Canon EF 600mm f4L IS USM

Looking for some imputs......I'm still looking for a long lens and like I said the 400mm 2.8L IS is really what would be a better choice in my opinion. But there has been a guy I know selling what appears to be a mint 600mm F4 with all the goodies. I believe the lens is about 10 yrs old with no IS.

Anyone know a value on a lens like this......is it worth it without the IS. The lens does look to be in perfect shape.

Thank you in advance

The lens itself sounds ok. I think its heavier than the IS, but the IQ is nearly the same from what I've read/heard. One drawback is, as far as I know, Canon doesn't repair the non-IS Super tele's anymore, so if it did break for some reason, you'd be looking at a paperweight unless you found a shop that does work on them. The upside, is that usually those things were built like tanks so not a lot goes wrong unless its the operators fault...

As far as value, honestly I would just look at completed listings on ebay and past sales here on the forums (and on FM since I know a lot of obscure stuff goes through there). Off the top of my head, around 4000 seems to be the going rate, though I'm sure you'll find some more and some less.

Thanks you sir...pretty much that is what I heard. I'll have to find out who would repair it if it broke. I just wonder how important the IS function is on a lens that big, sense most of the time it would be momo pod or tri pod?

IS helps a lot both on an off tripod, though some people with the IS don't use it. All in preference I guess, but I love it. I never use a tripod for this thing, so I'm always hand holding it and IS is essential, though one person just posted a few pics the other day with the old 600 and they look as sharp as ever, so IS is more or less a convenience thing.

I am using this Len for more than a year but never used IS and i handhold lens for only 2~3 times (it require a lot of energy to hold this beast).

Well I did find a local place that does fix a lot of Canon's equipment and they said they will work on the older Canon len's. Now If I can get a good enough deal, I might just pull the trigger. It looks like a very well cared for lens though

One of my friend using 600mm NON IS with 1DM4 and i found his result better than my combo .

One thing you might want to consider as well is if you don't like it and need to unload it. A non-IS might take a long while longer to sell than an IS version, but it all boils down to what type of price you're getting it for in the first place. Best of luck and keep us posted on the goings on!

I have the earliest version of the 400mm f2.8 L. Just search the archive thread and you can see that it works fine, even with dings and scratches. The day will come I suppose when the motor will die and the lens will become a doorstop (no manual focus without the motor working). But it was very cheap comparatively, so will not complain. But tripod or heavy duty monopod is necessary for me to shoot with it.

Ricardo222 wrote in post #13715948
It's a landscape lens as well!

This is not a critique, just curiosity on my part. With the original raw file I could have gone hog wild playing with the various shades and contrasts.

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Up date......well I talk to the guy again. He wont budge off of $4900..00. He says that the lens is like brand new. I did find a place in chicago that works on older Canon lens, so if you need something for that 400mm let me know.

I presonally think that $4900.00 is to much for a 10yr old lens. I also do not believe it would be that easy to re-coup my money either.

advaitin wrote in post #13737529
This is not a critique, just curiosity on my part. With the original raw file I could have gone hog wild playing with the various shades and contrasts.

Good call Charles! I'm just dying to have time to get a bit creative with many of these shots...what you saw was SOOC and does look a bit inspid, I must say!

Today (Saturday) is bright and sunny and while I'd love to be "playing"...there's a whole heap of stuff to do that won't wait! Trees to top, garden to rescue, etc...not to mention a Docking plan for a Russian fishing vessel that got into trouble down in Antarctic waters and has just made it here for repairs...she's waiting for the current occupant of the marine railway to be relaunched later this week, and I have to design the blocks for her to rest on.

And I thought that I was going to retire sometime soon???

My goodness Common, you're knocking em outta the park with those pics! AMAZING!