400mm f/5.6l IS USM or Canon 7D?

Here a link of my best soccer picture of this autumn.
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=779302

In this thread, I was asking a question about upgrading my material for shooting soccer. To resume, I have about 2000$ to spend on a new lens or body. I'm in question between the 400mm f/5.6l IS USM or the new Canon 7D. I already own a 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM and a 300mm f/4l IS USM. I'd like to have more zoom, I tought 300mm isn't enough. Sadly, I haven't enough $ to get a 400mm f/4 or f/2.8.

f/5.6 isn't a very fast aperture for shooting sport but most of the time, game are on daylight. And on the other side, 20D is getting older and when I have to work on higher iso, it's getting worst.

I need some advice! Help !:p

How about a 1.4x teleconverter and a 7D?

DDCSD wrote in post #8990121
How about a 1.4x teleconverter and a 7D?

Maybe, I'd gotta try coverter. I worry alot about quality because some of picture i'll take will be enlarge for publicity on the campus for the University i'm working for.

Sell the 300 f/4 and upgrade to a 300 2.8 with a 1.4 tele

the you have 300 @ 2.8 and 420 @ f/4 and a much better lens

eigga wrote in post #8990985
Sell the 300 f/4 and upgrade to a 300 2.8 with a 1.4 tele

the you have 300 @ 2.8 and 420 @ f/4 and a much better lens

Good idea but 300mm f/2.8 is too expensive for my budget, sadly! No one ever tried 400m f/5.6 for sport?

the 400mm 5.6 is a really fantastic lens. If you shooting in daytime get it.

It's really a great training tool to get used to framming an image @ 400mm. I've used both the 300mm f4 and 400mm 5.6 and I would grab the 400mm 5.6 over the 300mm 4.0 every time.

Both lens hold their resale value great so when your ready to upgrade you won't loose much there.

the 400 5.6 isnt going to drasticly change your ability to get great images IMO. Never tried it but 5.6 is really going to hurt your DOF for sports and be to slow in some cases.

Keep saving, your not that far off a 300 2.8 or 400 2.8 Mark 1 Besides being a faster lens they focus better, are wicked sharp and have great color/contrast

eigga wrote in post #8992922
the 400 5.6 isnt going to drasticly change your ability to get great images IMO. Never tried it but 5.6 is really going to hurt your DOF for sports and be to slow in some cases.

Keep saving, your not that far off a 300 2.8 or 400 2.8 Mark 1 Besides being a faster lens they focus better, are wicked sharp and have great color/contrast

I've got to agree. The 300 2.8 is terrific! It's not just a little better but a whole quantum leap better.

Crasher, those are great photos. I would go with the 7D. I started shooting sports with a 20D and got great photos. I got frustrated with the auto focus speed. I upgraded to a 40D and it was much faster focusing. The lower noise was also a benefit. Still not satisfied with speed I went and got a used 1D_MK3. Finally totally content. The 7D for most practical purposes is close if not equal to the MK3 in AF speed and noise plus you get a little extra reach. I also shoot with the 300-f/4 and it is a great lens. I use a 1.4 extender probably 50% of the time and that gives you 420-f/5.6 and great shots. Go to the Lens Sample Photo Archive to check lens IQ.
Fun factor? A camera upgrade from a 20D to a 7D for a sports shooter would be about as good as it gets.
Upgrading from a 300-f/4 to a 400-f/5.6. Meh…
Good Luck and looking forward to seeing more of your photos…
Jim

P.S. I have been saving for awhile for a used 300-f/2.8 too.

Here ya go....300 2.8 for under $3000

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=780022

82NoMe wrote in post #8993821
Crasher, those are great photos. I would go with the 7D. I started shooting sports with a 20D and got great photos. I got frustrated with the auto focus speed. I upgraded to a 40D and it was much faster focusing. The lower noise was also a benefit. Still not satisfied with speed I went and got a used 1D_MK3. Finally totally content. The 7D for most practical purposes is close if not equal to the MK3 in AF speed and noise plus you get a little extra reach. I also shoot with the 300-f/4 and it is a great lens. I use a 1.4 extender probably 50% of the time and that gives you 420-f/5.6 and great shots. Go to the Lens Sample Photo Archive to check lens IQ.
Fun factor? A camera upgrade from a 20D to a 7D for a sports shooter would be about as good as it gets.
Upgrading from a 300-f/4 to a 400-f/5.6. Meh…
Good Luck and looking forward to seeing more of your photos…
Jim

P.S. I have been saving for awhile for a used 300-f/2.8 too.

That is maybe what's i'm going to do. 1.4X is way less expensive than a new lens. And as you said, it's happen often that I get frustrated on my auto focus on 20D! Do you have some sport shot taken with your 300mm f4 and 7D ?

The 18 megapixel 7D will give you a lot of "cropability" so that you can shoot with your 300mm and cut the images down to the same field of view as you would have using a 400mm, but without the loss in aperture. And the 7D's improved high-ISO capability compared to your current 20D will go along way too. The 300 f2.8 is a great lens but it is quite a bit larger and heavier than the 300 f4, not nearly as easy to handhold over the course of a game.