Price Question

I am researching lenses for a telephoto purchase and have come down to three lenses:

Canon 100-400 IS
Canon 300 f/4 IS
Canon 400 f/5.6

Looking at the price point of each lens, I assumed that the 400mm would be a wise choice since it has great IQ and I would usually be shooting at 400mm anyways. I am thinking of buying used since I do not really see the need to have a "brand new" lens and that is where my problem comes. When I look on the sale threads, there are never any 400 primes for sale. On the rare ocassion that there is, they usually are going for around $1000. I can buy one brand new on B&H for that price, so why are they so high?

The new 100-400 is around $1400 whereas the new 400 is $1000. I would assume, based on this price comparison, that I could get a used 400mm f/5.6 for around $300 less than a 100-400. This has not proven to be the case however. Most of the used 100-400 are going for around $1150 and the prime is going for around $1000. I would think that I could pick up a used 400 for around $800. Is that just wishful thinking?

Any help on this?

I did a search through the forums and only saw a few 400mm f/5.6's for sale in the last 18 months.

They were:
$920 Canadian (October 2007)
$920 American (October 2007)
Ebay, price not available (October 2007)
$875 American (April 2007)

It looks like more people are interested in buying than selling.

Yeah, that has been my observation as well. From studying the image forums I can see why: The 400 5.6L produces outstanding photos for a great price. It is hard to be the color rendition/contrast that comes from this lens. When comparing it to the 100-400 it seems better in almost every case, but it might just be that a lot of truly talented bird photographers are posting (I assume this is the case.) I might just end up picking up a new version since it is still cheaper than a used 100-400 (in general)

As I write there is a 400 5.6 for sale at the Fred Miranda buy/sell forum.

$899

thanks for the heads up!

[QUOTE=40Driggs;631690​9]I am researching lenses for a telephoto purchase and have come down to three lenses:

Canon 100-400 IS
Canon 300 f/4 IS
Canon 400 f/5.6

Looking at the price point of each lens, I assumed that the 400mm would be a wise choice since it has great IQ and I would usually be shooting at 400mm anyways. I am thinking of buying used since I do not really see the need to have a "brand new" lens and that is where my problem comes. When I look on the sale threads, there are never any 400 primes for sale. On the rare ocassion that there is, they usually are going for around $1000. I can buy one brand new on B&H for that price, so why are they so high?

The new 100-400 is around $1400 whereas the new 400 is $1000. I would assume, based on this price comparison, that I could get a used 400mm f/5.6 for around $300 less than a 100-400. This has not proven to be the case however. Most of the used 100-400 are going for around $1150 and the prime is going for around $1000. I would think that I could pick up a used 400 for around $800. Is that just wishful thinking?[/quote]

$800 is low. $900 is what i usually see.

ed rader

Yeah, I am sure that a lens of this caliber holds its value very well. $900 would be significant enough to buy. Anything much over that, and I might as well buy a new one.