Canon 300 F2 with teleconverters for BIF
I've been agonizing on the new lens decision. I was all prepared to go all out and purchase the 500 F4 until I actually saw someone hauling it and a tripod around. I want more portability. So I'm leaning to the 300 F2 with converters. I've read several excellent threads here on Bridphotographers.net. From Peiker's Great 400mm Canon shootout I'm convinced that IQ would be very good. Jay Gould has stated that he was very happy with his purchase of the 300F2. BUT, I haven't seen a lot about this combination for BIF work. Will the 300 with a 1.4X do the job? I have read that with great light, I might even be able to shoot BIF with a 2X converter (Sidharth Kodikal 11-24-09). I like the idea of having 300mm, 420mm, and 600 mm with one lens and converters. Still, I feel sort of silly buying a prime 300 mm lens when I almost never shoot at 300. I've been shooting the horrible combination of 70-200 F2.8 with a 2X converter on my 40D and almost always shoot at 400 and most of my shots are not sharp -- same thing reported in the Peiker article. I also often wish I had more distance capability. Will I be happy with speed and accuracy of focus at least with the 1.4 converter for BIF? Any hope for the 2X? Note that a lot of my photos are of wading birds, so I definitely am not interested only in BIF. I can't see going with the 400 F5.6 since I'd lose limited light capability and I don't want to spend the $$ for the 400 DO. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm looking for a good all around combination that would be good for BIF and Stationary birds. Thanks
Marvin T. Smith