Long telephotos

[scyrene]

Curious to get thoughts on the 500, although it seems to be a significantly heavier (and costlier!!) package than the 400.

I don't own a Canon 500 F4 L IS Mk2, but I know a man who does.
The performance of this lens is simply superb, AF is very fast (very!) and the IQ is probably the best at/or around this focal length. Secondly the weight isn't much of an issue, I carry a Canon 300 F2.8 L IS (Mk1) + 2 extenders as my mobile setup which is very close to the weight of the Canon 500 Mk2 with no extenders.
I have used it handheld with success - but I wouldn't want to do this all day. For reference I do frequently handhold my Canon 800 F5.6 L IS and I have arms like matchsticks!
Whilst I love my 300 F2.8 and the mobility it offers, I would much prefer to have the 500 Mk2.
Apparently the newer IS systems on the Mk2 Superteles is an improvement on the older models, I cannot comment as I don't use IS.

I have the 500 mark II. It is a wonderful lens. For birds especially (in particular smaller ones, perched) it is faultless, and image quality is essentially unchanged in real world usage with the 1.4x extender. I don't find it too heavy, and I am not strong - it takes a little getting used to initially, but for instance I recently used it for 5+ hours hiking round a moderately hilly part of the countryside. However, the minimum focus distance is a bit long, and it is much less versatile for indoor use/portraiture, whereas the 200 f/2 or even 300 f/2.8 would be better. IS is top notch.

Interesting. How do you carry it around? (What bag/strap/etc.?)

I have a Lowepro Flipside 500 AW backpack. I have the standard Canon neck strap on the camera body, but when the 500 is mounted I carry it by the tripod handle upside-down, at most wrapping the strap round my wrist but usually not. That's it!

 

[Deleted member 7828]

Cool. Thanks!