Tokina RMC 400mm or Canon 300mm

[bmac1]

I'd like to start photographing birds and thought I'd start with the Canon

300mm F4 but after looking at the KEH site I see the Tokina RMC 400mm and the

Tokina 400mm SD; anyone have any experince with the Tokina lens? It is a 5.6

and I wonder if I'm not better off with the Canon 300mm f4 with a

teleconverter. Thanks

[John Crowe]

Canon lenses are relatively very affordable now, so stick with them when you can. With those Tokina 400mm lenses you are going to get what you pay for.

 

 

I see KEH has some good prices on the Canon FD 300mm f4 L and this one would perform much better than the non-L with a 1.4x converter. If this is still outside your budget one of their Canon FD 400mm f4.5 lenses in "bargain" condition at less than $250 USD would be the most bang for the buck. I have owned this lens and it is very sharp and not to bad to use handheld. It would likely be far superior to the Tokina 400 and a bit faster too. Good luck.

[vincenzo_maielli]

Hi, Bud. The Tokina is a good tele lens but the Canon is optically better and more fast.

Ciao.

[bmac1]

Hello John and Vincenzo:

 

Thank you for your responses. I will take your advice and stick with Canon Lenses. Happy New Year.

Bud

[User_502260]

I have two 400mm f/5.6 Vivitar lenses. One is a Fixed Mount model for M42. The other is a TX model with internal focusing. I think the Fixed Mount 400 is the same as the Tokina RMC. Both of my Vivitars seem nice. The TX lens is shorter because of the internal focusing. The biggest problem with shooting a subject like birds is that even when you use a tripod you must get your shutter speed high enough to stop the movement of the subject. With lenses this slow you will be forced to shoot wide open or to use faster film. I would rather use one of the Tokina 400 lenses wide open than a Canon 300 with a teleconverter wide open.

 

The 300 by itself could be useful for other subjects but isn't really long enough for bird photography. With any long lenses this slow you will need the right focusing screen to make focusing practical. I would use either a plain matte screen or a grid type screen in one of my Canon F-1 bodies. If your camera does not have interchangeable screens then you will need to shoot in very bright light.

[vincenzo_maielli]

Happy new year also to you, your family and friends, dear Bud.

Ciao.

[feanolas1]

300mm is a bit short for photographing birds, I would recommend the 400 or even better a 500mm... the Canon 500L is an really outstanding lens and can be found for less then $1000 nowadays on eBay, so if you can afford it, do get one!