I am in the market to upgrade to a bigger zoom lens, the two I have narrowed it down to are:
Canon 70-300 f4-5.6 L IS
Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS
Both have their advantages and disadvantages. It is speculated the 100-400 will be updated very soon, so I am trying to be as patient as possible. The 70-300 however, is significantly smaller and I am hearing that is performing much better than anticipated. There are two new reviews out on the 70-300 and I am very impressed with the quality of images and feedback from each photographer.
Be sure to check it out if you are in the market for a new Canon Zoom:
Canon Rumors Review of 70-300L
Eric Meola’s Review of 70-300L
Looks like a great lens for sure. Went to my mailbox today and there waiting for me was the Photography Business Crash Course DVD! Thanks for putting this together Miichael…now to warm up the DVD player and let your teaching begin:)
I have the 70-200 IS along with a 1.4 teleconverter, which puts me at a 448 mm lens at F4.
If money isn’t an issue, yeah, it’s nice to have both the 70-200 and the 70-300, but doesn’t it make more sense to get the 70-200 with a 1.4 teleconverter?
I would suggest going with the 70-300 over the 100-400.
Another photographer proved to me that the push pull design of the 100-400 causes a lot of dust to get caught up in the internal lenses because it acts like a huge air-pump. Truthfully, any time you change the internal volume air will enter, and where air enters dust will too, but all the 100-400 has for protection is tiny little brushes – unlike the 70-200 which has a very good weather seal.
I wish cannon would change it to a screw type, and provide better seals, because I could really use a 100-400 L lens in my toolbox for my aircraft photography. But I am holding out for a better version.
I have tested both lenses and I would recommend buying the 70-300mm L for the following reasons:
4-stop IS outperforms 100-400mm IS
Auto focusing is faster
Image quality is sharper across the range
Is smaller than the 100-400mm
I like the canon 70-200 f4 IS and when needed the 1.4 xx. I suppose the 300 is more convenient but the extender isn’t used by me so much so I don’t care for any zoom with a variable aperture. That’s a broad generalization but the constant aperture is more stable. I don’t know where the 70-300 switches to 5.6 so if most of your shots will be under 200mm than the f;4 constant is a winner for my purposes. I would use the teleextender for a 300 f4 IS if I find a need to run after sparrows in my backyd. I’ve seen lots of shots using this telephoto lens for flowers and they are good. I just don’t like the 70-300 focal length for general use.