EF 400mm f/5.6L USM vs Tamron 150-600?

[DominoDude]

Adding a little extra: My 400/5.6L has taken a serious beating, and no matter what Canon will release in the near future (I might have to eat this statement later) I will sell mine and buy a new identical one (minus misaligned elements and metal dents), and build around it with other lenses that suits me. So I would say that the 400/5.6L in comparison with the Tamron is well worth the money even though it lacks IS and has no zoom.

 

[Ryan85]

Adding a little extra: My 400/5.6L has taken a serious beating, and no matter what Canon will release in the near future (I might have to eat this statement later) I will sell mine and buy a new identical one (minus misaligned elements and metal dents), and build around it with other lenses that suits me. So I would say that the 400/5.6L in comparison with the Tamron is well worth the money even though it lacks IS and has no zoom.

+1

 

[AlanF]

The comparison at TDP shows the 400L and Tamron IQ the same at 400L f5.6 and the 400L sharper at 560mm f8 with 1.4x converter than the Tamron at 600mm f8:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=278&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=3&API=1&LensComp=929&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=5&APIComp=2

When I purchased my 400L 9 months ago, I was unable to find a single sharp image on the Net taken with the Tamron at 600mm. The 400L has been very sharp and very fast and accurate AF (on 5D3).

I have 2 friends who shoot the Tamron (on 70D) and they say at 600mm they need to stop it down to at least f8 for decent IQ. The TDP chart shows it is better at f11.

 

[beforeEos Camaras]

I love the 400 5.6l lens. it has gone beyond every thing I expected of it . I wanted the Tamron but it was on back order and a huge waiting list at the brick and mortar store I do my camera buying and losing time on the fall migration I bought the 400 and its been a great addition to my line up. Now I just bought the 1.4 tele lll for longer reach static shots on a tripod. it pairs well with my 70D and t1i and the 70-200 f4 is.

 

[Ryan85]

I love the 400 5.6l lens. it has gone beyond every thing I expected of it . I wanted the Tamron but it was on back order and a huge waiting list at the brick and mortar store I do my camera buying and losing time on the fall migration I bought the 400 and its been a great addition to my line up. Now I just bought the 1.4 tele lll for longer reach static shots on a tripod. it pairs well with my 70D and t1i and the 70-200 f4 is.

Are you happy with the sharpness of the lens with the extender?

 

[AlanF]

The comparison at TDP shows the 400L and Tamron IQ the same at 400L f5.6 and the 400L sharper at 560mm f8 with 1.4x converter than the Tamron at 600mm f8:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=278&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=3&API=1&LensComp=929&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=5&APIComp=2

When I purchased my 400L 9 months ago, I was unable to find a single sharp image on the Net taken with the Tamron at 600mm. The 400L has been very sharp and very fast and accurate AF (on 5D3).

I have 2 friends who shoot the Tamron (on 70D) and they say at 600mm they need to stop it down to at least f8 for decent IQ. The TDP chart shows it is better at f11.

If you haven't used a lens, don't give advice about it based on your inadequate scanning of the net. There are now lots of very sharp images from the Tamron at 600mm on the net. Here is a thread from Canonrumors.

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=22284.msg426389#msg426389

Many of these shots were taken at distances too close for the 400mm f/5.6 L and under conditions where the lack of IS would have made it unusable. The 400mm L f/5.6 is a very popular lens, much loved by many members of Canonrumors and so must be more than satisfactory. The Tamron 150-600mm is an excellent lens, best used at f/8, and is more flexible than the 400mm L, but heavier and more bulky. My copy of the Tamron is just as sharp at 400mm as was my 400mm L f/5.6. The new 100-400mm L II has far better MTFs than the old 400mm L and four stops of IS and a minimum focus distance much, much shorter. Art Morris, the doyen of bird photography, now insists on IS. You don't have to follow his advice.

 

[beforeEos Camaras]

I love the 400 5.6l lens. it has gone beyond every thing I expected of it . I wanted the Tamron but it was on back order and a huge waiting list at the brick and mortar store I do my camera buying and losing time on the fall migration I bought the 400 and its been a great addition to my line up. Now I just bought the 1.4 tele lll for longer reach static shots on a tripod. it pairs well with my 70D and t1i and the 70-200 f4 is.

