Howdy

[Tasar]

Well i stumbled onto this forum while searching the web so i thought i'd sign up and introduce myself. I'm just starting to get into sports photography and i'm loving it. I purchased a Canon 350D about 2 weeks before the 400 came out and i was pissed that the sales consultant didnt inform me about it, But life moves on. I'm in the middle of design a website to host and display my images so stay tuned. I love my AFL and being a victorian that grew up in Queensland i also love my Rugby and Rugby League. I love my cricket and motorsport and dont mind alittle basket ball so expect to see a range of different sports. I do have 1 question given the choice what canon lense would you buy, EF 400 F5.6L USM or an EF 300 F4IS i'm leaning towards the 300 because it has Image Stability and i was also going to attach a EF Extender 2x onto what ever one i buy.


Chris

[Gaffman]

Hey Chris, welcome to the forums.

I'm not a canon user, or have any experience with these lenses but my feeling is that if you're shooting sport, you'll be using fairly fast shutter speeds which may eliminate much of the need for an image stabilised lens. Not saying it wouldn't come in handy for other subjects but you can probably save a significant amount of coin on your telephoto without IS.

But i'm no expert =D

Cheers,

[stevemace]

Hello Chris,

Welcome to the forum.

I battled with the 400 f/5.6 and 300 f/4 decision for ages. I went the 300 route as I thought I would get more out of being able to use it at 300 as well as with a TC. There are lots of discussions surrounding these lenses (on other forums) as you are probably aware.

You mention about using a 2x TC. You know that you will lose Auto Focus on both of these lenses. I regularly use the 1.4x TC on the 300 f/4 and have no quality issues - still retains AF. The 2x on the other hand would be questionable in my mind as far as slowness of AF and image quality (it works fine on the 300 f2.8). Have a search of the web and see some examples of these lenses with the 2x before committing.

There are other options such as the Sigma 50-500 which I have tried once, and TassieD on this forum uses, which will give you just as good results.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Steve.