Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras by Canon
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Digital camera reviews of Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Digital camera Review: Great tele zoom
Summary: 5 Stars
I am an enthusiast shooting on Canon 40D and 5D.
Pro:
1. Surprisingly hand-heldable, considering the weight. IS helps a GREAT DEAL.
2. Zoom is extremely smooth, way better than the twist and zoom on my Sigma 170-500. And it doesn't creek! (amazing engineering. In comparison, my old Tamron 18-250 and Sigma 170-500 immediately extend to the full length with a loud thunk when pointing downwards, while my new 18-270 is so tight it's hard to zoom in and out). This is my first push-pull zoom and there is no learning curve at all. I love it!
3. No issue with so called dust pump problem - actually the Sigma and the much smaller Tamron 18-250 suck in more air than this one - you can easily tell by put you hand at the back of the lens and zoom back the lens and feel the air flow for yourself.
4. The lens balances extremely well on 40D and 5D without grip. The Sigma feels significally top heavy in comparison.
5. The color and contrast is L lens at its best, thanks to its quality glasses.
6. The length is quite managable actually, but a very thick lens nevertheless. The Sigma 170-500 is quite slim in comparison.
7. The AF is very responsible and assuring, even in modest indoor light (blinders partially closed). There is no comparison between the Canon L ring type USM and the regular Sigma AF.
8. IS works SEAMLESSLY. No noise, no ify in-between states. It works its magic without my awareness. Tamron and cheaper Canon like 70-300 announce their IS effects in distinctive and sometimes unnerving noises.
9. Background blur is milky smooth if you give enough distance between your subject and the background. My 70-200/F4L has a much more nervous blur in comparison.
10. Very LOW CA (color fringe, purple ring etc) at the long end. This is another nice surprise to me since I've heard many saying otherwise about this lens.
11. Everything about this lens is top quality, hood, collar, fit and finish.
Neutral:
1. Not the sharpest lens when pixel peeks, especially wide open. But the wide open shots are way more than 'acceptable' to me as an enthusiast. Here I am talking about hand held shots. I am sure the sharpness will improve on a tripod.
2. This is a very fat lens, white, not light weight, not fast, not cheap, no surprise. Putting this in perspective, this is a rather "cheap" and light weight tele comparing to the other fast tele primes/zooms. I tried out the Bigma in a Tokyo store several years ago and I didn't like the feel of it, the zoom, balance, IQ - didn't use it on tripod at the time.
Con:
None so far.
Bottom line:
A very hand-heldable tele zoom with great overall IQ. This is perhaps in the same vein as the Canon 70-200/F4L, 24-105L and 17-40L, relatively affordable with all the L lens advantages with great convenience and assured consistent IQ (AF speed and accuracy, weight balance in hand, mechanical quality all contributes to the end results of course) But they are certainly not the fastest or the sharpest lens on the market. But add convenience to the equation, these are certainly at the top of the game.
Digital camera Review: Awesome Lens
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm extremely happy with this lens. It's all that I hoped for, and love the image stabilization. What a difference from lenses without it.I would definitely recommend this lens.Digital camera Review: Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Summary: 5 Stars
Very good sharpness, bokeh, and superfast autofocus. I am very pleased with my purchase of this product.Digital camera Review: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L is a Phenomenal Lens!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This was my first Canon "L" glass that I purchased and I'm extremely delighted with it's versatility and sharpness. So far, it's just as sharp as my Canon 16-35 f/2.8L and my images are crisp and full of contrast/color. Although it's not as fast as some of the other "L" lenses (300 f/2.8L or 70-200 f/2.8L), this lens does very well. We visited Baltimore on back-to-back weekends (Zoo & Aquarium Dolphin show)and every photo (handheld) was sharp, sharp, sharp!!! Indoors, I cranked up the ISO to around 800 and there are a few photos where I could actually see the water beads on the dolphins skin!!! Outside, it's great around ISO of 100-200. I would definitely recommend this lens to anyone & mine stays in my bag 100% of the time!!!!Digital camera Review: This lens delivers...
