I have been reading all the responses to the questions regarding the various zoom lenses. I do a lot of traveling and I would like to expand my lens selection. I have an Elan, with 2 other lenses, and a 1.4 teleconverter. I was considering the 100-400 or the fixed 300 f:4L. Many of you seem very knowledgeable, so I'd like your opinions on this. I's mainly looking for a lens for nature or wildlife pictures. I also narrowed it down to these 2 lenses, so from these 2 what would you recommend. Thanks

-- Angela Weeks (GPDMTR25@aol.com), January 02, 2002

Answers

100-400 for its IS and versitility.

-- Jeff Nakayama (moonduck22@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.

I do not own either of these lenses but since you have narrowed the selection down to these two only, I would pick the 100-400mm. For travel, a zoom will always be more versatile than a fixed focal length.

-- Lee Shively (Leemarthakiri@aol.com), January 03, 2002.

The 300 f/4L will produce sharper images and may serve you better for your wildlife shots IF your other lenses will compensate for its lack of virsitility. Consider the whole package - will the zoom be redundant? If not, that may be your best bet. But if you already have lenses that cover part of that focal range, I would strongly consider the straight 300. Of course, you may not want to lug it around (I don't know how big it is compared to the 100-400).

-- Derrick Morin (dmorin@oasisol.com), January 03, 2002.

Thanks for your help. I figured out I'm going to sell my 75-300mm canon lense and replace it with the 100-400. Thanks :)

-- Angela (GPDMTR25@aol.com), January 03, 2002.

Well...

I've got the 300 F4L IS, and the 1.4X TC, as well as the 70-200 F4L. I could replace ALL of this with just the 100-400, but at the cost of image quality.

I think, for travel, the 100-400 is a good choice. I travel with my kit, and it can be a pain (especially as I'm too young to be able to rent a car).

A good travel combo would be 28-105 and 100-400, with a Canon 1.4X TC as well if you have an EOS 3 or 1V or 1D, or don't mind manual- focus. This gives you a lot of range for not many lenses. Problem is that going wider is useful also.

My kit comprises of 24-85 USM, 70-200 F4L USM and 300 F4L IS USM lenses, with the 1.4X TC. Once I get my EOS 3, I will get a 2X TC also. This makes a good travel kit, not really missing any part of the range, and offering good image quality, but is heavier and less convenient as the kit mentioned about.

I'd say, despite owning the 300 F4L IS, that the 100-400 is the better travel lens.

-- Isaac Sibson (isibson@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.

I have both lenses and have travelled quite a lot with each of them but never both. The 100-400 is of course more versatile but I find the quality of the 300 f4 IS is much better and I always regret not taking it. I also take the 1.4x converter. My other lenses on travel always include a f2.8 wide angle and the 28-135 IS. Personally I find the 100-400 tends to 'soft' images with very close up shots whereas the f4 prime is sharp from every aspect. The 300mm f4 is great for bird flight shots.

-- Andrew Hardacre (andrew@jhardacre.freeserve.co.uk), January 06, 2002.

I went through similar angst six months ago when I was debating whether to purchase the 300 f4 IS, 400 f5.6 and the 100-400. I opted for the 100-400, and am very glad that I did. The reason is length, versatility and image stabilization. I've taken some absolutely stunning bird images since acquiring this lens along with the EOS 3 w/PB-2 booster, the most recent being at Bosque del Apache this past weekend. I was with a friend who in addition to having the 100-400 uses the new 500 f4 IS. We both commented what a wonderful lens the 100-400 is.

Happy hunting!

-- Gary Singer (gsinger@earthlink.net), January 08, 2002.

If I'm travelling, I'd avoid my 100-400L and pick up a couple of light primes. I typically carry my 200/2.8, 85/1.8 and 35/2.

-- Andrew (andrew@hotmail.com), January 14, 2002.