lens choice

hi
this will have been asked before, what would be the best option

canon 300 f4 + 1.4 or canon 400 5.6

thanks

you are just gunna hear alot of if you need 300 get that one and if not get the 400 lol

What is the intended subject?

Heya,

300 if you want 300.
400 if you want 400.

The 300 F4 is great if you want it for close focus things (butterflies, etc) and various wildlife at close distance. 300mm is just not that long. So it's best for close range things you can get up on, and will have a good minimum focus distance for it. You can use a TC with it for those moments you truly need longer reach.

The 400 5.6 is good for getting the the best 400mm sharpness, without the use of a TC. Prioritize reach here, and clarity, and speed of AF. Great for tracking fast moving things, far away, like a bird in flight.

Two very different tools.

Very best,

MalVeauX wrote in post #16880059
Heya,

300 if you want 300.
400 if you want 400.

The 300 F4 is great if you want it for close focus things (butterflies, etc) and various wildlife at close distance. 300mm is just not that long. So it's best for close range things you can get up on, and will have a good minimum focus distance for it. You can use a TC with it for those moments you truly need longer reach.

The 400 5.6 is good for getting the the best 400mm sharpness, without the use of a TC. Prioritize reach here, and clarity, and speed of AF. Great for tracking fast moving things, far away, like a bird in flight.

Two very different tools.

Very best,

Almost. The 300 f/4 IS USM and a 1.4x TC gets you IS at 300 & 420mm.
The 400 f/5.6 does not have IS.

CollegeKid wrote in post #16880069
Almost. The 300 f/4 IS USM and a 1.4x TC gets you IS at 300 & 420mm.
The 400 f/5.6 does not have IS.

A very good point. The presence of IS, or the lack thereof, could be the most important factor when deciding which lens to get; sometimes it can be more important than focal length or aperture (depending on how, what, and where you are shooting).

Personally, I would love to have a 300 f4, but have chosen not to buy one because the current model only has the old, two stop IS.

Right, without context the "correct" answer cannot be derived. OP, are you lookilng for a bird-in-flight lens, a nighttime sports lens, wedding ceremony, zoo, macro, what?

The 300/4 has the benefit of shorter FL for when you are nearer, has IS, and an f/4 aperture - so it is the better lens for when light isn't so good and your subject isn't moving too fast. It's IQ is very good, but that goes down with the TC in place. The TC reduces image quality to below the 400/5.6, so if you don't "need" the IS or f/4 but DO need the longer reach the 400 is the better choice for further away subjects that are faster moving or well lit.

I'm a thrifty amtr (with too many hobbies). When I need more reach, I stick a 1.4X on my 70-300 (one of the first lens I bought way back in the day). Works for me, ymmv of course but I seldom feel the need for more that 300mm!

What is your subject matter?

The I.S. subject become moot of the answer is birds in flight for example. For that the shutter speeds required almost eliminates the usefulness of I.S.

Anyway, the point remains, without some idea what is going to be the intended use, recommendations are being given without enough information.

hi all
thanks for the replies
main use for lens is mammals and birds.
most of the time I would be after static shots (as static as they can be)
over the week end I was able to borrow the 100-400 and was quite impressed
and I think the zoom is the way to go.

thanks

jingler wrote in post #16883879
hi all
thanks for the replies
main use for lens is mammals and birds.
most of the time I would be after static shots (as static as they can be)
over the week end I was able to borrow the 100-400 and was quite impressed
and I think the zoom is the way to go.

thanks

For small (relatively) static subjects, you might look at the new Tamron 150-600 as well. It's most definitely not the lens of choice for in-flight shots (though it can deliver good results on relatively slow-moving birds) or low light, but for static shots in good to fair light, its combination of IQ, reach and price is really hard to beat.

jingler wrote in post #16878762
hi
this will have been asked before, what would be the best option

canon 300 f4 + 1.4 or canon 400 5.6

thanks

Of course - canon 300 f4 + 1.4

jingler wrote in post #16878762
hi
this will have been asked before, what would be the best option

canon 300 f4 + 1.4 or canon 400 5.6

thanks

For top image quality, primes are always better than teleconverter primes. The difference between 300mm and 400mm is very small.

jingler wrote in post #16883879
hi all
thanks for the replies
main use for lens is mammals and birds.
most of the time I would be after static shots (as static as they can be)
over the week end I was able to borrow the 100-400 and was quite impressed
and I think the zoom is the way to go.

thanks

Yes, I prefer the 100-400 to the 400 prime as well. I've never had good success with TC's