Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Amazon Customer Reviews

(5 out of 5)

The Canon EF 100-400mm is such an awesome lens!

I shoot with a Canon 20D and have used the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM telephoto zoom lens. I've always noticed the limitations of this lens when shooting amateur softball. I reviewed the lens lineup at the Canon website and decided on the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM Lens. Even so, I was apprehensive about the push/pull zoom system. Since this lens seems so expensive, I wanted to try it before I bought it. After renting the lens and using it over a weekend at a softball tournament, I knew this was the right lens for me.

This is a serious lens meant for serious photographers. Being an L lens, there is a lot more features and is manufactured with better materials. The construction is sturdy and consists of 17 elements in 14 groups. The fluorite and Super UD-glass elements largely eliminate the secondary spectrum. This lens is compatible with the Canon EF 1.4X II and 2X II telephoto extenders. The Canon EF 100-400mm lens weighs in at about 3 lbs/1,380g, and accepts 77mm filters. Be sure to get a good quality UV haze filter.

Being white, this lens looks a bit strange, but helps keep it cool when using in the sun. Some people are concerned that being white, it attracts attention to criminals. From my experience, my 20D attracts attention regardless of what lens I put on it. I personally doubt a thief looking for something to steal is taking the time to evaluate the cost of the item and are more concerned with the ease of taking something they can unload. I try to make things difficult for would be thieves and have insurance as a back up.

The dual IS system has two modes. Mode 1 is for stationary subjects while mode two is for moving subjects. It is recommended that the IS function is not used on a tripod; however I have used it on my monopod with success. The IS helps to eliminate camera shake and helps stabilize the lens when shooting from a moving vehicle. While there are limitations to what the IS can do, it can give you a couple extra stops. Just keep in mind, the IS attempts to eliminate camera movement, not the movement of the subject being photographed.

This lens permits for auto or manual focus depending on how the switch is set. There is also a switch to shift from a 1.8m/5.9ft to infinity or 6.5m/21.3ft to infinity.

Zooming with this lens takes a little time to get used to if you have never used it before. Once it is gotten used to, it seems to be much faster than the typical twist zooming. A resistance ring is used to tighten or loosen the resistance to zooming. This allows for practically locking the zoom in place or providing no resistance at all. Zooming is as simple as pulling or pushing the lens as its name suggest.

The push/pull system causes air to be noticeably pushed around. Because air is pushed into the camera, there is a myth that the lens causes dust to settle and accumulate on digital camera sensors. I mostly use this lens in one of the dirtiest environments I shoot in for amateur softball pictures. Even so, my experience does not support the myth. I have not seen any evidence to support the myth from any reputable source either.

Included with this lens are the tripod mount, lens hood, and storage case. The tripod mount is the best option to use when mounting to a tripod. This helps to balance the load. Mounting the camera instead creates an unbalanced set up that may topple over. The case is a zippered soft case (LZ1324) that can also be purchased separately. The lens hood (ET-83C) is used to reduce lens flare and can protect the front element in certain situations.

The Canon EF 100-400mm is such an awesome lens, it almost fails to compare to the Canon EF 75-300mm. The clarity and sharpness is incredible. The auto-focus is quiet and quick. The features add creative versatility. The Canon EF 100-400mm comes at a price, but it is worth every bit of it. Now that I have both lenses, the Canon EF 75-300mm is no longer used.

PROS:
Incredible clarity and sharpness
Quiet and quick auto-focus
Features add creative versatility
Dual IS system

CONS:
Heavy and bulky (This should be expected with these types of lenses)

(5 out of 5)

Pro lens, state of the art, big, heavy, and intimidating

I've been shooting with this lens for a few days now. You can see the photos that I've taken with it on my photo site, the address of which is [...]. You can also see this review with photos taken with the lens side by side on my gadget blog, www.geekcrack.com. On to the review.

This is a serious lens. It is big and heavy and takes fantastic pictures. The image stabilization gets you an extra stop when shooting handheld, in that it minimizes shake enough. I've taken some spectacular twilight shots using this feature. For serious work you will need a tripod or some other kind of support, because this thing gets heavy. Note that the photo on Amazon shows the lens in its shortest configuration... zoomed to 400mm, it is a bit longer than pictured.

