Which telephoto lens

higgy1541

higgy1541

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James
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I have just purchased a canon 40d to back up my 500d. I do motorsports photography and already have the canon 70-200 l series lens, but it doesn't really give me enough reach.

I was looking at the canon 400mm f5.6 prime lens to go on the 40d body for the long shots. Is this a decent lens for motorsports? Or if anyone else can make a suggestion, I have about £750-£1000 to spend on a lens.

Thanks

James
 
Yes that would be a good choice, fast focusing and a favourite with bird photographers. You may miss a bit of zoom flexibility and others to conseder are the canon 100-400 and Sigma 120-400, 150-500 and the newer 50-500, though this is probably outside your budget.

This was from my first time shooting motorsport with the Sigma 150-500 at Silverstone BTCC media day.

IMG_4592.jpg


IMG_5215.jpg
 
The canon 400mm f5.6 is a good quality lens that has been around for some time now, favourite with birders because of its compact and light ease of use. Seen several around secondhand on a couple of forums and haved read nothing but good reviews.
 
Yeah I was thinking forums but I need minimum 25 posts before I can view the classifieds on here. Have seen a couple on eBay from HK for around £900 brand new.
 
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MPB has the 400 5.6 here. £880 with 6 months warranty. They also have the 300 f4 which would also be suitable - it works well with a 1.4x TC to give you a good 300f4 and a pretty good 420 f5.6. That would be my choice.
 
The 400 f/5.6 is supposed to be a cracking lens. You won't get a sharper 400 short of the very expensive f/4 DO or f/2.8 models.

Downsides are lack of IS and close focussing (3.5m), (and flexibility if you're comparing it to zooms). I wouldn't imagine those cons will affect you in the slightest for your purpose, you're shooting fast moving stuff so IS is irrelevant and you've got a good shorter zoom in case you go somewhere where things are closer.

The 400 f/5.6L sounds like a great choice for you :thumbs:
 
Good light'ish lens with fast AF, bit slow in anything other than bright conditions, no IS although the high shutter speed you would use negates any camera shake problems.

Image quality is excellent and also like the built in hood, reckon it would serve you well, I do own one so speaking from actual experience and its used on a 40D

(bit surprised you use the 40D as a back up to a 500D especially given the much improved fps rate and overall improved ease of use)
 
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Just gonna throw in the idea of getting a Sigma 400mm f/5.6 HSM Telemacro for £100 or so. There's not much information on it but when I was looking into it some sources said it wasn't far off the 400 f/5.6L. If you don't mind shooting wide open you could save a bundle!
 
AF on the old sigma 400 might not be up to standard for motorsport.
 
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rssmrry said:
Was fine for BIF for me :S
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Ignore me then, I was talking from reading someone else's experience with this lens.
If you've got experience with it yourself then that's much more reliable than what I'm spouting :bonk:
 
Thanks for the reply people. Given what I have read on here and other reviews I think the Canon 400 f5.6 is the lens for the job. Just going to look out for a reasonably priced one now.
 
squishy said:
Ignore me then, I was talking from reading someone else's experience with this lens.
If you've got experience with it yourself then that's much more reliable than what I'm spouting :bonk:
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Nah I believe there is another 400 f/5.6 that doesn't have the telemacro designation. That's the one to avoid as I understand it.

That said the HSM isn't as fast as my 70-200's USM but it's not far off it.

Worth considering if you're on a budget. You'll probably be able to sell it on again if you don't like it for little or no loss (profit maybe?) as there seems to be a healthy market on ebay for them. There's one on just now and the seller kindly provided a link with reviews on this lens:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=130
http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/306-sigma-af-400mm-f56-hsm-apo-macro-test-report--review
 
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Oh and long story short Tijuana taxi, I had a 40D a few years back and sold it because I was short of cash, recently got back in to photography by buying a 500D but it made me realise how good the 40 was so I bought one second hand.
 
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artyman said:
Yes that would be a good choice, fast focusing and a favourite with bird photographers. You may miss a bit of zoom flexibility and others to conseder are the canon 100-400 and Sigma 120-400, 150-500 and the newer 50-500, though this is probably outside your budget.

This was from my first time shooting motorsport with the Sigma 150-500 at Silverstone BTCC media day.

IMG_4592.jpg


IMG_5215.jpg
Click to expand...

Sorry but to me that doesn't look too sharp or good? (image quality-wise).
 
Ok biggest question now. 400mm f5.6 prime or 300mm f4 with 1.4x converter?

I like the idea of the IS on the 300mm but cant ignore the sharper better contrasted images the 400mm prime would give.

I wouldnt have any issue with AF using the 300mm and 1.4x convertor on a 40D would I?
 
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