Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS (Image Stabilizer) USM Autofocus Lens

I have been taking photographs for 53 years and earning a good living from aviation photography for most of my adult life and yet I am still surprised by the image quality I am getting from this (rather hefty) piece of glass when coupled with a 5D or better. If your shoulder can take it then it is worth every penny. Drawbacks? The vulnerability of the hood when in place - but, hey, how on earth are Canon supposed to solve that one?

If you are seriously considering this lense go for it - there will be no regrets.

I had wanted this lens for some time but could not justify the cost, however the price from emilyandlily was so attractive that the deal was made. This was also my first purchase on ebay and, despite my reservations, delivery was prompt, there were no hidden costs and results from the lens are fantastic. Thank you

I bought a Canon D350 so I could afford a lens like this and it was worth it! It is fantastic. So many people get hung up on the best body they can buy or upgrading as soon as a new model is released. Why? unless you are at the top of your game chances are the body you have is still better than you are. So my advice is put your money into the lens. This one is perfect for wildlife and sports. The 'IS' is magic. I got a great deal on a second hand un-used one and saved £350 on the average retail price. Worth every penny and some. Do it!!!!

Très bon objectif. Quelques difficultés dans les atmosphères sombres. (Comme malheureusement la plupart des téléobjectifs, la focale d'ouverture commence à 4,5). Je suis néanmoins très heureux de cet achat, d'autant plus que certains sites anglais (emilyandlily) offre des prix très compétitifs et je n'ai pas eu encore le temps de le tester complètement : les photos par beau temps sont splendides, ce que je cherchai)

Very good zoom telephoto. Some Difficulties in dark atmosphere. (like evry zoom :focus open at 4.5...) Neither, I am happy to bought it. You are lucky in Great Britain because of some sailors like (emilyandlily) wich have nice prices. I don't have test all the zoom but pictures whith sunny time are great and that I expected. (Sorry for the mistakes: english isn't my first langage)

Great lens! Been looking for this lens for sometime. Only dislike is the weight.Have used with good affect.

This lens offers great performance in a compact and lightweight package (Of course keeping in mind this is a 100-400 zoom lens). Build quality is excellent. Push-pull time zoom needs some time to get used to but in some cases this means faster zoom action compared to normal twist zooms. It can be fastened in all settings of the zoom so if you do not want it to creep when pointed down just a twist on the ring and it will be fastened in that position.

IS helps a lot and offers good handholdability till around 1/200-1/150 but do not expect miracles here - long lenses always benefits if used on a tripod or monopod. Also focusing needs a lot of care - if you check dofmaster.com you will find out the dof is only 10-20 cm deep when pushed to 400 mm (tele end) and used at wide open from 10m away from the subject. Just a little movement back or forward and you are risking the subject will be slightly out of focus. (this affects all long telephoto lenses not only this one!) so be careful with focusing !

The closest focusing distance is about 1.8m (6 feet if I calculate correctly :)). At this this subject distance it can be used for close up photography but at this distance as all tele lenses it needs extremely proper focusing to get sharp results. Again I would like to point at dofmaster dof calc to see the DOF is shorter than 1 cm when used around closest focusing distance wide open. As the subject distance increases the DOF is getting deeper this mins more properly focused pics. Keep in mind this is not the error of the lens it is simple fact that occurs when using long lenses. Otherwise ring USM focusing is silent, snappy and precise.

With proper long lens techniques this lens is able to deliver great results. Sharpness could be a little bit better but with proper post processing there is nothing to worry about. Also stopping down a few clicks improves object detail but it is acceptable wide open.

Portability: when pulled back to 100mm this lens offers good portability and needs relatively little space in the camera bag. The weight is a bit above 1 kg, with a body and a grip and other things like a quick release plate be prepared to some feelings like P.E. lessons. :)

All in all I would recommend this lens to anyone who wants a great long zoom lens at an affordable price.

I am confused and insulted you ask me to write this after the way I was ripped off with my purchase of this lens. You said it was ok for Andy to advertise the lens as mint condition even though it needs attention so that to me is not mint condition. But you seem to condone this, people offloading faulty goods, which I have got and which you seem to think ok. I am out of pocket by £740 which as left me very upset as it took me two years to save for. SO as you can see ebay supports people getting rid of faulty goods on to innocent people. This to me as ruined my hobby which I am now giving up as I can not afford it duw to ebay.

First time I have spent so much on a lens but it is fantastic. The IS system work very well but the lens takes a while to get used to due to its weight. Overall a great lens and excellent build quality

Ok lets face it if you buying one of these your serious about your photography.
I bought one because I do it for a living so I wanted the best my EOS30d could get. There is no doubt that this is a fantastic lense. However there are a couple of points I would mention to the prospective buyer.
1) You are going to need a big camera bag to put the lense in (either in its supplied case or not)
2) This lense is heavy, very heavy. Dont expect to be able to hold it steady for most shots in anything other than bright sunlight, forget the silly idea of image stabilisation, at full focal length you will be sticking into next doors garden at the very least.
3) Could be included in #2, because its heavy you will need a serious tripod to hold it steady and that has a fully locking head. Dont bother with Jessops also ran tripods. Get a Manfrotto, they are brill, expensive, but brill.

