Quote:
Originally Posted by M_Six
Chewy, if that post above was supposed to talk Dave out of buying a 1D-X, it failed. Hell, I'm ready to get one now. 
I have a question with regards to super-teles. I was daydreaming the other day and looking at a 400mm f2.8 IS II. Using a 2x TC would give you 800mm @ f5.6 with IS, which seems very attractive. What are your reasons for going with the 500 f4 IS over the 400 f2.8? Wouldn't the speed of f5.6 vs f8 be useful? Or does the added reach outweigh that? |
800mm is nice, but 1,000mm is better and 1,200mm is something else. If you could stack the TC-IIIs, then f/2.8 would allow combining to get out to 1,040mm, but you can't stack the TC-IIIs unless you put an extension tube in middle and then you can't infinity focus.
Stacking Kenko TCs could be an option.
I haven't looked at the MTF charts for the 400mm f/2.8 IS II. I suspect that it's greatly improved over the not so great S-I. The 500mm S-II is almost flat. My S-I is so good, it's hard to imagine it getting better.
If you don't have a camera that'll focus at f/8, then I recommend switching bodies before buying any of these lenses. Yeah, with the 400/2.8 you can AF on any of the prosumer Canons at f/5.6, but none of those AF systems is anywhere near as accurate, consistent and flexible as the 1D series and the 5D3. Believe me, even the 7D is a distant second best when it comes to accuracy and consistency. (I own one). For super telephoto shooting you need both a great lens and a body with strong AF.
I hang out some at bird photographers.net and the most common lenses I see used are the 300/2.8, 400/5.6, 500/4.0, 600/4.0 and 800/5.6. I can't recall seeing the 400/2.8 mentioned. If you search for it on Flickr you get a wide range of images, but mostly sport, indoor and outdoor.
I used to shoot my 500mm at 700mm using my 1.4x TC, but as soon as my camera would AF at f/8, I put on an EF 2.0x TC-III to shoot at 1,000mm and hardly take it off. I carry two cameras, so I've got a 70-200mm with a 1.4x TC attached on the 7D body. Whether you'll carry two bodies is a big factor. Almost all sport photographers do and many of us wildlife guys do.
Dave