Canon officially announces the EF 400mm f/2.8L IS III & EF 600mm f/4L IS III. The worlds lightest lenses of their kind

Keith_Reeder

I really don't mind offending trolls.
Feb 8, 2014
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Blyth, NE England
They are as you are too ;-) Different people, different limitations.

Nope. Saying:

An EF 600mm f / 4L IS III of 3.1 Kg is too heavy for use without a tripod...

Is a sweeping generalisation clearly not couched as a personal opinion, but as an absolute.
 
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Looking forward to the arrival of the 400 and the subsequent reviews. I'm in the market for this lens. If the weight is the only major difference with little to no difference in IQ, I'll snag version II. I don't mind the weight. I hand hold my 300 2.8 shooting basketball and volleyball all the time so a monopod on a 400 2.8 won't be a problem. $1,000 more for each pound of weight reduction is too much if that's the only difference.
 
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Hector1970

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Mar 22, 2012
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I've just spent over a week using a 600 f4 II partially hand held. It is doable but really quite heavy.
I'm not particularily strong but I could get a minute or two handheld and it worked very well.
20% off the weight would help.
The 100-400 II felt lightweight when I switched over.
I find the 300 F2.8 II very hand holdable.
 
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I've been using a 400mm f2.8 LIS mkI for years. Creatively...it's an incredible tool and probably the most flexible of all the great whites with tele-converters. But the mkI is ridiculously heavy. I hit the gym every week to make sure I'm in shape enough to handle this lens. My tripod and fluide head need to be conspicuously robust to handle the 10kg working load weight too. I'd live to find funds for a mkIII... but at that price I have to consider my car vs lens needs. After all...I already HAVE a mkI....
 
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6 Kg?????????? o_O Congratulations! How many years did it take you to recover?

I used to have the Canon 400 EF F2.8 L Mk1 (not the lighter Mk2 or IS versions) and yes it was hand hold-able - but not for very long! Recovery time was negligible.

To achieve this Herculean feat you need to be ageing, overweight, hopelessly unfit and have arms like matchsticks. Nowadays I am a complete wimp and have gone to the flyweight 800 F5.6 (about 1.6 kilos lighter) which I hand-hold for much of my photography.
 
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tron

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Nov 8, 2011
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Recovery time and strength differ from person to person. I used to hold the 500mm f/4L IS II with a 7DII for about 2 hours on a boat shooting intermittently. The result was my left hand barely escaped tenontitis after about 2 to 3 months later. A 400DOII is perfect for me (I can walk, handhold and shoot with it for hours). So these are my limits. But I have no complaints. I use my 500 while on a car or close by using a tripod.
 
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