Canon 300mm f2.8 IS II

[Dylan777]

Sorry, I can't even start to talk you out of it. It is a simply awesome lens at 300mm and f2.8. With the 1.4xTC III it is the second best 400mm available (well, 420mm f/4), very fast focussing and very, very sharp. With the 2xTC III, its IQ is still excellent and it is has snappy focussing on the 5DIII, but slower on the 7D. It is a superb lightweight 600mm. I don't have any bad photos from it attributable to the lens, only me.

Go forth and buy it! And you too Neuro.

Alan,
What are your thoughts on shooting surfers with 5D III + 300mm f2.8 IS II + 2x TC III or 1.4x TC III? You think the AF will be fast enough?

Thanks
Dylan

I have done a lot of surf shooting with the MkI 300 2.8IS and MkII 2xTC, so a slower AF combo, surfing is an easy AF task, heck I used to shoot it with manual focus FD 300 and 2xTC! You will have no issues, particularly if the sun is out and you have good contrast, very early and very late in the day it can be a little slower.

The newer combo is easily up to the task.

Here is a very strongly back light difficult surf AF situation, even the earlier combo, the 300 f2.8 IS and 2xTC MkII easily tracks focus.

Thanks privatebydesign for the info and photo. Awesome

 

[Dylan777]

Dylan

The speed loss with either TC is unnoticeable on a 5D III. And that's probably a good reason to avoid other lenses.

My 5yrs daughter joins indoor swimming team. The longest f2.8 lens I have is 70-200. I feel 300mm will fit my needs most - besides, it's quite less expensive compared to the big brother 400mm.

Thanks

 

[Dylan777]

Don't know that I can talk you out of it. I have one and rather give up my 600mm II than the 300mm II. It is just a very versatile lens by itself and with both 1.4x and 2x extenders. If Canon comes out with a 7D II with 1Dx like AF, then it gets even more versatile.

Here are some samples:

300mm II + 2x III on 1Dx; f/8 ISO 1250:

300mm II + 2x III on 1Dx; f/8 ISO 1600:

300mm II on 5D III; f/2.8 ISO 100:

Let me know what you decide.

Thanks jasonsim for showing me your "bad photos" ;D

I tried this lens at local camera store twice(without 2x TC III), I love the AF speed.

After seeing your photos, I'm 1-step closer to pull trigger now

 

[Dylan777]

Buy it. Its the best of the best in the Canon range. Whatever they do over at Canon, the 300 prime rules over the others. The image quality is nothing short of outstanding including the older models. The latest is light, autofocus is lazer quick, pictures are punchy and contrasty and I can tell whenever I pull up a shot that it was done with the 300. Its damm sharp with both new extenders and soooo versatile. This is how good it is....

Photo speaks for itself Mick

YOU ARE NOT HELPING AT ALL...I guess I have to see what Canon or BH has to offer this x-mas.

 

[Dylan777]

He must be joking, my arm is still aching since I tried to lift the Sigma, and by all accounts its IQ suffers with extenders. I have taken 1000s of bird photos at 600mm with the 300 II + 2xTC III. But, here is my grandson playing cricket taken with the 300mm II +1.4xTC III on the 5DIII (100% crop). I cannot think of a greater pleasure than the 300mm III, a grandson and cricket.

It looks like my 135L at f2.2

My American express card is burning last couple years with Canon L lenses and 5D III bodies.

 

[adhocphotographer]

urrrrgghhhh, this is not helping me NOT buying this lens.... great shots and advice....

 

[AlanF]

He must be joking, my arm is still aching since I tried to lift the Sigma, and by all accounts its IQ suffers with extenders. I have taken 1000s of bird photos at 600mm with the 300 II + 2xTC III. But, here is my grandson playing cricket taken with the 300mm II +1.4xTC III on the 5DIII (100% crop). I cannot think of a greater pleasure than the 300mm III, a grandson and cricket.