It is a fantastic lens. Great sharpness, clarity, no spectral flares that I've noticed-- none at all-- quick, completely silent autofocus. Reasonably fast lens, the image stabilizer effectively makes it a little faster.

The only problem that I've had with the image stabilizer is that it sometimes makes it hard to frame up parallel lines at the edges of photos. The way it works is that it the IS activates when you depress the shutter release halfway. It kicks in about a second later and the viewfinder image gets that steadycam feel.

When the image stabilizer kicks in, the image in the viewfinder shifts a tiny bit. It can throw you off if, like me, you do a lot of cropping in the viewfinder rather than in the lab later. Of course I am using the autofocus in servo mode, so that might have something to do with it.

The full time manual focus ring comes in handy when the AF gets confused, which is not very often, but it really depends on which EOS camera you're using. There is also a ring that lets you easily tighten the zoom, which is essential because the lens is heavy enough to zoom itself if you are not careful.

In fact, I mostly use this lens at fixed lengths, tightening it up at the length I want and shooting for a while, rather than dynamically zooming each shot as I frame it up. The latter style is generally how I shoot with shorter zoom lenses.

This baby comes with a great storage case and an antiglare hood, which I haven't used yet. If you buy this be sure to order the UV filter at 77mm to put on the front of the lens. This will protect your investment and will help with long distance shots because the lens is so powerful, atmospheric haze can be an issue.

If you decide to go for it know that you're in for a serious relationship with a serious lens. The payoff is that you have the gear to take incredible telephoto photographs, sharp photographs you can enlarge, suitable for publication.

(5 out of 5)

Outstanding Image Quality and Zoom Flexibility - Almost Magical

Reviews of this lens on the web are mixed with some showing soft results, particularly at 400mm. This is likely due to wide variations in sample lenses. I decided to take a chance and seem to have gotten lucky. My copy, just received from Amazon (Build date of Oct 2005) produces fantastically crisp and contrasty images on my 20D at ALL focal lengths from 100 to 400. It's almost magical. The images are much sharper using the same f-stops than those from a 70-200 f2.8IS lens at 100-150mm and virtually the same at 200mm. Even wide-open at 400mm this lens is quite sharp. At 400mm, I've compared to a very nice Canon 400mm f5.6L prime lens, with and without 1.4X teleconverter. The images have virtually the same extreme sharpness and contrast if the zoom is stopped down just one one-third stop (e.g. zoom at 6.3, prime at 5.6). With the 1.4X TC both lenses had to be manually focused but produced outstanding clarity with NO perceivable loss in quality. The focus is swift and true and the IS on this lens really works (and does not hum like that on the 70-200 f2.8IS) allowing handheld shots at 1/100 sec at 400mm. It may be that Canon has quietly improved this lens since recent reviews seem to be much more positive than those from a few years ago. Some folks don't like the push-pull zoom but it works great for me and allows very fast composition of scenes. The lens is about the same size as the 70-200 f2.8 IS but seems lighter and better balanced. Given the razor sharpness of its images and 100-400mm range, this seems like the perfect single lens solution for nature and bird photography. However, it is big and white so it may not be the best for candid people photography.

(5 out of 5)

Powerhouse, but do you really need THIS lens?

If the answer is "Yes!" then buy with confidence. This lens dominates its niche. It delivers on its promises and is one of the classic white L lenses.

I got this lens to supplement the 28-135 IS, but I've ended up rarely using it. In fact, Ive decided that there may be a better choice for many photogs.

First let me begin by stating the obvious. Most images taken with this lens here and on online galleries like photosig or photo*net are taken at 400mm. Duh! I was hunting last weekend and took this lens along shooting animal pics from a blind. I set it to 400 and left it there. For wildlife and landscape shooters in particular, if the lens is going to be used at 400mm practically all the time, I think a better choice might be the 400mm 5.6 prime- costs hundreds less and sharper to boot. Going a step further, one sucessful wildlife photog I know recommends that if you are thinking about shooting wildlife other than birds, forego 400mm(prime or zoom)and get the 300mm F4 prime. His opinion: the larger size of most mammals offsets the loss of that last 100mm, yet is sharper, has lower light perfomance for the times of day when most mammals start moving, and yes, less money.

