Would you buy a used EF 300 L f4 with AF not working?

I have a chance to buy a used one for a 1/5 new price. AF is not working and it's around 7 years old. The owener was told that it would be to expensive to repair it. I would use this lens for taking pictures of race cars and aircrafts and so on. I already have a 200mm 2.8 L II.

blue9 wrote in post #18487162
I have a chance to buy a used one for a 1/5 new price. AF is not working and it's around 7 years old. The owener was told that it would be to expensive to repair it. I would use this lens for taking pictures of race cars and aircrafts and so on. I already have a 200mm 2.8 L II.

No

No !

No.

I did,very nice lens,I got it cheap and manual focusing on it is no problem unless of course you are shooting fast moving subjects,no regrets at all,I couldn't afford a fully functioning example, this does very well.Mind you,if you have a 200 f2.8 just get a 1.4x extender and you have a comparable set up anyway.

NO!

As long as the optics are still perfect then personally I would consider it because for me I'd use it exclusively for deep sky astro...but for racing and aircraft I'd have to say no unless you're that confident of your mf ability

Probably not. The focus throw on these lenses were never made for good manual focus, so it will be hard to manually focus the lens precisely, compared to a lens designed to be manually focused (like a Takumar 300mm F4, around $100~120). At least definitely not for sports or things where you need to continuously focus, even if stopped down heavily for drafting, panning, etc. 1/5th the price, definitely not. Maybe for $100? I wouldn't pay more than that though for something that needs to actually be focused to work. It would be a great cheap way to get a high quality astro lens for someone doing DSO work though. But certainly not for cars.

Considering you have a 200 F2.8L, the answer is hell no, because you can use a 1.4x TC and have a 280mm F4 lens, which is nearly literally the same thing, with autofocus, and it's still very sharp wide open even if you needed it to be, and takes up less space and is universally more useful and versatile.

Very best,

blue9 wrote in post #18487162
I have a chance to buy a used one for a 1/5 new price. AF is not working and it's around 7 years old. The owner was told that it would be to expensive to repair it. I would use this lens for taking pictures of race cars and aircrafts and so on. I already have a 200mm 2.8 L II.

If it is an EF 300mm f/4L USM (without IS), then it is more than 7 years old for sure, not that it much matters how old an EF lens is if it works well. I have one that I bought used where the autofocus didn't work correctly. Since it was too old for Canon to repair, I had a local shop replace the USM unit. It was about $300 to repair and it has worked great every since. It is a very sharp, fast focusing lens.

Get a quote to repair it, then decide if it is a cost effective purchase.

I think the question should be "which 1.4TC should I buy?"

It is a good lens but check out the cost of repairing the AF first, then factor that into the price. I suspect that you would be better off spending a bit more and getting a fully functional one from a reputable dealer.

Did someone say hell no yet?
For me, a big part of why to use Canon lenses is for AF.
The other big part of this lens, like the 70-200s, is IS.
This lens has neither. Walk away. aF doesn’t break from sitting on a shelf.

probably for like $20...if it was working it'd be like $450..so 1/5 of that you're talking like $90-$100? i don't think it's worth that...but for $20...hell i'd do that, i could turn it into one of those mugs

https://youtu.be/uDHQ5​lXZGTo

I am new so I am always on the lookout for a good deal. I have bought all 3 of my lenses listed below together for less than $500 and they are really good lenses. The only thing I really miss in them is AF and IS (on the Rokinon) and IS on the 100mm f/2. The 28-75 was $100 and has both and spends most of its time on my 6d even though the others are superior in IQ. You just have to decide if you would miss whatever option it doesn't come with and go from there. I think of it as if I have that chance for a once in a lifetime photo because of my equipment, then it isn't worth the savings.

HodjPodj wrote in post #18491059
I am new so I am always on the lookout for a good deal. I have bought all 3 of my lenses listed below together for less than $500 and they are really good lenses. The only thing I really miss in them is AF and IS (on the Rokinon) and IS on the 100mm f/2. The 28-75 was $100 and has both and spends most of its time on my 6d even though the others are superior in IQ. You just have to decide if you would miss whatever option it doesn't come with and go from there. I think of it as if I have that chance for a once in a lifetime photo because of my equipment, then it isn't worth the savings.

are you sure that 28-75 has IS?