Canon100-400

mjb123

mjb123

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I'm looking to get a new lens for a bit more zoom for nature, so do I get the canon 100-400 or sigma 50-500 I've read a similar thread and most said that the canon is better in bad light but the sigma has the extra zoom which is good, but wouldn't the ultimate be the canon to start with and then if you need a bit more zoom then get an extender!! I'm quite new to all this so would appreciate some feed back!!
 
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Thanks I did read this and did find it helpful, I am unsure of what tc and 1d means sorry you'll have to bare with me I'm a complete novice and probably out of my depth!!
 
tc means teleconverter, and 1d is canons top line of cameras the 1d series, anything under that will only auto focus at 5.6 and wider, so the 100-400mm is a 5.6 which is fine but stick a tc on and its not, 1d series will auto focus upto f8,
also lenses always focus wide open then when you press the shutter to take th pic the lens will stop down so what you have set this is to make focusing quicker and more accurate.
 
scottthehat said:
tc means teleconverter, and 1d is canons top line of cameras the 1d series, anything under that will only auto focus at 5.6 and wider, so the 100-400mm is a 5.6 which is fine but stick a tc on and its not, 1d series will auto focus upto f8,
also lenses always focus wide open then when you press the shutter to take th pic the lens will stop down so what you have set this is to make focusing quicker and more accurate.
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thanks scott... i have a 100-400 and stuck a flamin 2x on it... bang no AF!!!! ... had to edge the ring round myself... :thinking: using liveview as shooting the moon... this answers my troubles... think i'll stick to shooting it during the day maybe? .. :thumbs:
 
100-400 is brilliant and crisp even with a 2x tc. You just have to manually focus, easy if you have live view and 10x zoom.
Plenty of depth of field at f11.
 
SamuelSlade007 said:
thanks scott... i have a 100-400 and stuck a flamin 2x on it... bang no AF!!!! ... had to edge the ring round myself... :thinking: using liveview as shooting the moon... this answers my troubles... think i'll stick to shooting it during the day maybe? .. :thumbs:
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hi, what tc are you using some report beter results using different make tcs.
 
The sigma 50-500OS is more flexible with a bit more focal length and a little heavier and not quite as sharp/contrasty wide open (but it does a bang up job considering it's amazing zoom range for the same price as the canon!!).

The 100-400L is lighter and a little sharper. It also has the unusual push/pull zoom which some people hate and some love. Personally I'm indifferent to it, it can sometimes be a little impractical when you've got the lens sticking out of a hide, but when you're tracking large birds in flight like Gannets at Bempton Cliffs, it's very instinctual to keep the framing how you want it with the push/pull.

When I bought the canon, the sigma was a couple of hundred pounds more expensive and I simply couldn't afford it (the canon was stretching things anyway), so I didn't really consider it.
But now their prices are the same, I think it's worth going to somewhere where you can try both and see which you prefer to use.
They're both excellent going by my own experience and user comments, just both slightly better than each other at different things.

There is a good impartial comparison between the two lenses on juzaphoto.com, but the link to it is dead at the moment. I'll post a link to that comparison once it's working again :).
 
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I've just bought the Canon 100-400 (was delivered on Wednesday).

Lovely lens, the push pull is a bit strange at the mo, but good.

Another thing it does, which i've not know another lens to do, is you can have it on auto focus, but still turn the ring to find your subject. A really basic thing - but so helpful.

The only other thing to note is the weight, you'll obviously get this with any large zoom, but will take me a while to get used to that.
 
Well I think that settles it I shall seek out a 50-500 and try it only trouble is that there arn't many camera shops in my area only the normal jessops and London camera exchange neither of them stock it!!
 
mjb123 said:
Will a 50-500 work well on my canon 450d??
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At 2kg, it will feel like a camera strapped to a lens rather than the other way around...
 
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mjb123 said:
Will a 50-500 work well on my canon 450d??
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it will af fine on your camera i believe that the lens at f6.3 lies to the camera and tells it its f5.6 and it doesnt cause any problems, many canon users use the 150-500mm os which is f6.3 with no problems.
and no you wont lose af at all.
 
scottthehat said:
it will af fine on your camera i believe that the lens at f6.3 lies to the camera and tells it its f5.6 and it doesnt cause any problems, many canon users use the 150-500mm os which is f6.3 with no problems.
and no you wont lose af at all.
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I stand corrected - thanks :)
 
A slight crop from a shot taken with a 350D and a Sigma 150-500
Img_5951c.jpg
 
squishy said:
There is a good impartial comparison between the two lenses on juzaphoto.com, but the link to it is dead at the moment. I'll post a link to that comparison once it's working again :).
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The link on the Juzaphoto website goes to a review for a Sigma 20mm. Change the last digit on the address bar from 53 to 54 for the Sigma 50-500mm/Canon 100-400mm comparison. (http://www.juzaphoto.com/article.php?l=en&article=54)
 
timfenton said:
The link on the Juzaphoto website goes to a review for a Sigma 20mm. Change the last digit on the address bar from 53 to 54 for the Sigma 50-500mm/Canon 100-400mm comparison. (http://www.juzaphoto.com/article.php?l=en&article=54)
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Thanks for that.

Looking at it again, there's something odd with both the samples he tested there I think, though.
The canon is much too soft at shorter focal lengths (mine is razor sharp at those focal lengths) and the sigma's OS shouldn't be that ineffective, other reviews report it as very good.
 
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