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Canon 400 f4, 400 f5.6, or 100-400 f4-5.6?? (1 Viewer)

Birder Ozzie

Well-known member
Hi all,

Which lens would you consider to be worth buying. I know the 400 f4 is a lot more expensive, but is it worth it??

Cheers,

Oscar.
 
Out of those i would go with the 400 f5.6.

I have the 100-400 and IQ is not a patch on my 300f4
The 400 f5.6 has a good rep, and good IQ
The 400 f4 is a lot of money when you will probably do as I did and want/get a 500 f4 at a later date.
 
I use a 100-400 and I use it wide open a lot. I recently took some woodpecker images and posted one in my Birdforum gallery. Yes, the shot is at f8, equally I took some at f5.6 and in reality the difference in sharpness is not noticeable. In the real world we are dealing ,usually, with moving targets and this fact often gets lost in the discussion. My only consideration for f8 is depth of field or when the light is sufficient that I am guaranteed sharpness. A lot of the time I hover at apertures in between.

The advantage of additional micro sharpness afforded by the 400 prime is lost to other factors such that if sharpness is your only consideration for hand held shots then I have to challenge your reasoning for real world situations. Without doubt the prime 400 is a beautiful wickedly sharp lens. I do urban and deep woodland birds where there is no sunlight. The question of relative sharpness for me is a joke. I would not even consider using any other lens except a canon 300f4 IS and converter combo.


If you are going to do a lot of flight shots then received wisdom is get a 400 prime and I would agree with that. If you are only going to be out in good light....get a prime. If you want to stay out longer or go out earlier when the birds get visible get the zoom. If you want to take shots of birds that are only 1.8M away get a zoom. If you want the benefit of flexibility get the zoom. If you have the cash get the 400f4 DO IS lens (I would love that lens!).

The question should be put in terms of need as opposed to which lens is sharpest since the latter in my view is a non argument.

If you go through wildlife photography books or examine shots that have been category winners you would be surprised how often the 100-400 zoom features. Not because the glass is better, it just offers the photograher more opportunities to photograph.

If you hate crappy lens caps don't get the zoom!

Below woody at f5.6 at 400 end of zoom.
 

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