It looks like my 135L at f2.2

My American express card is burning last couple years with Canon L lenses and 5D III bodies.

Perfect - I have a British Airways American Express card, and the Avios (mileage) points for all the purchases paid for flights for my wife to South Africa and Brazil for wild-life/bird photography. Happy you, happy wife, more glass!

 

[Kernuak]

As a bit of a comparison, here's an example with the older 300 f/2.8 L IS, with the 2x Extender MkIII, on the 5D MkIII, at ISO 3200. I would say that this shot is similar in quality to the 100-400 on the 7D at around ISO 800 from experience, but I haven't done any side by side tests. I have to admit to thinking about the updated lens.

 

[Canon1]

You could save a lot of money and buy a 300mm f2.8 IS, rather than the MkII. The differences are minimal as a bare lens, both are excellent with the 1.4 TC MkIII but the MkI 300 doesn't do so well with a 2X TC MkII, but I never used a MkIII 2X TC on one either. As a 420 f4 via the MkIII 1.4TC it is a superb lens.

I have had the 300 f2.8 IS since it came out and though I liked the idea of the MkII, the IQ differences just didn't add up to the $ differences for me.

If you are interested in using a 2.0x converter then I would not recommend the 300 f2.8 IS I. It is a spectacular lens at 300 and 420mm, but with a 2.0x it really does a poor job. Images are soft and AF performance is slow and hunts.

I just purchased a 300 f2.8 IS II and can say that it is worth every penny for the difference in price. It is even sharper then the original IS version (tough to believe) and works particularly well with a 1.4 and 2.0x III converters. Images are just awesome and AF is very fast and accurate. Plus with 4 stops of IS it really does make this an easily hand-holdable 600mm lens option. (Shooting with 5DIII)

For comparison, I have owned 600f4 non-is and 500f4 IS. I much prefer the 300f2.8 II with converters to these two lenses in portability and image quality. It is an unbelievably nice lens and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for the best IQ for a focal range of 300-600mm. (Of course the 500 and 600 IS II lenses would be great but at $10.5k to $14k I am not able to afford)

 

[Canon1]

Sorry... forgot to put up an image for you... Merlin shot with 5DIII, 300mm f2.8 IS II, 2.0x TC III Converter, Handheld 1/400 sec, f6.3, ISO 1000 during the last minutes of sunset.

 

[Dylan777]

He must be joking, my arm is still aching since I tried to lift the Sigma, and by all accounts its IQ suffers with extenders. I have taken 1000s of bird photos at 600mm with the 300 II + 2xTC III. But, here is my grandson playing cricket taken with the 300mm II +1.4xTC III on the 5DIII (100% crop). I cannot think of a greater pleasure than the 300mm III, a grandson and cricket.

It looks like my 135L at f2.2

My American express card is burning last couple years with Canon L lenses and 5D III bodies.

Perfect - I have a British Airways American Express card, and the Avios (mileage) points for all the purchases paid for flights for my wife to South Africa and Brazil for wild-life/bird photography. Happy you, happy wife, more glass!

Alan,
Slightly diff. at my house: happy wife, happy me, more glass ;D

 

[AlanF]

All of us 300mm f/2.8 II with 1.4 and 2xTC III users are in complete agreement: from native 300 to doubled at 600, we are really delighted. So, Dylan, get out your Amex card and don't hesitate.

 

[lenstrack26]

I rented a 300 f2.8 series I and have to agree that it is good with a 1.4x, but falls down with the 2x. However, the price of the series II is a bit daunting. So, I have to ask whether anyone has tried the 300 f4.0? It is 1/5th the price and half the weight. Appears to be an older lens, but maybe it still provides good IQ? Will it handle the 1.4 and 2x? Thanks!

