping that the early adopters will pay anything to be the first to own them. I guess that we'll see prices drop to around 63% of the RRP a few months after the new ones become available.

Still means the 300 2.8 Mk2 will be around £4800 - which is a lot more than the £2800 I paid for a new one two years ago.

I don't know, checking the 7D prices from the same supplier it has dropped 25% on the release price accounting for the package values. Considering that bodies marketability "ages" faster than lenses....

However, I have to say Warehouse Express is not the cheapest supplier.

Think I could sell a Kidney for enough to cover the cost of the new 400 F/2.8L IS Mark II?

-Evan

Yeah, a kidney, definitely not my liver though, that works to hard....