Light weight lens?

[Shogun]

Liz is getting very downhearted about her skills with a camera and is talking about selling up. What she needs is a 400mm light weight zoom lens without going into the weight of the canon 100-400l. Is there such a beast?

 

[pxl8]

I think the 100-400 is probably one of the lighter 400mm lenses around. Is the weight an issue when shooting or carrying?

 

[andrewc]

I keep a Tamron 28-300 superzoom in my camera bag as its useful and only 600g - if my 24-105L isn't long enough I can use this. Saves me carting my Sigma 100-300 around unless I know I need it.

Sigma do a similar one with an image stabiliser system.

Not fast - f6.3 at 300mm (From memory) and not the quickest to focus - but the compromise is light weight and convenience.

I was quite surprised when I took it motor racing - it performed better than I thought it would.

 

[Moos3h]

There is the old style 400mm f5.6 L 'push pull' which is pretty lightweight?

These are fairly cheap used (i.e. 300 quid or less) but they aren't the sharpest of lenses in many cases. There are, however, a few people out there who swear by them

Cheers,
James

 

[Shogun]

I think the 100-400 is probably one of the lighter 400mm lenses around. Is the weight an issue when shooting or carrying?

Both. She has tried my 100-400 and says it is far too heavy. What she wants is photos that are sharp. We were at Knowsley Safari Park today and she was trying her 70-200L with a 2X converter to get the distance but a lot are blurred. I am looking for a decent light weight lens that doesn't need a converter to get the distance before she sells up and quits.

 

[Shogun]

Think we might have got Liz back on track. The 400D with my 100-400 was a bit awkward for her but the 40D with the 100-400 seems to balance well. Looks like it has not only cost me a 40D but my best lens could well have been kidnapped.

 

[StewartR]

Canon 400mm f/5.6 L. Light, incredibly fast autofocus, very very sharp. It's a design that's optimised for bird or aircraft photography. The only downside is that it doesn't have IS (because that would make it heavier, slower to focus and less sharp) so it needs decent light.