Airshow Lens?

Is the EF 28-300 f3.5-5.6 L IS any good? Seems to get mixed reviews from what I've read so far.

Pros:
Faster (but probably the same at 100mm, compared to the 100-400)
3rd gen IS

Cons:
Heavy
Shorter focal lenth (compared to the 100-400)

 
edster said:
I'm looking at several lenses mainly for airshows/fly-pasts etc, but need some advice as to which to go for. I'm mainly interested in Canon L lenses (for my 400D).

So far I have these in mind:

EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS
EF 300 f/4 L IS
EF 400 f/5.6 L

I have a 1.4x extender, so this could be used with either of the primes.

What's your advice in terms of IQ, AF speed, lens speed?
Click to expand...

edster....what you failed to mention a budget....the canon 100-400mm is a popular lens, and very versitile...if you get a good copy...you can't really go wrong with this lens in good light, yes the primes are sharper and most of the time you will be shooting between 300-400mm, but you do have the advantage of zoom.

Unless you have a 1D body, you lose autofocus with this and the 400mm on a cropped body with a 1.4x TC. There are other lenses out there like the bigma sigma 50-500mm or sigma 100-300mm f4 (great lens) or your into the plus £1000/2000 market like the sigma 120-300mm (monopod) or the canon primes 300mm f2.8 or 400mm f4 DO (handhold), but mega $$$$

Peter
 
edster said:
How's the 400L digitalfailure? Did you get it yet?
Click to expand...

Yes, it arrived on Wednesday evening :)

You'll have to make do with 1st impressions, because thats all I have

The lens is actually quite light...it feels a tad lighter than the sigma 70-200 f2.8 that it shares a bag with.
The build is superb as you'd expect from an L series product. The fixed hood isn't actually fixed in the basic sense of the word which surprised me a little bit, it slides forward and twists to lock it.

Focus is quick and accurate as long as your not expecting it to go from the closest focus point to infinity, but even then with it's USM it's not slow.

In true Df fashion I've taken 1 shot with it so far and that was hand held , it went straight into the minitrekker where it'll stay until the weekend :D

I need to get hold of another tripod mounting plate for it tomorrow, 400mm really shows you how steady you are :eek:
 
pete.rush said:
edster....what you failed to mention a budget....
Click to expand...

Hi Peter,

My budget is around £800 - I can't really stretch any further than that - all though I wish I could! ;) The 400L f4 DO looks very nice indeed!

Still can't decide whether to get a zoom or a prime. All of my other lenses are zooms (except the nifty), so another prime would be nice, but maybe a zoom is the better option for what I want it for...

digitalfailure said:
Yes, it arrived on Wednesday evening :)

it went straight into the minitrekker where it'll stay until the weekend :D

400mm really shows you how steady you are :eek:
Click to expand...

Excellent. Let us know how you get on with it, in particular hand-held shots.

 
edster if you budget is around the £800 mark, then yes you could just about stretch for a 100-400mm from kerso (UK) or URGalaxy (HK) on eBay, both have some good recommendations. If your not sure about buying off eBay, then you could try warehouseexpress and maybe the sigma 100-300mm f4, this is a great lens, sharp, f4 throughout the range (on the downside is no IS, but for airshows and sport you don't use this anyway) and you could also include a 1.4x TC in the budget with this lens.
 
Edster, you won't get a 28-300 for under about £1250, even from Ian Kerr (kerso) who by the way is used by a lot of us, is very reliable unless he's ill/on holiday!,so it's out of your buget, unfortunately.
I am interested in anyone's thoughts on this lens, and will be starting a thread in a week or so.
 
pete.rush said:
edster if you budget is around the £800 mark, then yes you could just about stretch for a 100-400mm from kerso (UK)
Click to expand...

Ian's price for the 100-400L is £790, plus there is £75 cashback at the moment, so well within budget. I've bought most of my lenses from him...

