Test shots - Canon 100-400L IS

LCD

My girlfriend is considering purchasing this lens. I was telling her how well the IS works. so I went out this morning, sat on the porch and took some shots with slower than recommended shutter speeds (hand held). I loaded them at full size right off the compact flash card - no post processing.
thought you might be interested as well:

Here's the exif on this one:
Date Taken2007-07-04 12:12:34CameraCanon EOS 20DExposure Time0.0333s (1/30)Aperturef/10.0ISO100Focal Length400mm (640mm in 35mm



Date Taken2007-07-04 11:53:28CameraCanon EOS 20DExposure Time0.0125s (1/80)Aperturef/5.6ISO100Focal Length400mm (640mm in 35mm


It's nice to be able to go for a shot even if you do not have the ideal conditions.

For illustration I took the same shot at 200mm, 300mm and 400mm. They are the last three shots in the gallery. http://www.lcd.smugmug.com/gallery/3099656

Happy 4th everyone!
Lisa

windoze

nice handheld shots! love the goldfinch!!!
ya know that lens is kinda "heavyish" so if your girlfriend doesnt have strong arms - might consider a monopod / tripod especially when shooting at 400 mm. Im sure you're aware that this lens has a "learning curve" - shooting at 400 and wide open with this lens and taken into account the DOF many unsuspecting peeps have complained of "my copy isnt sharp". Personally I recommend the lens - i think its a fun lens! After a while i get tired of zooming with my feet when using a 400 mm prime, the canon 100-400 does a great job and is worthy of its L status. its IS does work well despite being an old IS mechanism. I just recently re-bought mine and im having a lot of fun!!! So i second your opinion of the lens.

BTW, one more thing - dont ya know when you test out a canon 100-400 you're suppose to take a picture of a duck!


troy

LCD

Thanks for the pointers Troy. I will have to direct Jen to this post so that she can get the benefit of more input than mine.

thanks again!

WildWally

Don't know if you have any experience with Nikon , but how would this lens compare to the 200-400/4.0vr of Nikon ??

ButterflySis

Hello, I'm Lisa's friend. I've been looking at (drooling over) this lens forever. When Lisa got it, I'll admit, I was a bit (alot) envious! I've got some unexpected money coming and want one! Lisa was nice enough to share a lot of test images with me.

Troy, thanks for the other info. I haven't found too many complaints about the lens. Some people seem to worry about the "dust pump" but most people don't have a problem with that.

Thanks again!

LCD

Brave of you Jen. Most of my friends don't admit it in public.

windoze

ButterflySis wrote:

Hello, I'm Lisa's friend. I've been looking at (drooling over) this lens forever. When Lisa got it, I'll admit, I was a bit (alot) envious! I've got some unexpected money coming and want one! Lisa was nice enough to share a lot of test images with me.

Troy, thanks for the other info. I haven't found too many complaints about the lens. Some people seem to worry about the "dust pump" but most people don't have a problem with that.

Thanks again!

if i might add just a few more thingies:
this lens loves light - so if you wanna see it shine get plenty of sun or crank that ISO - Its gotta a sweet spot about 2 steps down. well - here's a pre congrats on your new lens - ENJOY!!!!


troy

ButterflySis

LCD wrote:

Brave of you Jen. Most of my friends don't admit it in public.

Omg, what was I thinking?

windoze wrote:

if i might add just a few more thingies:
this lens loves light - so if you wanna see it shine get plenty of sun or crank that ISO - Its gotta a sweet spot about 2 steps down. well - here's a pre congrats on your new lens - ENJOY!!!!


troy

Thanks, Troy. (btw, love your email...lol)

This will be me soon:

Dick on Aruba

Nice shots! In diff. forums I saw a lot of 400mm handhelds that came out very nice. A tripod- or monopod will most of the time give you better results but if you have to, you can do without.


THe lens is easy to love and if you find a way to buy it than buy it. I like to call thode kind of "investments": The fruits of labor.

Dick.

LCD

Thanks for the input Dick. I agree with you that a tripod is the way to go for best sharpness, but the purpose of this exercise was to push the limits of the Image Stabalization feature of the lens (as well as my own incredibly stable hands ). That's why I posted to pics straight out of the camera with absolutely no pp.