(New Topic) Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM Lens: I recently purchased a Canon D6 Mark II camera and would like to get a telephoto lens without breaking the bank. On my previous...

ringo454 Loc: Weymouth, Ma.

I recently purchased a Canon D6 Mark II camera and would like to get a telephoto lens without breaking the bank. On my previous camera I did use a Tamron 70-300mm lens. However I would like to stay with Canon lens with this new camera.
If anybody would be kind enough to lend me your thoughts and experience with this Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM Lens. Any info, pro or con, would be appreciated! Thank you! BGS

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

ringo454 wrote:

I recently purchased a Canon D6 Mark II camera and would like to get a telephoto lens without breaking the bank. On my previous camera I did use a Tamron 70-300mm lens. However I would like to stay with Canon lens with this new camera.
If anybody would be kind enough to lend me your thoughts and experience with this Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM Lens. Any info, pro or con, would be appreciated! Thank you! BGS

It is a GREAT lens ! I have and use one. I am stunned by how good it is - sharpness and AF ! Here is the Ken Rockwell review which I totally agree with.-https://kenrockwell.com/canon/lenses/70-300mm-is-ii.htm

.

Canon 80D, 70-300 nano @300
Canon 80D, 70-300 nano @300...

(Download)

bleirer

I've been researching lenses in this price range on the various review sites. That looks like a real winner. at around $500, very sharp. The only other one to look at might be the 400mm prime, used around $800, looks a little sharper but no IS and no zoom, but a little more reach.

Haydon

Another alternative would be the L version of the 70-300 but that comes at more money. From personal experience, the IS on the L version has allowed me to shoot down to 1/6th of second at 300 mm. Build construction is excellent. It's a great travel lens but I'm not particularly fond of variable aperture.The 400L is a great value but comes with a couple of complications. Minimum focusing distance is only 11.5 feet and no IS. The 400L is very sharp despite it's age. For the longest time, it was a lens of preference with budget birders.

Imagemeister makes a solid case for the non L EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM Lens.

ggab Loc: ?

ringo454 wrote:

I recently purchased a Canon D6 Mark II camera and would like to get a telephoto lens without breaking the bank. On my previous camera I did use a Tamron 70-300mm lens. However I would like to stay with Canon lens with this new camera.
If anybody would be kind enough to lend me your thoughts and experience with this Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM Lens. Any info, pro or con, would be appreciated! Thank you! BGS

Super fast focus on par with the best L lens.
Fairly consistent IQ throughout the zoom range, a little soft at 300 wide open. f/8 seems to be the sweet spot @ 300mm.
Frankly, it's cheap for it's IQ.
Not weather sealed.
IMHO, blows away the Tamron 70-300mm.
Will not work with extenders.
If using this for birding at 300mm, I would suggest the 300mm f/4 IS prime. A bit more used, however you can use an extender. It is relatively lightweight and really sharp.
My $0.02 worth

khorinek

I have the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens, (version I). It also is a very good lens. You can pick one up on ebay for around $200.

bleirer

You know you really want the 100-400. The sooner you admit it to yourself the better off you will be. Think of the $500 you were going to spend as a nice down payment on the $1,800.

ringo454 Loc: Weymouth, Ma.

bleirer wrote:

You know you really want the 100-400. The sooner you admit it to yourself the better off you will be. Think of the $500 you were going to spend as a nice down payment on the $1,800.

ggab Loc: ?

ringo454 wrote:

I recently purchased a Canon D6 Mark II camera and would like to get a telephoto lens without breaking the bank. On my previous camera I did use a Tamron 70-300mm lens. However I would like to stay with Canon lens with this new camera.
If anybody would be kind enough to lend me your thoughts and experience with this Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM Lens. Any info, pro or con, would be appreciated! Thank you! BGS

KEH has the 300mm f/4 IS on sale.

https://www.keh.com/shop/canon-ef-300mm-f-4l-is-usm-telephoto-lens.html

Really good pricing, especially the budget level, $649.00. Use LNS7A for discount.

MountainDave

I used to own one. Definitely good value but then I bought a 70-200 F4L IS which is noticeably better. Now that it's been replaced with version II, I think you can buy used ones in the $500 range. You can also use extenders on it. If weight is not an issue, you might want to check out 100-400 version I. I think used ones are well under 1K now.

ringo454 Loc: Weymouth, Ma.

bleirer wrote:

You know you really want the 100-400. The sooner you admit it to yourself the better off you will be. Think of the $500 you were going to spend as a nice down payment on the $1,800.

Now you got me researching the Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD ....Uhhgg..

bleirer

ggab wrote:

KEH has the 300mm f/4 IS on sale.

https://www.keh.com/shop/canon-ef-300mm-f-4l-is-usm-telephoto-lens.html

Really good pricing, especially the budget level.

That 300 is a touch sharper on the test images. It has IS, but no zoom, and new is $1,300-$1,400, so even closer to the 100-400 price, and the 100-400 is noticeably sharper than both. https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx

ggab Loc: ?

bleirer wrote:

That 300 is a touch sharper on the test images. It has IS, but no zoom, and new is $1,300-$1,400, so even closer to the 100-400 price, and the 100-400 is noticeably sharper than both. https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx

If Zoom is important, then of course a prime is not the right lens.
Most people use long zooms at the max, which is why I suggested the 300 f/4 IS.
The KEH used are great quality and great prices.

Again, if zoom is important, then forget the 300 prime.
However, at $583.20, it may be worth a look. Use your tamron when you need zoom and the prime when you don't.

MountainDave

I also have a 300mm F4L IS. I bought a like new one for around $700. It takes exquisite shots with my 5D IV, even with a 1.4X attached. But it is fairly heavy and the old design IS and AF are noisy. For some reason, the AF is very inconsistent on my crop frame 77D. I find 300mm an odd focal length on full frames though. Not really long enough for most wildlife but too long for most anything else.

Haydon

MountainDave wrote:

Not really long enough for most wildlife but too long for most anything else.

That's true when attempting frame filling wildlife shots at any focal length unless they are acclimated to humans or your subject matter is large.