p.2 #1 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
Have to say the 5D II is not the fastest body for action. That coupled with the 100-400 would make for a slooooow set up. Never had one but shoot wildlife, BIF's and hydrosport racing with friends owning 7D's and they capture some amazing images. 7D would increase your perceived focal length,
auto focus, burst speed and ISO. Worth renting or borrowing one to try it out.
Good luck!
p.2 #2 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
7D + 300/2.8 IS and 1.4X is an amazing combo. I call it the poor man's 500/1D4 The 300 blows the 100-400 out of the water in every respect. As it should, since it costs way more.
p.2 #5 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
Ditch the 5D2 and get a 7D. I had a 5DII and 7D. The 7D was my sports and action camera and the 5DII was the landscape and walk-around camera. I tried using the 5DII as a second body for sports and it was just too frustrating when compared to the 7D. Your next upgrade could be to sell the 100-400 and get a 300/2.8. I would suggest trying the non-IS but since you like slow shutter panning, the mode 2 IS would be great for that. I have that lens now and echo all of the good things that have been said about it here. A monopod will definitely improve your keeper rate regardless of the lenses used.
p.2 #6 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
Hi, back when I started shooting digital around 10 years ago I shot quite a few roadcourse races. I almost exclusively used the Nikon 300mm f4 lens on a 1.5x cropped sensor body. I did use the 24-120 on occasion for crowd shots and for compositions that I wanted to include more context in. But almost all of the car shots were with the 300. I know that shooting from a fixed position can be tough but generally I could find great spots where the 30 would work perfectly and still allow some variations in my images.
Right now, on a full frame body, my choice would be either the 100-400, the 400 5.6L or of course the 400 2.8L if I could afford it. I could do with the 300's but I would most likely have the 1.4 on it most of the time.
p.2 #7 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
Hi Warren, so you wouldn't recommend it the 300 non IS for a 5D2 then?
I might rent one and see how well it goes. It would be a shame to give up motorsports because of the 5D2. But performance with the 200L isn't so bad so maybe a 300 would also cope ok. I guess its down to the small max. aperture of the 100-400.
p.2 #9 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
I would rent either a 7D, 5DMKIII or a 1D series body before you rent/buy the 300 2.8. The 300 2.8 is a considerable investment but before dropping that kind of money i would 100% make sure its the right tool for the job. For fast moving action the AF speed of the body is every bit as important as the AF/speed of the lens. I tried a 1D series with my 100-400 compared to my 50D and it was like night and day.
p.2 #10 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
At the end of the day, I want the look of the 300 2.8 on full frame. Combining a crop sensor with an already slow aperture 100-400 does not allow for isolating the subject, for motorsports anyway. I really want the option of frozen isolation or motion blurred panning shots. Again, I am not interested in buying a second camera.
p.2 #11 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
R.Young wrote:
Hi Warren, so you wouldn't recommend it the 300 non IS for a 5D2 then?
I might rent one and see how well it goes. It would be a shame to give up motorsports because of the 5D2. But performance with the 200L isn't so bad so maybe a 300 would also cope ok. I guess its down to the small max. aperture of the 100-400.
In my opinion the 5d is best suited to landscape / wedding type work with the full frame. For Motorsport as much as you dont like the size !! a 1d series cropped body has to be the way to go with a 300 f2.8. I have both non IS and the new mkII 300 f2.8 image wise you couldn't tell the difference, but the new one is a lot lighter and the 4 stop IS is amazing.
Having said all that Paddy does well with on !! link below
p.2 #12 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
Thanks warren, just to clarify, I know the 5D2 is not supposed to be for sports, in fact it borders on shite for it but as long as the right lens will allow in focus shots then that's good enough for me!
p.2 #13 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
Imagemaster wrote:
I wouldn't blame the 100-400 for not being able to focus on motorsports. You should try a 300 f2.8 before buying. It is indeed an exceptional lens, but see how long you can handhold it for.
I use a 300 Mk2 on a 5D3 + x2 teleconverter but if you are trying to slim down your gear it's definitely not for you. A combo no-one has mentioned is a 70-200mmL 2.8 + x2 converter which I now use in preferene to my 100-400L
Niall
p.2 #14 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
I had the 100-400L on a XTi for a while. Utterly hopeless on anything that moved faster than an elephants plod. It front focussed and that hid a lot of focus errors, focus, press shutter, gee that animal moved into the plane of focus! For faster objects I generally picked my spot, focussed on that with manual touch-up and fired the shutter just as the subject reached the focussed point. This was reasonably successful.
I now have a 7D and MA and things are much better, have several BIF and airshow shots that satisfiy me.
If the 5DmkII is anything like my XTi AF centre point then I don't think it's the tool for the job, but the technique above might be a work around. I'd look upon the 300L 2.8 as an IQ upgrade on the 100-400L but I'd sure rent one first to see if it cured your AF problems.
p.2 #15 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
By slim down I just mean have less lenses, but better ones.
I have my eye on a 300 non IS at the moment, for the money I lose reselling I could have just rented of course, but I can't really afford the IS or IS II so am going to go for the non IS.
Not interested in the 70-200 at all. Too short. A 300 and later a 1.4 + 2x would be a better solution.
p.2 #16 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
R.Young wrote:
I know the 5D2 is not supposed to be for sports, in fact it borders on shite for it but as long as the right lens will allow in focus shots then that's good enough for me!
I use my 100-400 for sports like lacrosse and soccer and get plenty of good pics, I didn't realize the 5D2 was that bad
In the 2nd one the guy seems to get good results from a 40D and 100-400, but I wouldn't call the shots on that site exactly breathtaking.
The 1st site has a better and more diverse set of images and quite a thorough writeup on his technique.
It looks like most of the shots taken are at smaller apertures, not at f2.8.
p.2 #18 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
In regards to using a 5D2 with 300f2.8 + 2x extender:
That would be a horribly slow focusing setup for auto racing photography.
Much worse AF than the 100-400.
p.2 #20 · Upgrade from 200 2.8 and 100-400 to a 300 2.8?
Here's an idea that I dont think anyone has touched on, Sell the 5DII and buy a 5D Classic and a 7D. The 5D Classic is still a great image taker, and you'll have the AF speed you need for the 100-400.
The 300 blows the 100-400 out of the water in every respect. As it should, since it costs way more. 