Getting ready to purchase L series lense, looking for recommendations. (1 Viewer)

[TR001]

Good morning!

I currently own a 7d Mark ii. I’m looking for an L series lens that will work for waterfowl photography, particularly birds in flight. I also take photos of fast moving retrievers at AKC events that are often splashing through water etc and I’ve realized that I’m in desperate need of an upgrade. I take still photos of stacked dogs as well where the background needs to be significantly blurred.
Trying to stay below $4,000. Honestly would rather stay in the $2000-$3,000 range but when spending this much money I’m figuring that I might as well go ahead and get it right the first time.
The lens that I’ve looked at and I’m leaning towards is:

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
With possibly a 1.4x extender

Any thoughts or other recommendations?

I’ve been shooting with a 70-300mm IS USM ii
Thanks!

 

[MJN]

Good morning!

I currently own a 7d Mark ii. I’m looking for an L series lens that will work for waterfowl photography, particularly birds in flight. I also take photos of fast moving retrievers at AKC events that are often splashing through water etc and I’ve realized that I’m in desperate need of an upgrade. I take still photos of stacked dogs as well where the background needs to be significantly blurred.
Trying to stay below $4,000. Honestly would rather stay in the $2000-$3,000 range but when spending this much money I’m figuring that I might as well go ahead and get it right the first time.
The lens that I’ve looked at and I’m leaning towards is:

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
With possibly a 1.4x extender

Any thoughts or other recommendations?

I’ve been shooting with a 70-300mm IS USM ii
Thanks!

Assuming you intend to hold on to the 7D2, the 100-400 you mention is a truly excellent lens and would serve you well. It will work for BIF with a 1.4x attached but would not be my choice for fast action. You may struggle to get the desired background blur with this lens. Perhaps also consider a 300 f 2.8L lens - either mk1 or mk2, you can add 1.4 or 2X convertor it takes both of them incredibly well.

 

[Owen Krout]

As a fellow 7dii shooter, I would say that, given your stated needs, I would recommend keeping the 70-300mm for those closeup shots and for better background blur when needed and add in the 100-400mm you mention for the longer range shots. The 1.4 extender does work well with that as long as you have very good lighting, but at 400mm, the auto focus will slow down and get dodgy as the light fades. I will say though that given the sharpness of the 100-400mm, when using with the 7d you find that 400mm is adequate anyway as you can crop quite effectively.

According to how much you really need the zoom when working at longer range shots, you might want to consider the 300mm f 2.8L as with the 2.0 extender and the 7d crop, you're reaching out to where atmospheric distortion starts to negate any advantages of further enlargement anyway. Also the advantage of somewhat lighter and smaller, making it easier to work with.

 

[Owen Krout]

Just an addendum: I just thought to check on the chart Canon included with my 1.4 extender. I should have been more specific in advice pairing a fixed 300mm L lens with the extender. According to Canon the EF 300mm f/2.8 IS II USM will work fine, but for a used EF 300mm f/2.8 II USM (MK I non image stabilized) "Using an Extender with this lens may result in incorrect autofocus. If your camera has an AF microadjustment function, do the AF microadjustment."

 

[TR001]

Great advice and thanks! Learning as I go.

 

[mikenott]

Just an addendum: I just thought to check on the chart Canon included with my 1.4 extender. I should have been more specific in advice pairing a fixed 300mm L lens with the extender. According to Canon the EF 300mm f/2.8 IS II USM will work fine, but for a used EF 300mm f/2.8 II USM (MK I non image stabilized) "Using an Extender with this lens may result in incorrect autofocus. If your camera has an AF microadjustment function, do the AF microadjus