Info on EF600mm 4L IS

I have a deal on a 600mm 4L Is for around 5000.00 in suppose to be in mint condition. I have a pretty complete L lens collection, but not a long lens for shooting at the Zoo etc. The biggest lens I have is the 70-200mm 2.8L IS II with a 2X. Planning in shooting some Eagles next month. I felt this was a pretty good deal and hard to pass up, my first choice was a 400mm 2.8L IS so it could be used for shooting some sports, which is not done that often.

Any input would help

Thank you in advance

Five grand is an excellent price for a 600mm f4L IS lens assuming it has been well taken care of. Go for it, but you need to shoot a lot of wildlife to make it cost effective and you need a good steady tripod with a gimbal head so you are going to spend another $500 to $1000 on that. I have a 500mm and I would jump at that opportunity IF the lens is in good shape. If it is beat up, you might want to reconsider.

That sounds like a pretty good price.
In Aussie, the new price on them is around 12K, maybe a bit more and s/h would be in the 8-10 mark I'd suggest. They don't come up very often.
Thanks to Canon, I've used both the 600 and 800 when at the Melbourne F1 GP.
Both are excellent lenses - as you would expect.
It took me a little while to get used to getting the framing right, just because every thing is so big in the frame and there is little room for error but you will soon work it out - I think I was settled after about 10-15 minutes.
The 600 looks big - because it is - (sorry, Captain Obvious) - but isn't as heavy as what you might think.
If I recall, It's only marginally heavier than the 400/2.8.
Image quality is excellent.

Well the good new is the lens is in excellent shape and and he has the case etc. The bad new is it's a non IS lens. I've been hunting for a deal and thought this was the one and he was missing that tad bit of information. Don't think a 600mm 4L no IS is worth $4800.00

O'well on with the search

Now I'm confused - is it a 600mm or 500mm lens you're talking about.
Have look here http://www.flickr.com/​photos/offwiththepixel​s/
All the pics on the first page were taken with the 500mm non IS and there'll be plenty more in his photostream that are as well.
Nothing wrong with any of them.

Even if it is in excellent condition, a 500mm f4.5 L is definitely not worth $5K, I have seen them typically sell for $3.5-4K range. But I don't think you would be satisfied with that lens. You're making the right move on this. Good luck on your search

Sorry guys it is a 600mm 4L Non IS in mint condition as per the seller. He'd sell it for $4800.00 Case come with it. I believe it was a Um date code I'll have to check

If you are going to use it on a tripod, wouldn't you have to turn the IS off anyway?

snowyowl13 wrote in post #13609185
If you are going to use it on a tripod, wouldn't you have to turn the IS off anyway?

Dan that was what I was told. I'd image you could even hand hold the lens, for a short bit of time. I'd also imagine photographers still produced great work long before IS was around. My other issue is if the date code is correct the lens is fairly old.

I'll just wait and see what comes up. I'm not in a big rush. My friend owns a Sigma
150-500 os lens and he produces some great images. I can buy that lens for around
$1000.00. That might be an option also.

It'd be really hard to pay $5000 for the non-IS version. Canon will not service this lens any more, so if anything ever goes wrong with it you're on your own as far as finding someone who would fix it or re-calibrate it.

I would be very leery of any lens for which replacement parts are no longer available. Will it take great images just like the IS version - heck, yeah! But what do you do when something goes a bit wrong with the AF, or if the front element gets a few too many scratches, or . . .???

snowyowl13 wrote in post #13609185
If you are going to use it on a tripod, wouldn't you have to turn the IS off anyway?

Some super tele lenses have IS that is made to be used on a tripod because at 600-800mm the slightest wind will be magnified significantly in the viewfinder. Do you really think Canon would make a 10 pound lens and expect people to hand hold it?

snowyowl13 wrote in post #13609185
If you are going to use it on a tripod, wouldn't you have to turn the IS off anyway?

Nope. Such a long lens will magnify the slightest tremor - even when on a solid tripod.