On the other hand, if your passion is shooting animals in a zoo, maybe this lens is for you. Dont have to worry about dawn or dusk shots and the range of the zoom might come in handy.

Sports shooters might actually benefit from the zoom's ability to adjust to capture unpredictable shots, but unless youre right on the sideline I still suspect it will be left at 400 most of the time, so ditto the prime. Ive read that 5.6 can be a bit slow for for fast shutter speeds in anything but optimum light. Of course, the next step up, the 400mm F4 is over five grand, so 5.6 is the practial limit for most average consumers.

In either case, you will be able to substantially reduce this handicap IF you have a sensor that takes good pics at ISOs of 800 or above. Thats not every camera.

I put the lens on my 30D to check the aperture progression for you techies out there. The lens shows F4.5 100~135mm, F5.0 ~135~270mm, and F5.6 thereafter.

People and portraits? Thats where it gets trickier. I can see using 400mm compression for compositional reasons in an environmental portrait, but how much is that market segment? 100mm isnt a bad length for people pics, but doing long-distance photojournalistic stuff had me feeling like I was Magnum PI on a stakeout.

If you're like me and the majority of your work involves people and portraits, the 70-200 2.8 (even non IS) is a much better choice for around the same money. I would have gotten 100x the use out of it over the past year.

I bought this one before I really had the need for it, thinking I would expand my horizons, and it just never happened.

But this lens does shine with its strengths. IS allows you to handhold 400mm pics with greater success than the non-IS prime. I dont do weddings but I can imagine IS allowing this lens as a supplement when a photog is stuck at the back of a church during the ceremony... as long as the lights arent too low.

Right after I got it I was in DC and snapped a few pics of George Bush at the Capitol. Im nobody special and couldnt get any closer than the "Nobody Special" section...not close! This lens got usable pics that I could have cropped way down and still had good resolution close-ups. One of those pics is posted in the customer images here.

Other benefits? The push-pull design allows almost instant adjustments. Because it compresses, its easer to carry than the prime (length- and size-wise, not weight). And, in spite of the fact that I use it far less than I imagined, I have no plans to get rid of the thing.

So the question boils down to whether you really need the zoom, the IS, and the ranges of this lens at the higher price than the prime. Wildlife/landscape photogs that use tripods? Maybe not. Sports shooters with monopods? Maybe. People shooters like me? I've learned almost never, unless I someday find myself a private detective or a voyeur.

That said, if you weigh your wants and this lens still tugs at your heart, dont hesitate to buy it. It delivers performance and value...within specific parameters.

(5 out of 5)

Not perfect, but excellent nonetheless

Good points about this lens:

1) It is the cheapest long lens with image stabilization you can get.

2) It is flexible (100-400mm zoom range)

3) Image quality of a good copy is superb on a cropped frame digital camera such as the Digital Rebel series. A good copy is decent on a full-frame camera.

4) It is light enough to carry, and you CAN use it handheld in reasonably bright light. Image quality from a tripod is better, of course.

Bad points about the lens:

1) It seems to have variable image quality between different copies. Some copies aren't as good as mine is (believe me, I don't say that about all my lenses!). My suspicion is that newer copies are on average better than old ones. Check out whichever copy you get while you can still return it.

2) Image quality drops a bit on a full-frame camera if you don't stop down at least one stop (to f/8 or f/11) and preferably back off slightly from 400mm to 370 or so. Image quality from 100mm to 250mm is as good as my prime lenses in that range.

3) It's a reasonably portable lens for it's focal length, but the size and white color will still draw unwanted attention from civilians, who will all ask if you work for National Geographic.

4) The "trombone" style of changing focal length is a bit gawky, and more important it does draw dust inside the lens. My copy (4 years old) has speckles of dust all over the INSIDE of the front element, unlike any other lens I own.

5) The image stabilization doesn't function reliably on a tripod. Canon recommends you turn of stabilization in that situation (and you'll get a better-quality image off a tripod for sure).