 

[TexPhoto]

I rented a 300 f2.8 series I and have to agree that it is good with a 1.4x, but falls down with the 2x. However, the price of the series II is a bit daunting. So, I have to ask whether anyone has tried the 300 f4.0? It is 1/5th the price and half the weight. Appears to be an older lens, but maybe it still provides good IQ? Will it handle the 1.4 and 2x? Thanks!

I have the 300 f4 IS, and it is a wonderful lens. It works well with the 1.4X. I also own a 400mm f2.8 IS and I think the 300 f4's image quality is equal. The wonderful thing about the f4 (aside from cost) is size and weight. This is a lens that weights noticeably less than a 70-200 f2.8. So it is something you can actually put in a camera bag and take with you, not something that needs its own bag and prior planning.

With any of these lenses you can find a flikr group just for shots with that lens. I even have a group just for 420mm shots. http://www.flickr.com/photos/12047900@N06/10369745766/#
These groups are a great way to see what other people are doing with a lens.

 

[Loswr]

So, I have to ask whether anyone has tried the 300 f4.0? It is 1/5th the price and half the weight. Appears to be an older lens, but maybe it still provides good IQ? Will it handle the 1.4 and 2x? Thanks!

The 300/4L IS is a very good lens. Although it's IQ can't match the 300/2.8L IS II, the same can be said of almost all other lenses! It takes a 1.4x TC decently, although I found the 100-400L to deliver slightly better IQ at 400/5.6 than the 420/5.6 TC combo (the bare 300/4 was better, but not long enough). The 300/4 + 2x will be f/8, meaning it'll only AF on 1-series bodies and the 5DIII. The 300/4 takes a substantial IQ hit from the 2x TC, but still produces usable images. For any who question how usable, I ran into Lillian Stokes (coauthor of the Stokes bird guide series) on a New Hampshire mountaintop, and she told me many of the pics for the guides were shot with a 300/4L IS + 2x on a 1D-series body (APS-H), since her 500/4 was too heavy for hiking).

I had a 300/4 IS, sold it in favor of a 100-400.

 

[Jim Saunders]

I rented a 300 f2.8 series I and have to agree that it is good with a 1.4x, but falls down with the 2x. However, the price of the series II is a bit daunting. So, I have to ask whether anyone has tried the 300 f4.0? It is 1/5th the price and half the weight. Appears to be an older lens, but maybe it still provides good IQ? Will it handle the 1.4 and 2x? Thanks!

I had one, it runs fine with a 2X III if your body will focus at f/8. Even with the extender AF is pretty good, albeit not as quick as without it nor as quick as the f/2.8s. The first one attached is the bare lens on my 5D2, the rest with a 2X III on a 1Dx. All three got a little love in LR5 but no cropping.

Jim

 

[AlanF]

Here are lenstip's mtfs for the 300mm f/4, including 1.4xTC, the 100-400mm, and the 300mm f/2.8 II.

 

[Deleted member 91053]

I have both the 300 F4 IS and the 300 F2.8 IS Mk1 (I just can't bear to sell the F4!) and they are both excellent lenses with different strengths and weaknesses.
The F4 is small, light and not too much of a burden to carry with my long lens also I love the close focusing abilities of this lens.
The F2.8 is a bit of a lump to carry along with my 800mm, won't focus very close. However it works better with extenders and is simply stunning as a bare lens.
I have attached one of the first shots I took with my 300 F2.8 Mk1 with a 2 x Mk3 extender (I was far from impressed with the 2 x Mk2!). This is a RAW file that has been converted to Jpeg and scaled for web, there is no Photoshopping/sharpening etc as I just wanted to show what one would expect from this lens + converter combination. The camera is a 1d4 and Exif should be intact.

 

[Dylan777]

All of us 300mm f/2.8 II with 1.4 and 2xTC III users are in complete agreement: from native 300 to doubled at 600, we are really delighted. So, Dylan, get out your Amex card and don't hesitate.

:

 

[mwh1964]

Have used a loaner 300 f2.8 is II for two days now. What an amazing lens even with extender. Wahoo now I certainly want one.