500mm f4 or not?

Hi all,

I have the Canon 500mmf4 IS II sitting in my room. I bought it used and have another couple of weeks to decide whether to keep it or not.

I am in two minds over this lens purchase. It’s a significant amount of money for me and I’m keen not to make a mistake.

While I like and want it, one of the reasons I felt confident about buying it was that big whites generally keep their value and when I sell it ( as I will a few years down the road when I’m too old to use it - I’m 65 now) I assumed I would recoup my money.

However I believe Canon are planning RF 500f4 IS and 600f4 IS lenses which will make mine obsolete. I realise these will be pricey but I still anticipate a glut of the older lens on the used market as many pros and serious users upgrade with the release of the rumoured pro - level RF camera.

RF lenses are generally great performers but will no doubt be out of my range so I can't wait and expect to buy one anyway. On the other hand, Canon are also rumoured to be planning the release of DO version RF lenses of 500mm or 600mm f4 which probably compete favourably on price with my used lens. This would also drive down the re-sale value of mine.

All of this makes me less confident in my purchase and the attraction of keeping resale value seems diminished considerably.

Am I justified in my concerns? I could wait until next year and see what happens but it could realistically be 18 months or more before any of these new lenses are available.

Would you advise going ahead with my purchase, or holding off?

Thank you

Buy it (keep it) if you want to use it, sell it if you are thinking of it as an investment. Even without the RF lenses there would likely be subsequent versions or competing products that erodes value over time.

willie45 wrote in post #19146506
Hi all,

I have the Canon 500mmf4 IS II sitting in my room. I bought it used and have another couple of weeks to decide whether to keep it or not.

I am in two minds over this lens purchase. It’s a significant amount of money for me and I’m keen not to make a mistake.

While I like and want it, one of the reasons I felt confident about buying it was that big whites generally keep their value and when I sell it ( as I will a few years down the road when I’m too old to use it - I’m 65 now) I assumed I would recoup my money.

However I believe Canon are planning RF 500f4 IS and 600f4 IS lenses which will make mine obsolete. I realise these will be pricey but I still anticipate a glut of the older lens on the used market as many pros and serious users upgrade with the release of the rumoured pro - level RF camera.

RF lenses are generally great performers but will no doubt be out of my range so I can't wait and expect to buy one anyway. On the other hand, Canon are also rumoured to be planning the release of DO version RF lenses of 500mm or 600mm f4 which probably compete favourably on price with my used lens. This would also drive down the re-sale value of mine.

All of this makes me less confident in my purchase and the attraction of keeping resale value seems diminished considerably.

Am I justified in my concerns? I could wait until next year and see what happens but it could realistically be 18 months or more before any of these new lenses are available.

Would you advise going ahead with my purchase, or holding off?

Thank you

Yeah. Like the poster above said, if you are thinking it as an investment then it is a gamble.
What you have to factor in is, the price you bought - minus the use you got out of it (consider a rental that might cost you) formula.
If your selling price falls in that range then you are probably good. But then again the gamble remains.

If you're not using it often, then why have it? Especially if advanced age and you're not likely to use it later even more so. Lenses are not investments unless they're part of a business. They're just instruments and if you're not using it then its just like having money in a jar in the backyard buried but with zero intent of ever digging it up.

Either go shoot, or find something else to do with that money that you will actually do and enjoy as often as possible. Losing time sucks. You can't get any time back. Use your time!

Very best,

I'm going to take on board the words that "losing time sucks". It's what I want to do and it will cost me money. I don't smoke or drink and I don't have an extravagant lifestyle so I reckon I should just go for it.

Thank you for your advice.

I think you are on the right track!

No sense waiting or worrying about resale value, that's not why you bought that lens, it was to use.

The II version is light enough to use now? That's your only question. Get out and shoot it and see if it is what you want to work with, then decide about keeping of returning. If you don;t already have one, look at a nice series 3 or 4 monopod and Wimberleys new monopod head,. it will help a lot in taking it into the field and using it.

Thank you.

Initially, I was more worried by the weight, but it doesn't feel as bad as I feared. I do need to try it as thoroughly as I can. We're about to go into a second lockdown here in the UK so it will need to be mainly garden but that's not a big deal and should give me a good idea, because I'm not planning on trekking for miles with the lens. Most of my shooting is in reserves where I park the car, walk a few hundred yard and set up on a tripod and will use this with a gimbal. After a bit, I might walk another few hundred yards and repeat.

The tripod and gimbal adds weight for sure but the lot comes in at under 8Kg: not much more than either my guitar or banjo in it's case.