Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
p.1 #1Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
I stumbled on a crazy deal at no other than an estate sale. I was looking on estatesales.net at the upcoming sales for the week, I have been on the hunt for vintage film cameras. Then I came across this one listing and saw a picture with a table full of camera gear. In the back of the picture I see a big white lens and I immediately called the seller. I asked can you tell me which lens the white lens on the table is, she read it out and then I asked the price and she said.... That was all I needed to hear. I had a hard time sleeping that night. If you don't know estate sales can be wild with people showing hours before open. Well I knew what I had to do I got a lawn chair and showed up and hour and half early and was third in line. I asked the sales person where the cameras where in the sale and b-lined right to the lens. Now this is this is the first generation EF mount 300mm non IS and when I tell you its mint it is mint. I came with the lens hood, lens cover, original leather case, lens strap and manual. Now for the good part the lady told me on the phone the day before that the price was $375 but when I looked on the tag it was only $300!!!! I also picked up a Leica AF-C1 film point and shoot (which it works in excellent shape) and a Scotty Cameron Te i3 putter. I excited to pair it the 300 with my R6 mark ii and have some fun.
IMG_0728 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_0727 by Chris, on Flickr
Edited on Jul 28, 2026 at 09:35 PM · View previous versions
IMG_0728 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_0727 by Chris, on FlickrEdited on Jul 28, 2026 at 09:35 PM · View previous versions
Jul 27, 2026 at 01:04 PM
p.1 #2Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
Great find. I've been tempted to get an old supertele like that but the low frame rate holds me back. I'm not sure how big an issue it would really be for me.
Jul 27, 2026 at 01:11 PM
p.1 #3Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
That's an amazing price! Sure, it's old, but for that price it's cheaper than getting a lens serviced, so if it does stop working sooner or later, you should be able to sell it to a service center and make a profit (if it can't be fixed).
E-shutter will help somewhat with the low frame rate, though I think you still don't get the maximum the camera can do. But it will be faster than ~7fps in mechanical/EFCS. Nevertheless, it's a stellar lens, optically. Glad it has found someone excited to use it. Enjoy!
E-shutter will help somewhat with the low frame rate, though I think you still don't get the maximum the camera can do. But it will be faster than ~7fps in mechanical/EFCS. Nevertheless, it's a stellar lens, optically. Glad it has found someone excited to use it. Enjoy!
Jul 27, 2026 at 06:32 PM
p.1 #4Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
Nice find!
Big whites are great. I had a beat up 300mm f/2.8 IS MK I that I used with my R5. The burst rate is a bit reduced, but the images were awesome.
$300 for the lens is a fantastic find. You'll have a blast.
Big whites are great. I had a beat up 300mm f/2.8 IS MK I that I used with my R5. The burst rate is a bit reduced, but the images were awesome.
$300 for the lens is a fantastic find. You'll have a blast.
Jul 27, 2026 at 08:14 PM
p.1 #5Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
PinholeR5 wrote:
Nice find!
Big whites are great. I had a beat up 300mm f/2.8 IS MK I that I used with my R5. The burst rate is a bit reduced, but the images were awesome.
$300 for the lens is a fantastic find. You'll have a blast.
What did you shoot with it? How much of an issue was the frame rate reduction? I thought my 5DIII was fine at 6 fps when I had it, but I've had 12 fps in the R6 for 5 years now. I don't want to use ES due to rolling shutter and 20 fps is just too much.
Nice find!
Big whites are great. I had a beat up 300mm f/2.8 IS MK I that I used with my R5. The burst rate is a bit reduced, but the images were awesome.
$300 for the lens is a fantastic find. You'll have a blast.
What did you shoot with it? How much of an issue was the frame rate reduction? I thought my 5DIII was fine at 6 fps when I had it, but I've had 12 fps in the R6 for 5 years now. I don't want to use ES due to rolling shutter and 20 fps is just too much.
Jul 27, 2026 at 08:40 PM
p.1 #6Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
Mike_5D wrote:
Big whites are great. I had a beat up 300mm f/2.8 IS MK I that I used with my R5. The burst rate is a bit reduced, but the images were awesome.
$300 for the lens is a fantastic find. You'll have a blast.What did you shoot with it? How much of an issue was the frame rate reduction? I thought my 5DIII was fine at 6 fps when I had it, but I've had 12 fps in the R6 for 5 years now. I don't want to use ES due to rolling shutter and 20 fps is just too much.
