Caroline Woodley wrote: >3) What about the 75-300 IS lens? How good is it and would it be enough to >sway me away from the L lenses for shooting, e.g. wild birds?
I can't comment on the 70-200 F4L and 100-300L lenses, as I have not used them. But I do have the 75-300 IS lens. Unfortunately, I don't think it will give you good enough results for your purpose (photographing birds and small creatures for publication). 300mm is not usually long enough for photographing small, wild creatures, unless they are habituated to people, and the 75-300 IS does not perform well with a teleconverter (I've tried it). >5) Is it worth looking at a secondhand 100-400 L IS lens? Does anyone know >what sort of prices these fetch secondhand in the UK and whether they are >likely to be reliable (i.e. were they solidly built and therefore likely to >be in good condition after a lot of use)? I also have this lens. It performs well, even with a 1.4x converter (I use the Canon 1.4x converter). With all the current EOS bodies (but I don't know which body you have), you get IS with the 1.4x converter attached. With an EOS 3, you also get autofocus (because the EOS 3, like the 1v, can autofocus even with a lens that is at f/8 when wide open). With a 2x converter (I use the Canon) the results are mixed, but I've sometimes got good results (IS, but manual focus only, by the way). I don't know what the secondhand price for the 100-400L IS is in the UK, but I would consider buying one secondhand if the price were right and the right lens came along. It's a well-built lens. When I go to places where there are a lot of bird photographers, I see plenty of 100-400L IS lenses. It's a great lens for birds in flight, by the way. But, from the way in which I often see people using it (myself included), on a tripod, with a 1.4x converter, I'd guess that we'd all be using an even longer lens if we could afford it. If you can't afford a longer lens (and I can't), I think the 100-400L IS is a great compromise (for those whose budget stretches even that far). As for the other lenses that you mentioned, I'll leave it to others to comment. Gerry * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