Summary: 5 Stars
I read 100's of reviews on the Canon EF 100-400mm IS USM zoom lens before taking the plunge. Most reviews were glowing, and from reviewers who advised "just do it". But there were also some from people who had a "less than expected" experience. I really needed the variable reach and at least 400mm of it at times, and also really needed fast and accurate AF for sports, so this seemed like the one to try. I've now logged over 3000 shots, and only wound up with about 20 that weren't properly focused (most of these were my fault since I was using ONE SHOT focusing mode on my camera).
I now have to say - absolutely amazing results.
When I got the lens, I played around with the Canon 50D lens micro focusing adjustment for an entire evening in low light, and with the LCD moire test pattern approach, and couldn't find a better setting than the default "+/- 0" for BOTH 100mm & 400mm zoom points. Then, on the soccer field, this lens blew me away with its clarity. And while I know that several people have complained about its bokeh, I couldn't disagree more - what I got was beautiful. Background spectators, coaches, tree's, and sky were all very nicely blurred - no artifacts and nothing strange at all, and this made each image subject stand out brilliantly.
I shot sunshine one day, and pouring rain the next. Both gave me excellent results. I shot ISO400, F8 (bright day) and ISO500, F7.1 (overcast) on a monopod with the focus range limited on the lens to 6.5m and IS mode 2 (allows for panning). Based on all of the reviews, and my own experimenting between F5.6 and F8 indoors, I opted to shoot at F8 or F7.1 to extend the DOF a bit, and get the crispest images possible.
I used ONE SHOT AF with center focus set on the camera. The results were fast, accurate, and as I said - left me with amazing images that were tack sharp. The Canon 50D also does a great job outdoors with ISO400 & 500, so no real sacrifice there to shoot stopped down a bit.
Push-pull zoom? I wondered about this too from all the negative press in some of the reviews. I found the push-pull action (with adjustable friction) to be PERFECT for shooting on a pod. One other advantage point not made by others, that I discovered in the pouring rain - when you're outfitted with a rain bonnet over the lens and camera, it's trivial to push-pull the zoom in and out with your wet "free" hand with the camera and lens completely protected. This would NEVER have worked with a rotating zoom ring on the lens, as I was constantly going from 100mm to 400mm and all points in between as the action moved around quickly on the field.
I would like to try the 1.4 extender with this lens and birds/wildlife, but think it would be a waste of time for sports, with baseball being the possible exception, since you lose AF capability with this lens. That would never have worked for me shooting soccer. As an experiment, I was also able to shoot about half a soccer game hand held, without the monopod, using IS mode 1 in bright sun, and got VERY good results as well, but did notice the camera/lens weight after a while. Fatigued arms tend to shake more, and controlled breathing won't help this, so I'd recommend a monopod or tripod for extended shooting. The lens mount for this leaves a very nicely balanced set-up that isn't always trying to fall forwards or backwards on your mount.
In closing, I have to second everyone else who's written "just do it, you won't be sorry" on this lens. And if you are sorry, you've probably gotten a bad copy and I'd recommend returning it or sending it in to Canon for a tune-up. This lens CAN really deliver - I now have lots of proof. One other thing - I have been watching the rumor mill for Canon to release its F4 update version of this lens. Like others, I figured as soon as I bought the F4.5-5.6, they'd announce the new one a day later. Couple of points on that - (1) you might still be sitting, waiting, this time next year, and have missed some great shots, (2) if Canon rolls out a fixed F4, you KNOW it's going to cost a lot more, and (3) I believe Canon has steadily and quietly been making improvements to their 100mm-400mm all along; you can see a lot more "recent buyers" really, really happy with the copy they got, and older versions (especially those bought used) as the ones people complain most about. Now I can't wait for the rain to stop so I can go hunting some birds...Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras