70-200mm f/4

[omni]

Hi everyone.
Sorry for making so many posts regarding the lens.
I recently saw the 70-200mm f/4 lens and I saw that I can get it used with 1 year store-warranty from a local canon retailer for $475. Is that a good deal?
Also, I know that it is f/4 so I need an idea of how little is not enough light?
Would I be able to take a picture in this kind of setting:

There's not enough light, so at F/4, would I be able to capture the whole scene with or without flash?

Thanks for your feedback!

[RichardTaylor]

Re the lighting.

What ISO are you prepared to use?

Will you be using a tripod?

How many flash guns do you want to use to "capture the whole scene"?
One flashgun may give you approx the same coverage as your example pic.

Keep in mind that a 70-200 used indoors is for picking out details, especially on a crop camera, and not a "whole scene".

If I was shooting something like this I would like to use a fast "standard zoom" lens =>F2.8 and a high ISO =>1600.

Here is an example, hand held in low available light (IS was on).


Camera: Canon EOS 5D + Canon 24-105 F4 IS L lens
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/4.0 (wide open)
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[omni]

Thanks for your reply, Richard.
I'm looking to use the flash on my camera.I'm just curious to see how well that lens will perform in low light situation as pictured above before buying it. I want to use an iso that doesn't make the image look too grainy or anything. I most likely will leave that at auto. And in an event like that, I would probably use 1/25th of the shutter speed.

[RichardTaylor]

You will find you probably can't hand hold a 70-200 non IS lewns lens at anything less than 1/100 second.

You may find auto will limit you to ISO 400 (that is camera dependant)

I would take your "standard lens" and don't be afraid of bumping up the ISO if need be. Noise will be the least of your problems. I would as shoot RAW as that will give more control over your final pic, including white balance and noise reduction (possibly selective depending on your software)

Here is another example - with a 70-200 this time again in poor light.


Canon 350D (Rebel XT) with 70-200 F4 L @ 200mm
ISO 800 1/200 @F4 Hand held with Canon 580 EX flash.
Just cropped, sharpened & red eye removed in PP.

[omni]

Thanks for your input, Richard!
I guess the 70/200mm f/4 lens isn't bad for low light situations. I will invest in that lens rather than buying a 100mm f/2.0 for around the same price.

[omni]

Thanks for your input, Richard!
I guess the 70/200mm f/4 lens isn't bad for low light situations. I will invest in that lens rather than buying a 100mm f/2.0 for $150 extra

[lputman]

The 70-200 f/4 isn't the lens for low light shooting. What camera would it be paired with? The 100 f/2.0 is an excellent lens and would do better in low light situations than the 70-200 f/4. The 50 f/1.4 could also be considered for a crop body.

[RichardTaylor]

It's a good lens, but it isn't really a low light lens. Something around F2.8, at the very minimum is.

[zona5101]

cutting to the chase: Sharp, well exposed images 70-200f4 using built in flash ,low light, and minimal grain = not going to happen.

[omni]

So in the my sample picture above, I won't be able to get clear + sharp pictures in that kind of lighting?
I'm thinking about taking my standard kit lens making the apeture f/4.0 and shooting around with that, however, how accurate will that be in depicting f/4.0?