Are you happy with the sharpness of the lens with the extender?

on my 70-200 yes but I have not been back to plum island to try out the 400 1.4 combo yet
what little I did use it on the 400 on cape cod it was ok just not in extreme low light f8 is a bear and using live view for auto focus I have yet to master.
but manual focus works well

 

[Ryan85]

I think he/she will be happy with either lens. It just depends on what it'll be used for

 

[Ryan85]

I love the 400 5.6l lens. it has gone beyond every thing I expected of it . I wanted the Tamron but it was on back order and a huge waiting list at the brick and mortar store I do my camera buying and losing time on the fall migration I bought the 400 and its been a great addition to my line up. Now I just bought the 1.4 tele lll for longer reach static shots on a tripod. it pairs well with my 70D and t1i and the 70-200 f4 is.

Are you happy with the sharpness of the lens with the extender?

on my 70-200 yes but I have not been back to plum island to try out the 400 1.4 combo yet
what little I did use it on the 400 on cape cod it was ok just not in extreme low light f8 is a bear and using live view for auto focus I have yet to master.
but manual focus works well

Got you. I was thinking about useing it with the 1.4 extender with a tripod for still subjects like elk beded down.

 

[beforeEos Camaras]

I love the 400 5.6l lens. it has gone beyond every thing I expected of it . I wanted the Tamron but it was on back order and a huge waiting list at the brick and mortar store I do my camera buying and losing time on the fall migration I bought the 400 and its been a great addition to my line up. Now I just bought the 1.4 tele lll for longer reach static shots on a tripod. it pairs well with my 70D and t1i and the 70-200 f4 is.

Are you happy with the sharpness of the lens with the extender?

on my 70-200 yes but I have not been back to plum island to try out the 400 1.4 combo yet
what little I did use it on the 400 on cape cod it was ok just not in extreme low light f8 is a bear and using live view for auto focus I have yet to master.
but manual focus works well

Got you. I was thinking about useing it with the 1.4 extender with a tripod for still subjects like elk beded down.

yes it will be good here is a hand held with the 1.4iii at sunset sorry not having any wild life shots but its the best I can show. this was taken about 2 hours after I bought the extender still getting used to it and trying to rember manual low light focus.

 

[lescrane]

I would be using it for sports, birds and wildlife at National Parks/wildlife refuges and zoos.

I will be using it with 60D/6D, which I have today, and maybe/probably later, the 7DII

Feedback?

Thx

Sanjosedave,

Sounds like you want to use this for many subjects, so without getting into arguments over what is sharper, eg a 400L + Tc or Tamron 150-600...at 600, my read is that you really need a zoom not a fixed focal length lens. For example, if you are at the zoo and close up , 400mm may be too much. If you are taking birds at a wildlife refuge(or anywhere), the question is: what kind of birds? Great Blue Herons or warblers? How close will you be??

I owned the 400mm L years ago. of course it's super sharp and super light. However, many times I wished it was longer. If I needed shorter and was stuck with the TC on, what would I do? Reach for a second camera on my neck. Also, I do not like using tripods and the lack of IS hurt.

I also owned the 100-400L. It was great for zoos, great for large, tame birds. Now I have the Tamron 150-600 and it has opened new worlds to me that I could not afford before. I can get smaller birds; I can get any bird from further away w/.o having to sneak up on it and have it fly off. It is much heavier of course than the fixed 400L, I don't know if that matters to you. I use it w/a monopod to get the weight of my arms/back.

In general I find that zooms have gotten so much better over the years w/optics and stabilization that I have no more use for fixed lenses. That being said, if I had the $$$ for a 400 DO II I'd buy one.

 

[Ryan85]

I love the 400 5.6l lens. it has gone beyond every thing I expected of it . I wanted the Tamron but it was on back order and a huge waiting list at the brick and mortar store I do my camera buying and losing time on the fall migration I bought the 400 and its been a great addition to my line up. Now I just bought the 1.4 tele lll for longer reach static shots on a tripod. it pairs well with my 70D and t1i and the 70-200 f4 is.

Are you happy with the sharpness of the lens with the extender?

on my 70-200 yes but I have not been back to plum island to try out the 400 1.4 combo yet
what little I did use it on the 400 on cape cod it was ok just not in extreme low light f8 is a bear and using live view for auto focus I have yet to master.
but manual focus works well

Got you. I was thinking about useing it with the 1.4 extender with a tripod for still subjects like elk beded down.

yes it will be good here is a hand held with the 1.4iii at sunset sorry not having any wild life shots but its the best I can show. this was taken about 2 hours after I bought the extender still getting used to it and trying to rember manual low light focus.

Thanks for sharing and letting me know