Canon 300 2.8v1 vs Canon 100-400 4.5-5.6 v2

[Mergen Deniz]

Hello , ı also need some advice between canon 300 2.8v1 vs canon100-400 4.5-5.6 v2 . I m new in this flield , especially canon 300 w 2TC confused me as 600 mm reach at 5.6 ? Whats your advice ?
(I have 70D )
Thanks

[William Dickson]

I don't know about the 100-400, I am sure someone will Mergen. The Canon 300 2.8 V1 with 2x I have used a lot. This combo I found faultless. I used the 2x iii, and found hardly, if any, difference in IQ compared to the bare lens, the IQ was perfect. I would recommend this combo. The weight was ok (for me) when using handheld. I used this combo on a 5D Mk3. I don't know what it will be like on your camera.

Will

[Mergen Deniz]

Thanks Will for your reply ..

[Diane Miller]

I have both those lenses and find uses for both, but the 100-400 is more flexible with the zoom, and it is tack sharp -- a great bargain.

I agree with William about the 300 -- it is excellent and I'll never part with mine although I have (and love) the new 100-400 and the 600 II. Its main advantage of the 300 is the wider aperture, and the fact that you can get excellent quality as a 600 with the 2X TC. But it's a lot more weight and a very hefty price even for a used one. For the price difference, and the close focus, the 100-400 is well worth considering. And it can be had held for birds in flight, if you're close enough to them. It's also good with the 1.4X TC although slower focus and it's f/8 so you're limited to the center point. I don't know if your 70D will focus at f/8 with the center point.

[arash_hazeghi]

The 300 f/2.8 is a sharper lens than the zoom and it also focuses quite a bit faster, it is two stops faster too which helps in low light and it is obviously more expensive. But both of these lenses are a bit short for general bird photography unless you want to shoot a setup at close range or something like that.

Your camera will not focus with the 100-400+1.4x extender so that is going to be really short. Between the two I would pick the 300 without any hesitation. But, if I were in your shoes I would save a bit more and get a used 500 f/4 IS MKI.

[Mergen Deniz]

Thanks for your replies ..

[Karl Egressy]

The truth is that there are situations when a zoom lens is needed and the new 100-400 is a great one.
I'm seeing images coming from both lenses on a daily basis as my wife shoots with both.
The 300 f2.8 L IS used to be mine and it was excellent for BIF shooting, close range.
Yes, as William was telling you the 300 works well with the 2x extender and it does.
I never really used it with, but I see shooting buddies glue the 2.0x on theirs all the time.
As my wife smartly puts it: no matter what lens you have, 500, 600 or even 800, there will always be birds that are too far or too small for your lens,
so one must live with the limitations, referring to herself.

[Mergen Deniz]

Hello everybody , ı bougt a second hand canon 300 f2.8 , now the next question ; which teleconverter(s) for best results IQ & Af speed :
1)Kenko 1.4 (dg or dgx ?)
2)Kenko1.4x +canon 1.4vII : how will be AF&IQ ?
(Some bloggers says this combination will have faster AF ?)
3) canon 2xTCvIII

Thanks

[William Dickson]

Go for the Canon 2x iii :S3: Best TC for that lens

Will

[Diane Miller]

If you plan to upgrade later to any vII telephotos, the Canon III TC is the way to go. But for the older 300, the older II TC is said to work just as well. When the III came out it was double the cost of the II, and you can probably get a II for a lot less on the used market, if cost is a factor.

[arash_hazeghi]

Get the 2x III. 2X II is not sharp wide open.

stay away from third party

[Mergen Deniz]

Thanks everybody , ı glad to meet you here :) ı hope ı will got good shots

[John Flynn]

The series III 2x has much better optics that the series II. However the series II 1.4x and the series III are nearly identical as far as optics are concerned.

