EF 70-200 Mk III for wildlife?

[John Liddle]

SWMBO and I may re-visit the Galapagos Islands some time in the not too-distant future.

Bearing in mind that most of the wildlife is usually withing a few metres of where you are standing, I am looking at the EF 70-200 L IS Mk III as a possible lens for the trip.

I would welcome any thoughts on that, especially from owners of the lens (or the Mk II, which is optically identical).

[Trev B]

Excellent lens John, I’ve used it in the past to photograph my Badgers who are within feet of me at the Sett and Roe Deer when they are in the garden and tolerate me! Also used it for some birds at one of my feeding stations.
PS. I have the 2.8 mkll

[John Liddle]

Trev,

thank you for your positive thoughts on this lens - they inspired me to look a bit further into it and I find, to my great joy and delight, that it is currently part of the Canon Test Drive scheme.

I have booked a 2-day test drive and will be able to judge it for myself - yippeee!

[DrJon]

Depends how far away the wildlife is, and what lenses you already have. I do have a 70-200 II and it's very nice when the wildlife is close. I know someone who uses one with a 2x extender for more distant stuff. Personally I prefer the 100-400 II, optionally with a 1.4x, provided it isn't too dark. Also note the close-focusing ability of the 100-400 II makes it a handy macro lens too (especially with a 1.4x). You'd probably want something wider than 100 as well though.
I remember reading Thom talking about the Galapagos recently, hang on...
https://www.bythom.com/photographic-...os/lenses.html
and more:
https://www.bythom.com/photographic-...ica/galapagos/