Field Tested: the Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II

[Arthur Morris]

This has been a really useful thread. As mentioned in an earlier thread I am looking at the new 300/2.8 II instead of the new 500/4 II for a variety of reasons- size and weight, transportability, hand-holdability, flexibility, and cost amongst them. So here's a direct question- if you did not have a Canon super-tele (but had the version III TCs), and could only own one super-tele, right now, would you pick up the 300/2.8 II or wait a little for the 500/4 II? Thanks in advance for any insight here.

If I liked birds, I'd probably go for the 600 II.... All else being equal. That raises the question: which camera body??? When using the 2X III TC with an f/4 Series II super-telephoto with the 50D, 7D, MIV, 5D II, 5D3, or 1DX you will not enjoy AF..... You will have central sensor only AF only with the pro bodies, the MII series, the MIII, and the MIV....

While that is no big deal to many it is important to note that about 40% of the images in ABP II were created with either the 500 or 600 f/4 with a 2X TC.... It has long been my belief that skilled competent photographers with good sharpness techniques should be ale to consistently create sharp images with either the old 500 or the old 600 and a 2X at shutter speeds as slow as 1/60 sec.

Here's a relevant excerpt from BAA Bulletin #400:

An e-mail conversation with Rudi Van Minnebruggen:

AM: Hi Rudi, re:

RVM: In your post: “Will the EF 800mm f/5.6L IS Soon Become Obsolete?” you stated: “In my humble opinion folks who purchase expensive super telephoto lenses would be best using a Mark IV body with it for a variety of reasons. I will try to remember to do a blog post on that soon”. I am very much interested in your humble opinion, so I have been searching your website, blog, bulletins etc etc but could not find anything.... Would you please be so kind to send me the link to the article.

AM: Well, I never followed up on that; here is what I was/am thinking:

With any Canon body that focuses only to f/5.6--including the 50D, the 7D, the 5D MII, and even the new pro body--the Canon EOS-1DX--coming sometime this year--if you have the 800mm f/5.6 you have only one focal length. You cannot get AF with any teleconverter because the lens is (already) at f/5.6.

With a Mark IV (and previous generation pro bodies) you get AF with the lens alone and with the 1.4X II TC. This gives you limited flexibility--two focal lengths--but it is better than being stuck with only one focal length.

The 300 and 400mm f.2.8L IS II lenses suddenly become much more attractive especially for folks who live in areas with lots of tame birds and wildlife or those who travel to places like the Galapagos or the Southern Oceans. That said the 400II with a 2X II TC is nothing to sneeze at in terms of focal length. And with each of these lenses any of the above-mentioned cameras will AF with both the 1.4X and the 2X TCs; this will give you three focal lengths.

With the two new Series II super-telephotos--the 500 and 600 f/4L IS II lenses will have AF with the aforementioned bodies only with the 1.4X TCs. Therefore, if you want to use either of these new lenses with a 2X TC and have AF you will need to hold on to a Mark IV body or two....