[Mergen Deniz]

Here my first BIF 152353

Canon70d+canon300-2.8vIS1
exif: 1/4000-f2.8-125

[Mergen Deniz]

I have questions about technique , ı used partial metering mode ; is it an mistake ? And any trick points should be known ; thanks

[John Flynn]

I use evaluative metering off the sky or something else I know the value of and set the exposure manually. This prevents the exposure from changing due to an approaching subject or variable background.

[Mergen Deniz]

Thanks John

[John Flynn]

I find that if working in a wide open space or controlled environments manual mode with an exposure set manually is the way to go. It is mandatory for bif. I use evaluative metering always because it is easy for me to mentally average a frame and I don't have to worry about what exactly the spot hit for spot metering. I don't switch my metering modes ever so I don't get screwed up in the wrong mode. Learn one and learn it well. That technique is up for debate. It doesn't work great when something is extremely back lit but I usually shy away from taking pictures like that unless I'm exposing for the background and making a silhouette. Going hi-key with super extreme back light usually comes out horrible so I don't care if evaluative metering does poorly there. If I really need the shot I can guess and correct off the histogram. I do occasionally take it out of full manual when shooting in a forest with birds moving rapidly between different lighting conditions. In that case I used to use aperture dependant mode, guess on my highest is to get a good shutter speed and work with exposure compensation using evaluative metering. When a bird would land I would take the shot with the guessed is and then try to quickly adjust it to yield an optimum shutter speed. That was a pain in the ***. I'm fortunate to own a 1dx and 7d II and both offer manual mode with exposure compensation (they are currently the only canon cameras to have this besides the 5ds). Basically you turn the camera to manual mode, set the ss, set the aperture and work with the exposure compensation. SO MUCH EASIER AND FASTER! This option was long available for nikon and canon finally caught up. Sorry for the dissertation on exposure theory but it seemed like you could use a little help and frankly I'm bored to death sitting on a cross country flight to reno Nevada. Figured I should do something productive. I hope that helps. You will figure out your own exposure tricks but this is what works for me. A bunch of this is up for debate but I really don't think that using manual mode for consistent lighting/bif is up for debate. The other modes are great for variable light or rapidly changing light such as during dawn/dusk but 90% of the time or more you should probably be in full manual. It will make life much easier for you in the long run. Enjoy that new lens and post some of your best pictures!
John

[Mike Hitchen]

I really don't think that using manual mode for consistent lighting/bif is up for debate.
John
I would qualify that with 'consistent lighting on the subject' and is particularly useful when the background is variable. As an example, on the local river when the bird is flying along the river it is often in constant lighting but the back ground can be rock, earth highlit foliage or deep shadow and the backgroudn can really screw it up when in an auto mode. For this I find the simple 'sunny f16' rule is invaluable as a starting point (in sunny conditions at f16, the shutter speed is is the reciprocal of the ISO so I can set f16,ISO 400,1/400 or f8,ISO400,1/1600).

[David Stephens]

Mergen, great first, but you've got a long ways to go. Are you shooting RAW? Do you know about Expose To The Right, etc., etc., etc.?

You've taken the first step on a long road, so don't get overwhelmed with all the suggestions.

Here are some for that particular shot. It's a slow bird, so 1/2000 would have been fast enough, allowing an aperture around f/8. Shooting in an auto mode was okay because the background is even, blue sky; however, the strong light made harsh shadows under the wings. You needed some +EV and then lower highlights and raise shadows in RAW conversion. When the background is more complex (like variable clouds behind the bird) then you'll want to consider Manual mode. There's nothing wrong with Av or Tv mode when the background is even, but then you have to understand when to add plus and minus EV.

It'll come time, practice and continued questions. Buy Art's book.

[Mergen Deniz]

Thanks everybody, it was jPEG, i ll try Raw, And Exposure Compensation , never tried but i should pratice it .

[Mergen Deniz]

A couple of bif 152460

[Mergen Deniz]

152461

[David Stephens]

Are those still JPEGs on Auto? You need to go to RAW, pull down highlights, raise shadows and modestly adjust contrast. Digital Photo Professional that came with your camera is an excellent RAW converter. It's all you need.