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Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5- 5.6L IS USM (1 Viewer)

A

achilles500

Steve
Plucked up the courage to part with my hard earned cash yesterday and bought the 100 - 400 mm Canon lens. WOW what a biggy it is. Now want a bit of fine weather to take it out. Any particular settings to try for best results and do you get better results without a "protective" filter (UV or skylight)?

Steve
 
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Well, I generally use mine at f8, but it is pretty sharp wide open too and has better background blur. I never use a UV filter. I did one weekend and the results suffered noticeably until I removed it.

Thomas
 
Depends on what camera you have. If it is a 50D up then you can af microadjust the lens and camera. Believe me tuning the lens and the camera makes for sharper shots.
 
Robert L Jarvis said:
Depends on what camera you have. If it is a 50D up then you can af microadjust the lens and camera. Believe me tuning the lens and the camera makes for sharper shots.
Click to expand...

Hi Robert

Do you have any hints or tips on how best to do this? I know the theory, but if you know of any web links with specific details, that would be ideal

thanks

David
 
You should still get on very well with the 40D +100-400mm combo, they're both well respected pieces of kit. I was very happy with mine at any rate (albeit I'm happier still with my 300mm f2.8 :king: ).
 
achilles500 said:
Plucked up the courage to part with my hard earned cash yesterday and bought the 100 - 400 mm Canon lens. WOW what a biggy it is. Now want a bit of fine weather to take it out. Any particular settings to try for best results and do you get better results without a "protective" filter (UV or skylight)?

Steve
Click to expand...

I found worse results with a Hoya Pro 1 Digital UV filter. I just use the hood all the time
 
Jaff said:
You should still get on very well with the 40D +100-400mm combo, they're both well respected pieces of kit. I was very happy with mine at any rate (albeit I'm happier still with my 300mm f2.8 :king: ).
Click to expand...

Drools...

I'll bet you are :-C
 
shoshone said:
I found worse results with a Hoya Pro 1 Digital UV filter. I just use the hood all the time
Click to expand...

Steve,

I'm with Shoshone on this. I too have a 40D and the 100-400 IS Zoom and noticed a significant improvement when I discarded the Hoya UV filter. Takes a bit of courage when you've always had some protection on the business end, but always use the lens hood and all should be well.

Adrian
 
Should have said that when I got my 40D, I sent both the lens and the camera in for calibration after about a month - it made a huge difference. Before that I got better results with my 350D and the 100-400. That is no longer the case.

I would advise you to do the same, and there's not that much around to photograph at the moment anyways...

Thomas
 
shoshone said:
Drools...

I'll bet you are :-C
Click to expand...

As maybe but you yourself have a few pieces of kit I really wouldn't mind having in my kit bag right now. :t:

Echo what's been said, so long as you keep the hood on at all times and take care of it you should find that you'll keep the glass safe, dust is another matter as the lens is quite famous for it. When you're not using it try to keep it stored away some place clean and dust free.

One other thing, try to leave the hood attached in the 'outward' position as much as possible. I was constantly taking it on and off to reverse the hood when carrying it in my bag and the plastic mounts on the hood wore through so that it would no longer lock when on the lens. I believe other people have had similiar experiences of that.

All in all though I'm sure you'll find it a superbly versatile piece of kit and it's got excellent IQ. Happy hunting. :t:
 
Yep top notch lens. I found that I get slightly better results at about 375mm and as others have said normally step down a notch, though not often all the way f8.

Removing the filters has the biggest impact for users on the workshops both in terms of light (and so shutter speed and capturing a sharp image) and also image quality.

It's a great lens. I have found after a few years that the lock is not as tight as it used to be.
 
Jaff said:
You should still get on very well with the 40D +100-400mm combo, they're both well respected pieces of kit. I was very happy with mine at any rate (albeit I'm happier still with my 300mm f2.8 :king: ).
Click to expand...

me too, I love my 40D and the 100-400mm lens is simply awesome for a beginner like me
 
A superb lens, I must agree.
There are pros and cons with a filter. I used to put one on my lens when I first bought it over 3 years ago. I dropped the camera and lens accidentally, with the filter edge hitting the ground first. The filter brike and the ring distorted. Take a hard job to remove the ring, the camera need to be sent back to Canon for repair, but the lens remained perfectly OK. But from then on, I've never put another filter on, just use caustion in handling my gear. And I also agree that with one more glass added, the quality will suffer, no matter how trivial it is.
 
Hi Dave (dbradnum)

Look for my thread on here asking how to do the micro adjustment. Tim Hollis gave a link to instructions on how to do it.

Robert
 
Had a Hoya pro filter on mine when i first got it and nearly sent it back as i thought it was poor .Took the filter of and hey presto super images ,i love mine and its never off my camera .Dont seem to have a dust problem as some do maybe im just lucky ,its great for butterflys and large insects with it having a close focus range enjoy.
 
Managed to use the 100 - 400 on Friday and got amazing results when the image is cropped. I have uploaded a pic of a coal tit and the result is far better than I expected. On just the one outing I am really pleased with the lens. Now I just want some fine weather.
 

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achilles500 said:
Managed to use the 100 - 400 on Friday and got amazing results when the image is cropped. I have uploaded a pic of a coal tit and the result is far better than I expected. On just the one outing I am really pleased with the lens. Now I just want some fine weather.
Click to expand...

Fab photo mate
 
achilles500 said:
Managed to use the 100 - 400 on Friday and got amazing results when the image is cropped. I have uploaded a pic of a coal tit and the result is far better than I expected. On just the one outing I am really pleased with the lens. Now I just want some fine weather.
Click to expand...

This coal tit looks like a great tit
 
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