Canon EF 100-400mm lens
|
||||||
| Gets very Dusty with use 13/08/2010 I have/had this lens attached to my 5D (and now the new 5D MkII when I can bear to put it on) for over six years now and have travelled to various far flung places with it. At first you will think this is an excellent lens and get some really good images using it, but the older it gets then the dustier it gets, to the point where if I use it now (which I am becoming ever loathed to do), I know I am going to have to spend several hours on the PC healing out all the crud from the millions of large dust particles splattered across every single image. I know the 5D MkII has a dust detection algorithm built into it, to remove particles from the image for you, but this amount of dust is way beyond what it was designed for and can cope with. You see this lens works with a bellows action, and bellows suck in and blow out air right?... I even took it back to a canon reapir shop a couple of years ago and asked the engineer if they would take it apart and hoover it out for me, but the engineer refused, even though I was begging him and offering him money - it is a waste of time he said, the first time you use it, it will fill up with dust again. So a 1,200 quid lens that was good for about a year but is now just a dust accumulating pain in the you know what. By D. Hickey UK | ||||||
| A whole lot of lens for a whole lot of money 29/07/2010 Having now used this lens for nearly 6 months I am able to review it and do it justice, but in the 1st few weeks I was wondering if I had made a serious financial mistake. In terms of quality, at this price range you are getting exactly what you pay for .. its well constructed, well designed with controls in logical positions and compact enough to not need a sepearate case if you have a decent sized camera bag. It comes with its own case which can be attached to the included strap or worn on a belt but to be honest mine sits in a cupboard gathering dust as it lives permanently fitted to my 30D. A decent and necessary lens hood is included, ensure you use it whenever possible as it helps with ensuring good contrast and reducing glare ( as i found out when i left it behind one occasion ) The tripod / monopod ring is another necessary + as when fully extended if the camera was mounted on its own fixing point with thia lens there would be an awful lot of "pull" on the screw thread, risking damaging the camera. 1st thing I did was fit a 77mm UV filter to lessen the chance of damaging the front element ( not somthing that would be cheap to replace ) and this has had the added benefit of protecting the front lens body edge from minor knocks and scuffs .. at £22 it was a good investment. I mainly shoot motorsport and wildlife and 400mm is really the minimum focal length I can get away with but here is the 1st, and only real issue I have with the lens ... if the sun goes in you can struggle with getting the necessary shutter speed you want without increasing your ISO to a point that can be noticable in your images. With a telephoto lens there will always be compromises and this, I feel is the lenses main one. Sunshine, snow, anywhere with bright or strong light is fantastic .. just pray for it to be constant or move to sunnier climes. If your happy to push your ISO all the time then this lens will not give you any real problems, and its pros may well out way its cons, especially as when you consider a prime 400mm will set you back in excess of £4500 ! If you are happy to shoot at less than 400mm for a majority of the time, then it may well also suit you but you may want to consider the Canon EF 70-200mm F/4.0 L IS USM Lens .. approx £250 difference but this can be used to buy a 1.4 or 2.0 teleconverter for when you really need the extra length. As for issues with "dust sucking" because of the push/pull zoom mechanism I havent had any issues .. and thats with a lot of outdoor use in dusty, urban and field locations. The push/pull can take some getting used to but its really not an issue, just try it out before you buy. In conclusion, think what you want your main lense to do for you, how you are going to use it for a majority of the time and the results you want / need and buy it if its right for you .. but think long and hard before committing your hard earned cash .. I love my lense now, but it was touch and go at the start ! P.S .. Sigma make a good range of Telephoto lenses too ... why not compare them .. ? By RozziD Lincoln, England | ||||||
| QUALITY 20/03/2010 This is an amazing lens no doubt to get over the weight issue mine is stuck on a monopod 95% of the time and carried over my shoulder i love this lense so much. Portraits at long focal length can blur out backgrounds so perfectly i also have the 70-200 2.8 if i lost both i would replace my 100-400 first . A great outdoor lense. By S. Unsworth STOCKPORT UK | ||||||
| The one I always wanted 19/03/2010 After many years I managed to get one of these and I have been happy ever since. Out of the box it looks and feels great ,solidly built ,waterproof and well made. It comes with a bag and a ( large ) hood. PROS The IS is the best thing in this lens it can takes great pictures with low light at low aperture ,or handheld without a tripod. The L lens make beautiful pictures with hardly and colour distorsion. The AF works well , fast and silently. MF is also very good ,but is apull push system and it takes a little while to get used to. CONS Is a little heavy and I sometimes use a monopod as it can take a toll on your arms-neck at the end of a long session. I wish it was cheaper. Overall a 5 stars lens that will be the only one you need for your wildlife trips. It I can only carry one it will this one By Don Pelayo Asturias | ||||||
| just a few thoughts for birders ... 18/11/2009 For starters I echo most of what other reviewers have said. I bought the Canon 40D + EF-S 17-85 IS USM as a kit and then the 100-400mm zoom primarily for nature photography (birds, butterflies, etc to fungi). Along with spare batteries, memory cards, wireless controller (WR-100) and SLR zoom gorilla pod which make up my normal kit, I also carry binoculars so all this weight requires some forethought about the duration of the photographic day out. Having annoyed several well-known photographic retailers by trying various bags and cases with either the same or similar kit together with a trawl of reviews on the interweb, I finally settled on the Slingshot 300 all weather. This allows me to keep the body on the 100-400mm zoom in the main central chamber with the hood inverted and, as the name of the bag suggests, to move the case around to the front (on its single strap) and quickly remove the kit from the side of the bag. I can recommend the bag with one exeption - that the weight is mainly on one shoulder unless the waist band is used correctly. Back to the lens - I always use the strap when shooting hand-held. As others have said, the IQ is very good for an "L" lens. I have had no problem with getting sharp images (even of Birds in flight) from the 400mm end although there is debate about the "Sunday afternoon"-made lenses. I nearly always take hand-held shots when walking (birds don't wait for you in general) as the IS is pretty good (you can hear the systems working hard at times). In a hide, I generally set it up on the gorillapod-zoom which is more than adequate to support the weight with the wireless release and then switch off the stabilizer. The AF is reasonable but depending on how much time I have for a shot I will probably tweak it manually. I can honestly say that the "pump" of the zoom which supposedly is a dust invitation has not been an issue. The camera does it's auto vibration at power on and off and I also utilise a rocket blower (at home!). Before any use I bought a Hama UV filter to protect the front optics (especially useful where salt water is being blown about at the coast). Having used the 400mm prime lens also, I can recommend the 100-400mm zoom, if the weight isn't a deterrent, for it's adaptability - even used it to photograph fungi in extremely low light conditions - as the "cheaper" end of the professional lens series. I see more and more bird photographers utilising this lens with a variety of Canon camera bodies and most will give it high marks ... perhaps given that the next bigger/better zoom/prime is way pricier! HTH By RoyCo UK | ||||||
