Birding Travel lens and GPS

[fabiobernardino]

I'll be in NYC next week for the Photo Plus Expo and I'd like to do some birding at Central Park and other places (Jamayca bay).
I won't bring my big lens so I was thinking of buying the 70-300/L IS.
I am not sure if a 300mm would be enough overall and the 100-400 would be better.
But sine the 100-400 seems to be replaced soon, I am not much into buying it now. Thinking about renting one while I'm there.
And the 70-300/L IS although has good reviews I can't justify the lens at this price, main reasons are (compared to the 100-400):
- no tripod collar
- no focus delimiter
- f5.6 at 300mm
If the lens was less than U$ 1,000 I think I would take it but not at the current price.

What are your thoughts ?

My travel kite now is:
Canon 7D
Canon 10-22
Sigma 17-50/2.8 OS

Any suggestion of a portable GPS that goes in the backpack to add tracklog information later ?


Thank you.

[Graeme Sheppard]

I absolutely love my 70-300L, and just sold my 400 5.6L as I never use it anymore.
It's light, small, sharp, quick to focus, weather-sealed and fun. Worth every penny to me.
Personally I find it long enough, but I'm no pro and I'm happy enough to crop my 7D photos.
I just bought a collar for it, but I'll not use it all that often as the IS is excellent. I'll use it in a hide, I expect.

For the 100-400L, I didn't like the feel of it one bit when I tried one out several years ago. Back then, the talk of an imminent replacement was already well in it's stride, so don't hold your breath!

[Larry Handal]

I have both lenses and even though I like the 70-300L better for its size and better IS,
the 100-400 with the extra 100mm is my go to portable combo. Both my lenses are indistinguishable as far as sharpness in field conditions.