I shot youth soccer and wildlife. It was my first big prime and I was very happy with the images. I wasn't too concerned with the frame rate and I was using mostly electronic shutter (ES), so not sure if I will be the best reference point for you. 20fps is a lot and it did mean a lot of culling in post, It wasn't that I was unhappy with the mechanical frame rate so I switched to electronic, it was more that I was in the process of switching to ES when I got the lens.
I had transitioned from a 5DIII to the R5 9 months earlier and with the higher frame rate and fantastic AF, my R5 shutter count was at 26K an amount that had taken me 6 years to reach with the 5DIII. So I decided to try the ES. It is funny, when looking at bursts of images it was often apparent and looked really bad, but looking at an image in isolation it wasn't really an issues in most cases. Also, there were always a couple of good images in a burst even when the effect was significant. Panning shots were more of an issue, but still I stuck with it. I have since used many other cameras, like the R7, which have much worse rolling shutter performance and still I'm at 100% ES with the R7. The rolling shutter effects there can be spectacularly bad, but I decided that the days of mechanical shutter are past me. I really like silent shooting.
PinholeR5 wrote
Nice find!Big whites are great. I had a beat up 300mm f/2.8 IS MK I that I used with my R5. The burst rate is a bit reduced, but the images were awesome.
$300 for the lens is a fantastic find. You'll have a blast.
I shot youth soccer and wildlife. It was my first big prime and I was very happy with the images. I wasn't too concerned with the frame rate and I was using mostly electronic shutter (ES), so not sure if I will be the best reference point for you. 20fps is a lot and it did mean a lot of culling in post, It wasn't that I was unhappy with the mechanical frame rate so I switched to electronic, it was more that I was in the process of switching to ES when I got the lens.
I had transitioned from a 5DIII to the R5 9 months earlier and with the higher frame rate and fantastic AF, my R5 shutter count was at 26K an amount that had taken me 6 years to reach with the 5DIII. So I decided to try the ES. It is funny, when looking at bursts of images it was often apparent and looked really bad, but looking at an image in isolation it wasn't really an issues in most cases. Also, there were always a couple of good images in a burst even when the effect was significant. Panning shots were more of an issue, but still I stuck with it. I have since used many other cameras, like the R7, which have much worse rolling shutter performance and still I'm at 100% ES with the R7. The rolling shutter effects there can be spectacularly bad, but I decided that the days of mechanical shutter are past me. I really like silent shooting.
Jul 28, 2026 at 09:07 AM
p.1 #7Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
I figured out how to post the pictures of the lens
Jul 28, 2026 at 09:34 PM
p.1 #8Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
Not-a-pro wrote:
I figured out how to post the pictures of the lens
There should be a date code stamped on the black inner surround of the lens mount.
Read about it here:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Canon-Lenses/Canon-Lens-Aging.aspx
Let us know how old the lens is!
It'll be between 1987 and 1999.
I figured out how to post the pictures of the lens
There should be a date code stamped on the black inner surround of the lens mount.
Read about it here:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Canon-Lenses/Canon-Lens-Aging.aspx
Let us know how old the lens is!
It'll be between 1987 and 1999.
Jul 29, 2026 at 01:34 AM
p.1 #9Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
rscheffler wrote:
Not-a-pro wrote
I figured out how to post the pictures of the lenshttps://i.postimg.cc/4xtZ5TGP/Lens-Date-Code.jpg
Read about it here:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Canon-Lenses/Canon-Lens-Aging.aspx
Let us know how old the lens is!
It'll be between 1987 and 1999.
UC0303 is the date code
Aug 04, 2026 at 08:12 PM
p.1 #10Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
So 1988? That would be a really old lens. 
EBH
EBH
Aug 04, 2026 at 08:42 PM
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p.1 #11Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
EB-1 wrote:
So 1988? That would be a really old lens.
EBH
An old mint usable lens. It had to be stored perfectly there is no sign of moisture or fungus. A 300mm 2.8 from 1988 in mint shape for $300, no one is turning that down.
Aug 05, 2026 at 12:25 PM
p.1 #12Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
That's a classic - a great lens, I would imagine. If the original non-IS 400/2.8 L is any indication, it is probably as sharp as a razor.
Aug 05, 2026 at 03:52 PM
p.1 #13Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
Tom_W wrote:
That's a classic - a great lens, I would imagine. If the original non-IS 400/2.8 L is any indication, it is probably as sharp as a razor.
