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

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

06/12/2013 10:39:04 AM · #1

Following the advises here and having the cash I bought a second hand Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS.

It looks OK to me. Cosmetically looks 90%new (bits of wear and tear), there is no visible dust inside, the glass is clean, no mold or scratches.

My big worry was, or still is its sharpness. I went out and shot, handheld and mostly at max aperture at the longest length. Here are the results. The images have the relevant data filled in. Straight from camera, resized and copped on what I remember the focus was on.

I have to say that is a whole new vision and experience and I need to get used a bit... I used on my 350D a 70-300 Sigma but it ain't the same. Neat for street approach as well but very different...

Please give me some input if you have the time.

Many thanks,

Edit: see the images large - they are 1200X800

Message edited by author 2013-06-12 11:02:25.

Devinder

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

06/12/2013 10:51:37 AM · #2

Hey Tiberius, whats your experience with the IS? How much can you really get away with at 200+mm while maintaining sharp image in terms of shutter speed?

edit: thanks for posting the samples

Message edited by author 2013-06-12 10:52:46.

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

06/12/2013 10:58:08 AM · #3

I added two more pics...

Regarding the IS, it seems to work. There are two types but I have to sayI do not know the difference. Need to find somewhere. Note that I have included the focal length. Except of the boat pic all the rest are handheld.

Edit: having the 6D allows me to crank up the ISO quite a bit.

Here is an example at ISO3200 ignore the WB :)

Message edited by author 2013-06-12 11:03:50.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

06/12/2013 10:58:54 AM · #4

if you really want to test it out, rent a hotel room in a city and shoot through the windows into other building before they make it illegal ;-)

markwiley

Fujifilm X-Pro2

Fujifilm XF 10-24mm f/4 R IOS

06/12/2013 11:43:20 AM · #5

Thanks for posting these. Most of my shots recently seem to be at the ultra wide end, but this looks interesting. You are going to make me want to get one.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

06/12/2013 01:56:55 PM · #6

I find that you really should stop down at least 2/3rds of a stop if you want fine details.

A quick look at the MTF chart should help.

If you are going to shoot wide open, expect softish images. They'll usually sharpen well. I still like to stay faster that 1/x for shutter speed, even with the IS.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

06/12/2013 01:58:04 PM · #7

Mode 2 on the IS is horizontal stabilization only, intended for panning motion shots.

Message edited by author 2013-06-12 13:58:26.

06/12/2013 06:19:45 PM · #8

Originally posted by Cory:

Mode 2 on the IS is horizontal stabilization only, intended for panning motion shots.

Thanks for clarification.

06/12/2013 06:22:27 PM · #9

Originally posted by Cory:

My thoughts exactly.

So my copy is nor sharper neither softer, just a 100-400! :)

Thanks

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

06/12/2013 08:32:50 PM · #10

For those interested Canon EF100-400mm F/4.5-5.6L IS MTF chart

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

06/13/2013 08:42:27 AM · #11

Looks great, some fab bokeh too.

Erastus

06/13/2013 10:31:55 AM · #12

Anti-shake is not a miracle worker. It just increases the number of keepers you get while using a shutter speed that is far to slow. Personal fitness and learned techniques for steady shooting will add many more keepers. IMO

One of those sample shots was 1/64 shutter with a F/L of 266 if memory serves me. Really? Did you expect anything in that frame to be sharp? Maybe you were using a tripod with that one. Even then if anything moves in the frame it will not be sharp. I always try to have a shutter speed of 2X F/L. The top end of your lens (400) would require a minimum of 1/800 shutter to maximize the number of sharp exposures. With my 24 Mpix camera I try to shoot at 4X if possible. ISO performance of our modern cameras make this much easier than in the past.

I hope you did notice the sharpest image you showed IMO, was at 1/800 shutter. (flying raptor)
Your camera also had only one thing to try and focus.

The cat photo! It was nice considering the herculean task you were presenting the AF of the camera!

I agree with Slippy, the OOF performance looks nice. I think you got a good lens. Practice, practice, practice with it. Set camera on shutter priority at 1/800 or faster and shoot a few thousand.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

06/13/2013 10:51:55 AM · #13

I hope it's OK that I wanted to play with your cat?

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