On Amazon there's a 'just launched' seller from Japan selling the 100-400 ii for £3057
Cant see him selling many!
A guy in Singapore once tried to sell me a L Canon at a more expensive price than UK from him because as they were nearer Japan the lens would be 'fresher'
I'm hoping the price will come down by easter.
....It would be great if it did but isn't such a lens unlikely to have a price drop worth waiting for as soon as 4 months (approximately) from launch?
It can only be speculation but how likely would Canon be to drop their price even after 6 months?.
Ironically, that's the kind of situation where the push-pull zoom mechanism makes the Mk I 100-400 absolutely unbeatable.I had a situation yesterday when a flock of Canada Geese suddenly flew overhead and I couldn't even get the whole of one bird in frame as I was too close with my 400mm prime. Being able to quickly zoom down would have been perfect with this new 100-400mm. [Robin continues to convince himself that he needs to buy this lens]
Maybe. Back in post #120 of this thread I estimated £1675. Unless something dramatic happens to exchange rates in the interim period I'd be surprised if it doesn't go below £1700 and surprised if it does go below £1600. But how long that will take depends on how much pent-up demand there is and how fast shipments are, and the early signs are not good. I'm still waiting for my first batch of them....In 6 months I expect the price of a legal version of the 100-400 MkII (i.e., not fallen off the back of a lorry, or a smuggler-special) to be around £1600
I'm still waiting for my first batch of them....
I tried one last night on a 7D II at LCE in Southampton.
Brilliant lens, the speed of the AF is much superior to the original. Not sure about the twist zoom compared to the push/pull, but then I prefer the push/pull myself as a personal preference.
....When I get mine (it's a case of when and not if) I'll be mounting it on a 7D Mark II too, so I'm very interested to hear what your longer term opinions are about this combo, Tony @350wedge . It should be a great combination for wildlife photography.
I personally prefer twist (to match zoom actions my 70-200mm L) rather than push-pull on zooms. Did you know that you can alter the default resistance to make the zoom action looser/tighter?
There's a very interesting comparison between the old and new 400DO lenses and the old and new 100-400 lenses on this site...
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2014/12/a-brief-400mm-comparison
The results are, to me, frankly surprising on the 100-400 products.....be interesting to get real world opinions rather than test results, and these results just post optical improvements, no mention of AF speed or IS improvements.
George
I'm using the Mark II 100-400 on a 7D Mk II body. It's a really nice combination. IS on the lens is excellent and I've been going as low as 1/40s at times at 400mm (I've been photographing rats in shady corners of a local pond). The other big bonus is that it is very sharp at f/5.6. Combined this makes a real difference working in the grubby gloom that we seem to have had recently. AF is fast, plus the minimum focusing range is less than a metre. Getting used to the twist zoom, but that's fine and the torque control is useful. I don't like the lens cap, but that is me being pretty picky.
Should add that it plays nicely with the 1.4x III extender.
Mine has arrived but I'm trying to resist opening it until Christmas morning, which is only another 24 hours!
Step away from the box Marie....
....
When you say that you find it is very sharp at F/5.6 do you mean when F/5.6 at 400mm? Or that you are finding that its optimum sharpness is when at F/5.6 throughout its zoom range? (aka the lens sweet spot).
I bought one to pair it with my 7dmkII this is my first shot very little light as it was in the shade 1/200 f5.6 iso 800 about a stop under exposed PP work done, 400mm but 640mm fov with the crop factor.
Feel quite happy with the lens .
Rob.
How does the image quality of the Tamron stack up against the 100-400 mk2 (at the focal lengths that they share)?A quick play with the lens as the light starts to improve here.
This is with 1.4x kenko 300 dgx, 560mm, iso800, F8, 1/500 on 5D3
I already prefer it to the tamron 150-600mm in terms of size/weight.
50% crop and slight sharpen for web.
Handheld, 400mm f5.6, iso640, 1/2000th
50% crop
web sharpen
How does the image quality of the Tamron stack up against the 100-400 mk2 (at the focal lengths that they share)?
It would be interesting to see a real user comparision with & without the extender too.