Canon EF 300mm F2.8L non IS (1 Viewer)

Has anone tried the Canon EF 300mm F2.8L non IS?
:h?:
I'm thinking of getting one.

I've not tried one, but was looking at one a few weeks ago (very tempted to buy it). I was put off when I found out that you can no longer get spares parts so if something went wrong with it you'd be stuck with an unuseable lens...

The secondhand price seems to vary greatly, I've seen them as high as £2000... the one I looked at was just £900 (in good nick with a 6 month warranty), so if you decide to go for one shop around. Sigma also make a 300 f2.8 which seems to be very good, new it's about £1600, so you should be able to get a secondhand one for less than the Canon.

333 said:

Has anone tried the Canon EF 300mm F2.8L non IS?
:h?:
I'm thinking of getting one.

Click to expand...

I started a thread a short time ago, and if you trawl through the replies, I think you'll answer most of your queries.

See:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=75270

If you've still got queries, come back and ask.

Couldn't justify the cost of a Canon optic so I've used the Sigma 300 2.8 for about a year now - it's superb and retains autofocus with both of Sigma's 1.4x and 2x converters (bit soft with the 2x though but can be tweaked in Photoshop) but as a prime lens and with the 1.4x it is first rate.

333 said:

Has anone tried the Canon EF 300mm F2.8L non IS?
:h?:
I'm thinking of getting one.

Click to expand...

I used to have one. Happy days; wonderful lens. Quality is superb, but it is heavier than the current IS model and has no IS. Works well with converters. AF rapid with TC, very fast with 1.4X and with the 2X is of similar speed to a 100-400 (without TC).