Canon Zoom--L vs IS As tough a choice as I think?

[dcislander]

Is the 75-300IS really THAT bad? Is the 70-200L f4 really THAT much better?
Here's my conundrum...
I will be using the lens on a 300D, a comparatively light cam. The lens is for a lengthy globtrotting trip and will call my backpack home (=lighter is better). My big worry--I will NEVER be using a tripod or monopod. The lens is primarily for wildlife. I have never been able to shoot close up on a trip like this before and cannot decide if the extra 100mm would make or break the photo ops. That said, do you think the 70-200, hand held, fully zoomed would still produce consistenly better images than the 75-300IS? Thoughs on adding the 1.4x to it, or am I already in "shakey disaster" territory going hand held? Also, is the the 75-300 focus as painfully slow at 300mm as we are led to believe. I am an amature--think I'd be able to really tell the difference in speed?

I would like to stick to one of these lenses to take advantage of Canon's revate program (the bane of my existence). Today I pull the trigger on one of these 2 lenses. I highly value your opinions. What do you all think I should do?

Thanks much.

[George Riehm]

Is the 75-300IS really THAT bad? Is the 70-200L f4 really THAT much better?
Here's my conundrum...
I will be using the lens on a 300D, a comparatively light cam. The lens is for a lengthy globtrotting trip and will call my backpack home (=lighter is better). My big worry--I will NEVER be using a tripod or monopod. The lens is primarily for wildlife. I have never been able to shoot close up on a trip like this before and cannot decide if the extra 100mm would make or break the photo ops. That said, do you think the 70-200, hand held, fully zoomed would still produce consistenly better images than the 75-300IS? Thoughs on adding the 1.4x to it, or am I already in "shakey disaster" territory going hand held? Also, is the the 75-300 focus as painfully slow at 300mm as we are led to believe. I am an amature--think I'd be able to really tell the difference in speed?

I would like to stick to one of these lenses to take advantage of Canon's revate program (the bane of my existence). Today I pull the trigger on one of these 2 lenses. I highly value your opinions. What do you all think I should do?

Thanks much.

If you only have one shot at this then the IS is the better lens to take with you. Chances are that you would get the shot with the IS lens in conditions that would just be frustrating with the L glass.

Under normal everyday conditions the L glass might give you better results but might be blurred on long hand-helds. For a once-in-a-lifetime trip, shooting wildlife, the IS glass would be my choice. Plus the extra reach will definately come in handy.

[Jeff Keller]

Post in one forum only, please. I'm closing this thread. Reply here (http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3400).