Choosing Canon 400mm prime or 100-400mm zoom lens? Help!

[Sam_swfc123]

Hello,
Can anyone help choose the correct lens for me. I am stuck between a Canon 400mm prime(£1100) or the Canon 100-400mm Zoom lens(£1200). I would use the lens for birds only. The places I would visit are the woods, parks, gardens, and rspb nature reserves. What shall I do? Can anyone help me please I am finding it very hard to choose.
Thank you
please comment.
Regards
Sam Winslow

[glsammy]

If your after the best possible image quality plus the fastest AF performance, then the 400mm F5.6 wins hands down.
It's really a matter of deciding if the flexibility of the zoom and the IS is worth having over the absolute resolving power of the prime lens.
I had a similar decision to make some time ago. I had the 400mm F5.6 plus my Sigma 50-500mm. One of them had to go for financial reasons and I decided to keep my Sigma zoom. Mind you I'm awkward contrary old so and so; that doesn't mean you should do the same thing.
I'm now in a position where I will shortly be getting a new lens, and it will definitely be a prime lens. You simply can't beat them for image quality.

[david156]

Hi.

I tried both in a shop taking pictures down the high street. Image wise the prime was better but it was a nice bright day so I had a fast shutter speed.
I eventually went for the zoom because it isn't always a bright day and woods are shady and with the slower shutter speed the IS comes into its own especially when hand holding.
My next big lens would be a prime because of he better image quality, something like the canon 500 f4 is, but thats a few years off yet.

Cheers David

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by david156

Hi.

I tried both in a shop taking pictures down the high street. Image wise the prime was better but it was a nice bright day so I had a fast shutter speed.
I eventually went for the zoom because it isn't always a bright day and woods are shady and with the slower shutter speed the IS comes into its own especially when hand holding.
My next big lens would be a prime because of he better image quality, something like the canon 500 f4 is, but thats a few years off yet.

Cheers David

David makes a good point about woods often being shady and the IS. I suppose it depends if you are going to be using a tripod or not. Personally I use the 400mm prime with a monopod. The 400mm prime is a bit lighter than the 400mm zoom and as such is relatively easy to hand hold.

If you want to take photos of birds in flight, ducks, geese etc then the 400mm prime can't be beaten. It's horses for courses at the end of the day, but the prime is certainly the best image quality wise.

[Geoff F]

If you are going to just be using it for birds; which would mean the maximum 400 mm at all times and on a tripod, there isn't really any choice here - it must be the 400 prime lens.

And it will take a converter better than a zoom.

When I considered this lens, I was put off by the long minimum focusing distance; but this wouldn't matter for a birds only (or chiefly birds) lens.

[tomw]

Well theres some pretty good advice here already. I can say from the experience of owning the 400 prime & my other half owning the 400 zoom that theyre both great lenses. I dont regret having bought the prime after trying both, however she sometimes gets shots that are impossible without the flexibility of the zoom so it really is a balancing act. I always want the most from my pictures and although it can sometimes be more work to use i cant recommend the prime enough to be honest, you just have to consider whether the lack of IS and a longer minimum focusing distance are that important.

[Michael A]

I have the 100-400 lens on a Canon 7D i also have the 300 F4 is lens which i use with 1.4 converter, i find the 100-400 used with bean bag or tripod excellent but a bit heavy for me to hand hold. The 300 F4 is lens is very useful for close ups and with 1.4 converter (420mm) can be hand held in the field giving very good results . Lighter to carry around than 100-400.

[pete-c]

I also use the 400 prime with monopod. In poor light i up the ISO.

Pete

[Durrell]

I think it partly depends on the type of photograph you will be taking.

As has already been pointed out if you are looking to fill the frame with a small bird all the time then 400 prime is the way to go for the better image quality.

As you say though you will be partly using it in parks and gardens where it is often easier to get closer to the subjects. I use the 100-400 myself and find it useful in a park to zoom out to get a shot of a bird in it's environment eg. a swan on a lake and then have the option to zoom in and get a close up of just the neck & head.

[colincurry]

I use the 100-400 and am happy with the results, but always looking to improve. I have also found it very useful for dragonflies and butterflies that are either out or reach or impossible to get close enough to use a macro lens - something you can't easily do with the prime.

It really is horses for courses, and depends on what you want to photograph.

Colin

[MeadsMan]

I went for the prime,because for me quality is at the top of the list,the only down side of the prime,is if things get to close,it has happened to me now and again,but not very often.I can imagine it being more probmatic where things are more tame,such as parks and gardens,but I have used it in my garden,wich is not huge by any standards,only large birds like Wood Pigeons posed any over frame filling problems.Is there also not an issue with the Zoom putting dert on the sensor ?

[Sam_swfc123]

Thank you very much for all your replys, been extremely helpful! One last question though. What do you reckon to the Sigma 150-500mm OS HSM lens?because I wouldn't be able to get a Canon lens till christmas, but I would be able to get a sigma lens next month? Please comment. Thank you
regards,
Sam

[glsammy]

The Same comments apply. The image quality will not be as good as with a Canon 400mm F5.6. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine lens but it simply will not be able to produce shots as good as the prime lens.
It does of course has OS, only you can decide if this is important to you.

[nigel_b]

As I found with my 500mm prime, its usually easier to take a step back if you have too much lens than step forward if you have too little. The only issue I found was it can sometimes be fearsomely difficult to line up a shot with such a narrow field of view and here the zoom can certainly help you.