I read that sigma 100-300mm f4 is quite heavy (big factor for me), plus I'd rather have the option of IS whether I use it or not as I might do some wildlife photography with this lens at some point.

George said:
Edster, you won't get a 28-300 for under about £1250, even from Ian Kerr (kerso) who by the way is used by a lot of us, is very reliable unless he's ill/on holiday!,so it's out of your buget, unfortunately.
I am interested in anyone's thoughts on this lens, and will be starting a thread in a week or so.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I haven't looked at prices for this lens yet. I also read that it is about 350g heavier than the 100-400L and not as sharp, so that would have alos ruled it out...

 
Sigma 100-300mm : 1440g
Canon 100-400mm : 1380g
Canon 28-300mm : 1670g

You won't notice the difference between the first two, but the 28-300 does feel noticeably chunkier.
 
Well, I've changed my mind again and I think I'm going to go for the 100-400L. Given my ability It's probably best that I use a zoom for airshows this season and see how I get on. If I'm feeling flush next year I'll try the 300L f/4.

Has anyone ever had any probs with the 100-400L in wet/damp weather? Is it actually classed as being weather sealed as per the other L lenses? This is my only worry about it now (given how unpredictable the weather is these days!).

 
Not all L series lenses are weather proof, I wouldn't have thought the 100-400 L is one of the weather proof ones either, water will get into it via the slide zoom and also from memory there is no "O" ring at the mount to seal against the body.

After my first outing with a long prime......a zoom is an easier option :D
 
Great prices!

I also looked at the 100-400 for airshows but decided on a 2 (3) lens solution. 70-200 f2.8L IS, 300 f4L IS and I add a 1.4x converter if I need the reach.

Works well. The 100-400 is a great lens though and I don't think anyone would be disappointed if they bought it as it is extremely versatile at an airshow. However I also agree with a poster above who stated it does need decent light. Cloudy days (we get them a lot here in Scotland)! means much lower light and therefore high ISO may be required when using lenses with an f5.6 max aperture
 
digitalfailure said:
Not all L series lenses are weather proof, I wouldn't have thought the 100-400 L is one of the weather proof ones either, water will get into it via the slide zoom and also from memory there is no "O" ring at the mount to seal against the body.

After my first outing with a long prime......a zoom is an easier option :D
Click to expand...

Ok, thought as much. The zoom was what tempted me back to this lens. I think I'll stick with it until I'm more adept, then see if I'd benefit from a prime...

EOS_JD said:
Great prices!

I also looked at the 100-400 for airshows but decided on a 2 (3) lens solution. 70-200 f2.8L IS, 300 f4L IS and I add a 1.4x converter if I need the reach.

Works well. The 100-400 is a great lens though and I don't think anyone would be disappointed if they bought it as it is extremely versatile at an airshow. However I also agree with a poster above who stated it does need decent light. Cloudy days (we get them a lot here in Scotland)! means much lower light and therefore high ISO may be required when using lenses with an f5.6 max aperture
Click to expand...

Yeah, the speed of the lens was a put off, but as you say, I can up the ISO on a cloudy day. Not ideal, but an option. Liking the backup plan with the 70-200L f/2.8. Hmmm, maybe I'll sell my 70-200 F/4 and get an f/2.8...

 
Decent choice as you have a great fast telephoto that acts like a 98-280 f4 IS with the 1.4x and if you have the 300f4L IS you get a 420mm f5.6 IS....

Means chanhing lenses a bit more although with 2 bodies I don't have that problem,.
 
The 100-400L I ordered arrived on Friday - and it hasn't stoped raining since! :-( The images that I've taken so far though I'm quite impressed with. The 'trombone' action of the lens is a lot better than I expected, and for airshows will be really useful. Looks like this lens needs a decent amount of light though. The weight of it isn't as bad as I expected either (makes all my other lenses feel like feathers!

Overall I'm really pleased with it so far, so thanks for everyones advice :thumbs:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top