100-400L or 400L?

I am looking at renting either a 100-400L IS, or a 400L IS prime for taking photos of the horses at the horse track by my house. Anyone have any suggestions as to which one would be better?

Ohh, can someone post some sample pics of both?
\thanks

Are you referring to the 400L f/2.8 IS? That's a big beast of a lens. It requires a sturdy monopod and has a bit of a learning curve to use it well.

A few questions: Daytime or Nighttime? Will you be in a fixed position or moving around? Do you think you will feel the need to zoom out for a wider shot? If you go with the 400, will you have a shorter lens on another body?

Tandem says A few questions:
Daytime or Nighttime? Daytime

Will you be in a fixed position or moving around? Both

Do you think you will feel the need to zoom out for a wider shot? Probably

If you go with the 400, will you have a shorter lens on another body? No, i only have one camera or fight now.

After considering these qusetions, i think the 100-400 will be better, i just wanted the f/2.8 on the other one, but oh well. I think the zoom will be better though since i wont have another body.

Thanks for opening my mind up a lil but more! Im not really a creative thinker i guess>

I forgot... If i get the 100-400L, and i want to add some extra range, is a 1.4x or a 2x converter good to add?? if so which one?
it will bump it up to 560mm on the 1.4, and an 800mm on the 2.0. Which one is better when it comes to image quality...?

As I understand the 1.4 is quite a bit better in imagine quality than the 2.0, but you do lose a stop I believe.

Sheesh...Tandem...wher​e were you when I was making my first lens decisions...all excellent questions that I wish I would have asked myself a year ago!

Surf, as always I am a day late and a dollar short! I have both lenses but haven't put the 400mm f/2.8 on a body yet ... I am up to my ass in alligators, but next week is vacation and I will be putting it through its paces. The 100-400mm is pretty good, even with the 1.4TC if you have enough light and and can stop down a tad. But you won't get near the punchy, breath stopping images that the 400mm f/2.8 will deliver. You'll be going again another day and can try the 400mm.

I got rid of my 100-400mm because at 400mm and f/5.6, the images weren't as sharp as the 400mm f/5.6 prime. I'd imagine a converter would make that issue even worse.

400 all the way...and pickup a 2x teleconverter...long is good.

if you need a short lens, drag a 70-200 or something else with you, but if you are looking for high impact action, focal length is your best friend, and i think the 400 is a lot faster than the 100-400.

No 400, but here is a shot from my 100-400 wide open at 400mm and F 5.6, 1/640.

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the 100-400 wont autofocus with a TC on it. id just stick with the plain 100-400. it sounds to me like for you youll want the flexability of the zoom.

I have the 100-400. Nice lens but not compared to the 400 2.8 (hence the price difference). I think you would have a much higher keeper rate with the 2.8...more light, faster focus, better optics. The more I use the 100-400, the better I get and the more keepers I get too. The zoom is the nicest part about the it. You can use the 1.4 on it but it will really slow the AF, much more than on the 2.8. As Tandem said...look at how you are going to use it.
You can get some sharp shots with the "dust pump" though. These are all at 400mm.
Good luck and post some after the races.

Jeff

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If you're going to be able to get down to the fence, get the 100-400. In fact, get the 100-400 anyhow. The 40 prime may be sharper at 400, but the 100-400 will outdo it everywhere else, plus it has IS.

I would go for the 100-400L,you might need to shoot at 100 or 200 and you can't do that with a 400 prime.

I agree the versatility of the 100-400L will get you the shots that you won't get with the 400 prime. The 400 may be brighter and sharper, but that won't matter if you've missed the shot because you can't zoom back...