Which lens to hire?

[AJH748]

Hi

I am going to Scotland for 2 weeks holiday in June.

I'm relatively new to DSLR and I have got (and still leaning to use!) a Canon EOS 40d with a 70 - 300 IS.

I'm thinking of renting a lens to take with me.

I want to rent one that I can possibly buy at some time in the future (certainly no more than about £1000),

I take mostly bird and aircraft images.

I was thinking of the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM.

What would you recommend.

Thanks

Alan

[glsammy]

For the price limit you quote, that's just about the best lens. It's a superb lens, being reasonably light with a very fast and accurate auto focus and I would have though ideal for aircraft and birds. It's generally regarded as the best bird in flight lens around, so it must be good for aircraft.
You wont go far wrong with that choice.

[AJH748]

Thanks for the quiick reply Graham.

I am a bit concerned about the non IS for handheld - do you think this would be a limiting factor?

[glsammy]

Depends how steady your hands are.
If your doing flight shots, I don't think it would make any difference. Your panning anyway with usually quite a high shutter speed. If you can use a monopod, you can manage perfectly well without IS.
Non of my lenses have it and it's a feature I certainly don't miss.

[AJH748]

Depends how steady your hands are.

Hmmm - depends how many I've had

Well I suppose that is the whole point of hiring - I can try it and see!

[Hobjob]

400 is not really that much more than 300.

Are you gong to put a convertor on as well?

[AJH748]

Yes I was thinking of taking the 1.4 TC, but don't I lose autofocus with that?

[Wileykit]

Hi

I'm also off to Scotland in June and am the proud new owner of the 40D. However, that's more or less cleaned me out so can't afford to spend much on lenses at the moment. Got the kit lens (17-85mm f4-5.6) and got given a cheap telephoto (sigma 70-300mm) to get started with, however neither are great in low light so limit shutter speeds.

I've never heard of hiring lenses - any more info? Also, I guess I'm mainly going to be taking pics of birds so any recs? Will have to get saving!

Cheers!

[NickCantle]

Originally Posted by AJH748

Hi

I am going to Scotland for 2 weeks holiday in June.

I'm relatively new to DSLR and I have got (and still leaning to use!) a Canon EOS 40d with a 70 - 300 IS.

I'm thinking of renting a lens to take with me.

I want to rent one that I can possibly buy at some time in the future (certainly no more than about £1000),

I take mostly bird and aircraft images.

I was thinking of the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM.

What would you recommend.

Thanks

Alan

Good afternoon Alan,

I don't suppose you could PM me with a place to rent lenses from in this country at decent prices! I've been thinking of adding a 70-200mm f/2.8 to my kit later on in the year, but I'd love to see if it's what I think it is.

Would be appreciated,

Nick

[HowlinWolf]

Third-party goods and hire for lenses?

Have a look at this recent thread. It discusses lens rental and potential pit-falls.

HW