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The new Canon EF 200-400mm f/4 L IS USM Extender 1.4x has generated a huge amount of interest, not least with its 5-figure price tag. Can it really be that good? I thought it would be a good idea to field test it, to find out. Fortunately there are lots of fields around Maidenhead.
First up was some village cricket. I didn't have tickets for the test match, but this was almost as good. Pinkneys Green 1st XI vs Wraysbury 2nd XI in Division 2 of the Morrant Chiltern Cricket League.
And during the tea interval I shot down two bandits as they were lining up their strafing runs on the pavillion.
My full report has too many images to post on the forum; you can see the long version in the the LensesForHire blog: [click]
In short, I found that 200-560mm was an excellent focal length range for cricket.
200mm:
320mm:
420mm:
560mm:
But what about optical quality? I hear you ask. Well, there's really nothing much to report. You'd expect a lens like this to be excellent, and it is. I see no trace of distortion or chromatic aberration. The background blur is very pleasing. And I have no complaints whatsoever about the sharpness. The image below is a 100% crop, again with no processing whatsoever (i.e. unsharpened). It's good enough for me.
First up was some village cricket. I didn't have tickets for the test match, but this was almost as good. Pinkneys Green 1st XI vs Wraysbury 2nd XI in Division 2 of the Morrant Chiltern Cricket League.
And during the tea interval I shot down two bandits as they were lining up their strafing runs on the pavillion.
My full report has too many images to post on the forum; you can see the long version in the the LensesForHire blog: [click]
In short, I found that 200-560mm was an excellent focal length range for cricket.
200mm:
320mm:
420mm:
560mm:
But what about optical quality? I hear you ask. Well, there's really nothing much to report. You'd expect a lens like this to be excellent, and it is. I see no trace of distortion or chromatic aberration. The background blur is very pleasing. And I have no complaints whatsoever about the sharpness. The image below is a 100% crop, again with no processing whatsoever (i.e. unsharpened). It's good enough for me.