300mm F4 L -- A truly versatile lens

[Cactusdave]

I recently acquired a secondhand 300mm F4 L USM (the old one, not the IS version) from a forum member to go on my Canon 40D, also a forum sales purchase. The lens is the first of that quality I have ever owned, and despite its age, performs admirably. What has amazed me is its shear versatility. Last week I took a walk around a Kent trust reserve at Sevenoaks, Kent which is a complex of old gravel pits. There are birds, plants and insects of interest here at this time of the year. I took just my 40D, the 300mm lens and a Kenko X1.4 pro 300 converter, which is attached pretty much all of the time. All shots were hand held and as the light varied I used either iso 400 0r 800 to keep shutter speed above 1/100. Pictures were shot in RAW and processed in Elements 7. First three insect shots.

[Cactusdave]

Now a couple of orchids from the same site. Same lens plus teleconverter.

[Cactusdave]

Finally a couple of birds. THe reed warbler was a real grab shot. It posed like that for all of a couple of seconds. Having a setup that was round my neck, switched on and ready to shoot, enabled me to take the picture. To me that's the beauty of the 300mm, it's light enough for even an 'oldie' like me to carry around for a fair while and hand hold.

[christineredgate]

Excellent shots ,Dave,seems to be a perfect set up.

[1deybreak]

Great info and shots, I am thinking about a 400 myself. were these taken handheld and at what shutter?

[RJL2005]

Good job! Sounds like you're having fun.

[1deybreak]

typed 400 meant 300. same ?s as above

[Highcountry]

Nice work, Dave. Looks like the perfect setup for you.

[greg mit]

Hi, I to am useing the 300f4 but with a canon 1.4x converter and just love the setup. I changed from a 100-400 after haveing trouble with it, much perfer the setup I have now.:t:

[Cactusdave]

Seems like I've caught a mood here. The slowest shutter speed that I've managed to get reasonably sharp shots with is 1/160. I'm sure others with young strong arms could do better. I aim for 1/250 or faster. I normally keep the camera at ISO 400 unless it's very bright or dark. ISO 800 is very useable with a bit of noise reduction, though this isn't a topic I've really got to grip with yet.

[JohnZ]

Strangely enough I have just sold my 300mm f4, the IS version, as I just could not get on with it. I thought that I would use it with a TC but had mixed success.
The main grief was how long it took for the IS to wind up. I often found myself taking shots before the IS was ready !

[Cactusdave]

The old non-L 75-300mm F4 IS was a bit slow for the IS to come on when you half pressed the shutter, but I didn't think that was a problem with the current 300mm F4 L IS. Not that I've had the pleasure of trying one. ;)

[JohnZ]

I believe that Canon give some millisecond time for the IS to wind up but I don`t believe them ! It did seem that I was often poised for the shot before it had got going. And I do not move that quickly.

[lmans66]

I have the 300 IS prime and also love it....very versatile. I love the fact that I do not have to use a mono or tripod, I want the ease of not having that along with me as I hike is some interesting areas.

I though, find I usually use the 300 at 400 ISO or 200, with plus a notch in Exposure. I hardly ever use the Teleconverter anymore and I feel my shots are fine. I like the idea of utilizing 4.0 speed as opposed to 5.6 or 6.3 with the tele on it.

Each to their own for the given situation.