Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Mar 25, 2011
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Finally, mine arrived tonight. 4 days for next day shipping!

Its after dark, and my camera is out in the studio, so I'll just start with some unboxing photos. This is by far the best packaged of the under $3,000 lenses I've seen. Adorama packed it well too, as usual. These are just snapshots with my G1X II, no flash or special lights. I took a photo of the extended lens to show what it looks like at 400mm.
 

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Mar 25, 2011
16,848
1,835
Re: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Mark II

beforeEos Camaras said:
nice looks well balanced. is it front heavy?

The lens itself seems well balanced, once its on a camera, it will need one hand under the lens to balance it. As far as being heavy, its really a question as to what you are used to. There is a lot of glass in the lens and it is heavy. The Big Whites, of course, are in a weight class by themselves.

Those with a digital Rebel and a 55-250mm lens will find it astoundingly heavy. Those who use a 70-200mm f/2.8 or the Mark I version will not see much difference.
 
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Re: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Mark II

jarrodeu said:
LovePhotography said:
If walking around hanging off your neck do you think the lens will creep?
The old push-pull did not creep because of the friction ring, I assume they would not add lens creep as a feature.
Jarrod

If you zoom in on MT. Spokanes pics you can see it has a friction ring. It has arrows pointing each way one saying smooth te other saying tighten
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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Re: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Mark II

LovePhotography said:
If walking around hanging off your neck do you think the lens will creep?

I use a black rapid strap, a neck strap would be very uncomfortable for me.

The lens has a locking (friction) ring that locks it at any focal length. If it is not tightened before pointing up or down, the lens may tend to creep. mine is new and still stiff, but after it gets worn in, I'd expect that it would need the friction.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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Re: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Mark II

bricat said:
I would be interested to know if you think the packaging would endure a trip to the other side. (Aussie) I have mine ordered via a third party and wondered if it needed re-packing cheers brian

The Canon packaging is surpurb, multiple layers of protection, it can withstand lots of dropping. This is the best packaging I've seen for something in this class.

Adorama also surrounded it with air bags, so it was in pretty good shape.

I did take it out this morning into the cold frosty air and took a few shots to try to see if there was front or back focusing. It looked pretty good, I'd guess that its front focusing a very tiny amount, not enough to fool with right now.

This is a photo from about 40 ft at 400mm, full frame, and then crop. There was no wild life this morning, but my neighbor's dog was herding his horses. There is some motion blurring, that dog was moving fast, and 1/500 was too slow. The white horse in the background is almost 1/2 mile away.

first%20test%20photos-7809-XL.jpg




first%20test%20photos-7809-2-XL.jpg



The banner was 40 ft away and moving in the breeze, but 1/500 was plenty fast to freeze it. The depth of field was shallow, so there are some oof areas where the flag is not flat. Adjusting the focus a couple of steps back might prevent that. I was surprised to see the individual threads.

first%20test%20photos-7814-XL.jpg



first%20test%20photos-7814-2-XL.jpg
 
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Re: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Mark II

This looks very good! I´m looking forward to see more of your images and hearing more of your experiences with it.

I don´t need this lens, but it is very tempting as a light travel companion. My threshold for carrying the 200-400 is there, when weight and volume is an issue. But this lens mounted on the 7DII will be quite potent for some of the things I do. I never liked the MkI, but this one looks better and it is clearly very sharp in the centre.
 
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Besisika

How can you stand out, if you do like evrybdy else
Mar 25, 2014
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215
Montreal
Re: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Mark II

Thank you very much Mt Spokane Photography for the effort.
I am very much interested in this lens. Please post more as you go, especially with any TC you have.
Renting wouldn't be possible for a while, have to rely on your opinions to decide this time.
 
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CurtL5

Purchaser of a little, Admirer of a lot
Re: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Mark II

Santa arrived early! To echo, the packaging was amazing - 6.8lb shipping weight - half was the packing...

Early images appear excellent although it's a pretty cloudy day today.
Well balanced, but heavy of course. Slightly heavier than my 70-200 (non IS) 2.8 as is to be expected.

Focus ring is smooth, zoom ring is a bit grinding, unlike the internal zoom of the 70-200.
Have heard that commentary before - may just have to get used to it...

Images were shot handheld on a 5Dmiii in full auto mode;

100mm - iso100 / 1/125s / f5.6
200mm - iso100 / 1/160s / f5.0
400mm - iso100 / 1/160s / f5.0

Target is approximately 250 yds (228 meters)away...
 

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Mar 25, 2011
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Re: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Mark II

Eldar said:
This looks very good! I´m looking forward to see more of your images and hearing more of your experiences with it.

I don´t need this lens, but it is very tempting as a light travel companion. My threshold for carrying the 200-400 is there, when weight and volume is an issue. But this lens mounted on the 7DII will be quite potent for some of the things I do. I never liked the MkI, but this one looks better and it is clearly very sharp in the centre.

I loved the mark 1, but the IS on this one is very good. IQ is better as well, but its mostly AF speed and IS that seemed better to me.

I'd like to put them side by side and compare, but my hands are extremely sensitive to the cold. It comes with old age and poor circulation.

I had a Nikon 200-400 f/4G last year. It was too big to carry around, and I needed a gimbal except for quick snapshots. It was nowhere as sharp as this lens.
 
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CurtL5

Purchaser of a little, Admirer of a lot
Re: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Mark II

Adding a 1.4xii Extender to the mix...

100mm (140mm Equivalent) 1/125 / f6.3 / iso100
200mm (280mm Equivalent) 1/250 / f7.1 / iso200
400mm (560mm Equivalent) 1/500 / f8 / iso500

Camera still on full auto - SOOC - no adjustments whatsoever.
 

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