A lightwight wildlife lens

[adhocphotographer]

Hi all,

My wife and I go on wildlife safari a lot, and until now she has been using my 24-105 on her 100D... she wants a longer lens, but does not want anything too big or heavy, but good IQ (not a big ask eh?)...

I initially thought of the 300 f/4L IS, but it heavier than I thought... then i thought about the 70-200 F/4L IS... 200 being 320mm on her crop body. It is lighter and smaller... it also works well with the 1.4x tc.

Any other thoughts/ideas/suggestions?

I already have the 70-200 2.8 IS II, but my wife finds that too heavy and uncomfortable. Unfortunately (?) she has become accustomed to good glass and I am in no position to argue about how much we should spend on it.

 

[Sporgon]

Sounds like the 70-300L was made for your wife

Incidentally I find taking tc's in and out a pain so the fact the 70-300L doesn't take one doesn't bother me.

 

[adhocphotographer]

Thanks... I had forgotten about that gem!

I will have to take her round a few shops and let her feel them....

 

[bholliman]

My first recommendation would also be the 70-300L. Great IQ for such a portable lens. Also has the advantage of being usable on your 5D3.

My second choice would be the EF-S 55-250 STM. Not quite as much reach, but very compact and light (also inexpensive, but that wasn't one of your selection criteria). Canon really improved the sharpness when they upgraded this from the version II to the STM. Build quality not even close to the 70-300L, but IQ is pretty sharp. The mid frame and corner sharpness actually looks better to me in these TDP crops than the 3x more expensive L. The STM is 112mm long and 375 grams vs. 143mm and 1,050 grams for the 70-300L.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=738&Camera=736&Sample=0&FLI=3&API=2&LensComp=856&CameraComp=736&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=4&APIComp=1

My sister in law has the 55-250 STM and uses it on her 650D. I've borrowed it a few times to use on my EOS M and really liked its IQ for the package size.

 

[ajfotofilmagem]

I understand the concern of women about the size and weight of lenses. If she found 70-200 F2.8 too heavy and uncomfortable, possibly will find 70-300L little different. On the other hand, 55-250 STM is much lighter and more compact, and image quality is equal or better than 70-300L, in some aspects such as contrast and light transmission in the extreme tele of zoom.

 

[Eldar]

My wife has used the 70-300L on her 7D and been very happy with that combo.

Or, you could rent the old 600mm f4L IS (version I) and let her carry that for the first day. Any other lens in the catalog is light after that

 

[Dylan777]

Canon 200mm L f2.8 II, similar to 135L in term of weight & size. This lens is sharp and the price is great.

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=9521.0

 

[adhocphotographer]

Great, thanks for the advice...