Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

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raider2727

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Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM
Should this be a lens to consider for Wildlife and Airshows or would a 300mm F4 IS and 1.4 converter be a better option?
 
The 400 is great. So too is the 300 f4 plus converter. For wildlife applications, the 1.5m min focus of the 300 is much better than the 3.5m of the 400. The 400 will focus quicker than the 300 + conv. Without conv they are the same.
This discussion has been had about a billion times before, only you can decide! For years I had the old 300 non IS. Then on a whim I sold it and bought a 400, which I had for 3 years. I then sold it, bought a 300 f4 with IS, sold that within 6 weeks, and bought another 400. I still have it, and am not going to swap again. I don't miss IS.
Jonathan
 
raider2727 said:
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM
Should this be a lens to consider for Wildlife and Airshows or would a 300mm F4 IS and 1.4 converter be a better option?
Click to expand...
I just swapped my 400 for a 300 just for the IS, the 400 is a sharper lens but the 300 is more versatile.
 
I got a 400 from Warehouse Express two weeks ago. Have to say I'm very, very disapointed with the IQ, it's no where near as sharp as my 100-400 L.

I've just phoned them and asked about getting it calibrated/checked/compared with a known good copy. I've to give it back to them and they'll send it off to Canon to get it done.

Pretty gutted really, after reading all the great reviews about it's sharpness before I committed to buy it. I get the feeling Canon will just say it's fine and I'll be stuck with it.:shrug:
 
BRASH said:
I got a 400 from Warehouse Express two weeks ago. Have to say I'm very, very disapointed with the IQ, it's no where near as sharp as my 100-400 L.

I've just phoned them and asked about getting it calibrated/checked/compared with a known good copy. I've to give it back to them and they'll send it off to Canon to get it done.

Pretty gutted really, after reading all the great reviews about it's sharpness before I committed to buy it. I get the feeling Canon will just say it's fine and I'll be stuck with it.:shrug:
Click to expand...

I have heard there can be a few probs with these, hope it gets sorted soon.
 
I have the 400. It is a great lens, excellent IQ, fast auto focus. IS is sort of handy but with a long lens you will often have it on a tripod in which case you would switch IS off, same thing with a beanbag.

The 400 is an excellent lens for flight shots, again IS is very little use. I don't miss it.

Now if you want a real man's lens, get the 400 f2.8. That's got IS and you'd probably need it as it is the heaviest lens Canon make, nearly 800 gms heavier than the 800mm
IS might come in handy for hand holding that sucker if you don't fall over with the weight of it.

What I'm saying is that I think IS is over rated
 
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