The lens looks great and definately turns heads even at 100 feet away.

Buy one but insure it quick.

Ciao
Shaun

The lens is built very well, although a little heavy, I was aware that the F-stop was the limiting factot so really only suitable for good light conditions, however I am very impressed with the IS feature which works really well and I have tried to work it hard. Upping the ISO on your camera will help but this seems to slightly effect the IS. Clarity is excellent, especially when on the tripod and as with all the Ultrasonic Canon lenses the motor is very smooth and sometimes I can't even hear it work, which can be a little off putting!

The optics on this lens are superb great for wild life shots very good auto focus and image stabilizer works really well.I would recommend this highly

I bought a cheap Circular Polarising filter for use with this lens - it badly affects the auto focus! Get the canon approved one.

This lens is superb - wow! I had bought a 400-800 cheapy to see if I liked using zoom and the quality was OK but this, this is the dogs genetalia and them some.

Great piece of hardware, it weighs a ton, but is extremely tough. Something for the serious photographer. I have used this handheld at 400mm at 1/1000 and got some pretty good results of red kites flying overhead. Of course you need the light to be able to do that. I have not taken anything seriously yet with a tripod, although the tripod mount and balance is good. Focusing is crisp and quick, plus the zoom and the zoom friction ring work very well.
I have no regrets buying this lens. I am using it on a Canon 40D. It opens up lots of possibilities for nature photography. The only thing I would be a little cautious about is if you are intending using a teleconverter with this lens then the light levels will be too low for the autofocus to work which might be a problem. It is worth checking out. The other lenses at this level have a larger aperture and price tag! This zoom seems to have a limitation probably because of the F4.5-5.6 aperture.
Obviously though at 400mm with the smaller CMOS sensor this gives you around the 35mm equivalent of a 600mm lens. For those of you that remember the 35mm days ;-) that would be an impressive focal length.

Awsome lens, just like the other L series lenses we own, it is crisp delivers good quality images and offers the versatility that we want. It has been an obvious purchase for a while now. The push/pull focus is not everyones favorite but it makes focusing simple and the image stabilizer makes hand held shots effortless. We have even taken good quality shots from our moving car at subject matter off the road, and all in focus and with none of the normal blur. We should have got this one a couple of years ago, but instead opted for the EF 70-200 L is instead. That works in autofocus with the ef x2 extender, but at 2 x 200 (400)it can be a little soft. Good all round performer with the usual high quality you get with these Luxury lenses. Highly recommended

After one year taking birds pictures with a Sigma 70-300 zoom, I hesitated between the Canon 300 F/4 and the 100-400. At last, I choose the 100-400 and I am very happy with it.

Image quality is very good when there is enough light, otherwise pictures are not very sharp despite the stabilizer. I tried the 2 ends (100 and 400) and I didn't notice any big distortion. I was with a friend with the 300 and I managed to take pictures in 100 the friend was not able to. Zooms are good !

It is smaller than the 300 F/4, useful to put it in the bag.

The only 2 bad points are the price (but all other "big" lenses are as expensive) and picture in darkness (difficult to take a good picture in the forest when there are leaves on trees!).

Last words: a lot of pleasure when I knew how to use it and sun light.

I wanted a professional quality large zoom lens below £1000. This lens fits the bill perfectly as it has image stabiliser and is solidly built. The cost of buying new from EBay was significantly lower than from a store.

and a tidy bit of kit - as described by me. Definitely a bit special, though maybe an educational CD (to supplement the handbook) should be included

Great lens - good instructions and easily get used to it. Would recommend! Good valur for money and does what it says on the tin!

Fits both film and digital cameras. Ideal lens for wildlife and sports shots. Bit on the heavy side but for a lens of this quality and build you have to put up with it,you would only take it with you for specific reasons.

this is used to take birds and wild life, action shots using 2 x converter if required..
The only problem is weight .. you need a tripod or a good right arm ..
Auto focus dose not work with any of the converters, but the IS dose ,and so perfectly as well .
I have the F4 100x 400 mm L canon lens the 2.8 is available but as yet very expensive for the armature pocket ..
The lens front is 77mm screw thread , this falls in with most of cannons filter sizes .
like this that mutch I have bought the F4 70 x 200 mm L canon zoom lens to use as an all rounder..
LOL - problem the 77mm filter for the 200mm is 67mm . start buying again or get the other filter options other than a screw in type.

An awesome piece of engineering that is in a different league to any other lens I have ever used or owned. truly a brilliant choice.

looks good and first try it seems to be what i expected for a canon lens
will only know when more pitchers taken

I have several prime lenses but when going abroad I have to decide which ones have to be left behind due to weight considerations. This lens is great - it covers a nice range, especially with cameras such as the EOS 50D with a 1.6 frame factor. Being a L type lens, you know that you are getting good optics and this has the added bonus of image stabilisation. Basically it is a lens that will probably live on one of my cameras for the majority of the time.