Canons venerable EF100-400L reviewed for wildlife

[Grant Atkinson]

About as old of a new lens that you can get, the EF 100-400L is a still a very versatile, and very popular lens choice amongst lots of photographers, especially those who shoot wildlife and/or travel a lot.
I have reviewed the lens with the needs of wildlife photography in midn, and with experience shooting the lens with a host of different Canon bodies, including the 5Dmk3 and 1Dmk4. I also compared some results from the EF 100-400L f4.5-5.6 IS with its smaller but newer cousin, the EF 70-300L f4-5.6 IS.
Here is the link to the review:
http://www.grantatkinson.com/blog/canon-ef-100-400-l-f4-5-5-6-is-usm-field-review

Hope there is something useful in there for interested readers.
cheers
Grant

 

[Loswr]

Very nice review, and some excellent sample images!

Three minor points/corrections to mention:

1) The 100-400L was intorduced in 1998.

2) Regarding weather sealing, although the 100-400L lacks the rubber gasket at the lens mount, the rest of the lens is actually weather-sealed, including the switches and the zoom/focus ring. Actually, that's true for all of the pre-1999 white EF lenses (200/1.8L, 300/2.8L, 300/4L, 300/4L IS, 400/2.8L, 400/5.6L, 500/4.5L, 600/4L, 35-350/3.5-5.6L, 70-200/2.8L, and 100-400/4.5-5.6L). So I'd call it a 'partially sealed' lens.

3) You mention that AF isn't possible with the 2x extender, that applies to SIR phase detect (dedicated AF sensor) only. Contrast detect AF (Live View) and the 70D's dual-pixel CMOS AF (which uses the image sensor for phase detect) will autofocus with an f/11 lens.

 

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Neuro
Thanks for taking the time out to correct my date error, the extra info about weather-sealing, and also my silly omission about Live View...
Much appreciate that. I will update the website post accordingly
Cheers
Grant

 

[lintoni]

Thanks, I enjoyed the review and images. The 100-400 is still a very good lensl and as you point out, easily fits into a rucksack for hiking.