very happy with my new Canon 300mm F4 IS

[darrenm]

i dont think i will bother with a Canon converter then and try to get to grips with the new lens and kit i have.....that is if good light ever comes back to the UK

[johnf3f]

Originally Posted by darrenm

i dont think i will bother with a Canon converter then and try to get to grips with the new lens and kit i have.....that is if good light ever comes back to the UK

Congratulations on your new lens! If it's anything like mine then you are going to be happy. The resolution on my 300 is stunning and really gets the best out of my 1D4's sensor.
If there is a downside to this lens then it is the age of the design, not optically - it's top notch. The AF and IS are not as good as the latest lenses. The IS only gives "2" stops and is a bit noisy - still very useful. The AF is fast and very accurate on stationery subjects but not the fastest for birds in flight etc. This just translates into a slightly lower "Keeper" rate, but the good ones are excellent - a good compromise for me. Also always turn the IS off completely for BIF - this has considerably improved my success rate. With my 70-200 F2.8 IS it doesn't seem to make any different if I forget about the IS but it does with the 300.
Please not the above caveats are very minor and simply reflect the fact that the 300 F4 IS has been out quite a while, it's one of my favorite lenses!

[darrenm]

will have a go at taking the IS off for BIF shots with the 300mm and have been using the 400mm f5.6 without autofocus for such shots but have found it a bit narrow in field at times and hope to get some better BIF shots with my new 300mm. Thankyou for the information john

So far for fairly static practice shots on birds in the garden on feeders i have tried all the diffrent options with the lens and so far very happy with it. Tomorrow if it s dry i will get out and about on one of my local Birding patches and have a go at different species both fairly satic and in flight. Just hope the weather is a bit better than of late