There were two versions of the 400/2.8L non-IS. I had both. The second was optically better and on-par with the first IS version. Hence the reason for a second version of that lens, but not for any of the other non-IS 'big whites' which were all very good for that era (and still are).
That's a classic - a great lens, I would imagine. If the original non-IS 400/2.8 L is any indication, it is probably as sharp as a razor.
There were two versions of the 400/2.8L non-IS. I had both. The second was optically better and on-par with the first IS version. Hence the reason for a second version of that lens, but not for any of the other non-IS 'big whites' which were all very good for that era (and still are).
Aug 05, 2026 at 09:03 PM
p.1 #14Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
In terms of vintage of the 400/2.8, I'm pretty certain that it was the original. And it was SHARP!! And HEAVY!! I used it with the 2X teleconverter to photograph my first ever eagle. Since the national park service decided that the perimeter around the nest had to be extra large, we had to shoot across the Cuyahoga river (Cuyahoga Valley National Park) from a great distance away. The lens performed very well, and gave a free workout.
Getting closer to the nest would have been great though.
I bought it here on the forum, had it for a couple of years, and then sold it here on the forum.
Getting closer to the nest would have been great though.
I bought it here on the forum, had it for a couple of years, and then sold it here on the forum.
Aug 06, 2026 at 06:28 AM
p.1 #15Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
Please hurry up and pair it with your R6 markII and let me see the results or images, i am thinking about R6 mark III because i have no Canon mirrorless cameras, i want to start with cameras such as R5 markII or R6 markIII or if there will be R7 markII, i don't want to go with previous older model even if they are great, most likely i might bring R6 markIII before i can afford R5 markII because in my plan i also want to get A7R6, i have EF 300mm f/2.8L IS Mark1, it was super for me, it was nicer on my 1DX than 1D markIII or 1D MarkII N, i hope to find another crazy deal on 400mm f2.8 so i can do sports again.
Aug 07, 2026 at 03:26 AM
p.1 #16Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
Instant "like" for great glass at an even greater price.
Aug 07, 2026 at 10:14 PM
p.1 #17Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
EB-1 wrote:
So 1988? That would be a really old lens.
EBH
Canon FD 300mm F4 ... really really old ... really really nice
So 1988? That would be a really old lens.
EBH
Canon FD 300mm F4 ... really really old ... really really nice
Aug 07, 2026 at 10:35 PM
p.1 #18Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
Haven't mounted the old 300 on my R5II for anything other than a few test shots. I had previously been using it on everything else from Sony to Canon to Fuji though. Pretty solid lens that I've had forever and will probably never sell at this point. Some samples below. Will share more as I find them.
R8
Canon R8 + EF 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on Flickr
Canon R8 + EF 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on Flickr
IMG_2458-CR3 by John Dizzo, on Flickr
A9
DSC05988-1 by John Dizzo, on Flickr
A9 + Canon 300/2.8L by John Dizzo, on Flickr
Canon 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on Flickr
A9 + Canon 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on Flickr
A9 + Canon 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on Flickr
X-H2
Canon EF 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on Flickr
R8
Canon R8 + EF 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on FlickrCanon R8 + EF 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on FlickrIMG_2458-CR3 by John Dizzo, on FlickrA9
DSC05988-1 by John Dizzo, on FlickrA9 + Canon 300/2.8L by John Dizzo, on FlickrCanon 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on FlickrA9 + Canon 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on FlickrA9 + Canon 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on FlickrX-H2
Canon EF 300/2.8 by John Dizzo, on FlickrAug 08, 2026 at 12:17 AM
p.1 #19Canon 300mm F/2.8 non is for a crazy deal
mdvaden wrote:
EBHCanon FD 300mm F4 ... really really old ... really really nice
This thread is about the first EF 300/2.8, so 1988 is quite early production for that model. Of course it is not old compared to other photography equipment. I still have an early 90s EF 300/4 that I used up until 2015 since it was better for landscapes than other options then. The 300/4 IS did not have the corner-to-corner MTF of the older lens.
EBH
EB-1 wrote
So 1988? That would be a really old lens.EBH
This thread is about the first EF 300/2.8, so 1988 is quite early production for that model. Of course it is not old compared to other photography equipment. I still have an early 90s EF 300/4 that I used up until 2015 since it was better for landscapes than other options then. The 300/4 IS did not have the corner-to-corner MTF of the older lens.
EBH
Aug 08, 2026 at 07:50 AM