EF 400mm F4 DO IS

I purchased this lens new in December of 2009. As a previous reviewer mentioned, there are a number of reviews of this lens on the internet which, frankly, are just plain wrong! This lens is very sharp, works great with a 1.4x converter with almost no loss of IQ, and is hand-holdable virtually all day. I use mine for BIF and JIF (Jets in Flight). The minor drawback is that because of its unique optical construction, under certain lighting conditions it does have lower contrast. However if you shoot raw, this can be easily corrected in virtually any raw converter.

I purchased this (2005 date code) lens used a few months ago. I use it on a 7D with a 1.4x converter. This is a splendid piece of equipment and it is very consistent, dependable and accurate. This lens does not deserve, in my view, the inaccurate reputation given to it.

Stunning lens delighted with my purchase
My personal website http://digitalartzone.co.uk

I bought this lens two months ago and I have been obtaining superb images with it. A good resolution is obtained closing down one stop. I have some focusing problems with the Canon 40D but I believe it is related to the camera. Wairing for an ordered 50D with a fine focusing system. With that I believe the small fine focussing problem will be solved.

Bought a mint 2nd hand one and am delighted with it. Focuses fast with a 1.4 converter on a 40D and the optical quality is superb with and without the converter.

After much reading and research I didn\\\'t really know what to expect since the reviews are so divided with this lens. Some love and some have nothing good to say about it at all... after taking the plunge and playing with it for a few weeks I\\\'m in the \\\"I love it\\\" catagory.

The images produced by my lens are superb, in fact I\\\'d say it is very, very close to being on par with Canon\\\'s finest L series super-teles. The biggest selling point for me though was its small size. It weighs a mere 4.3 lbs and is 9.2\\\" long(Compare that to Canon\\\'s 400mm f2.8 at 11.7lbs and 13.7\\\", the 500mm f4 at 8.5lbs and 15.2\\\", and the 600mm f4 at 11.8lbs and 18\\\" long). With a 1.4xTC the DO still produces stunning images like this one http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v156/britishcanuk/kinglet.jpg I feel that this lens is the perfect compromise of size, weight, quality, and features for travel and walkaround photography which is why I bought it.

Anybody that is looking into this lens will undoubtebly find the many negative reviewsas well, just as I did. I\\\'m convinced there must be some poor quality copies around so I suggest you try it out first if you can. If you can\\\'t, there seems to be a time in late 2002 that the quality of this lens became much more consistant. I really can\\\'t quantify this theory but alot of reading asking questions have led me and many others to think there is some validity to it.


Russ