WOW! my 100-400 L just arrived!!!!!

[johneo]

I thought it was going to be a good size lens but :shock: WOW :shock: this thing is HUGE! And did I mention HEAVY :roll:

Only took abot 50 shots around the yard and am very impressed. Not sure if it was the lens or not but suddenly, all the birds seemed to disappear from my yard. I'm out there this morning and there were birds and squirells all over the place.

Have to say ... I like the push / pull of this lens very much. Very fast AF too!

Well, time to head off for "points unknown" and test this monster out. Glad I took the night out of work :lol: (Hmmmm ... I did the same thing when both my sons were born too ... gotta have priorities, right?)

[IanD]

Way to go! You are going to love this lens. To keep from scaring away the birds, I suggest a camo sleeve for the 100-400. Easy to make, just get a long sleeved camo T-shirt and cut off one arm. Slide the arm over the lens. Works like a charm. Again, congrats. Post some shots.

[Belmondo]

Word of caution:

All that pushing and pulling on the zoom will give you a disproportionately large bicep on your left arm.

Congratulations on the new lens. I'm waiting for mine to be delivered, fresh from an overhaul at Canon. Based on personal experience, I can tell you that you really don't want to drop it.

[NILOLIGIST]

johneo,

I love the lens. When it is good, it is great. It can be really, really sharp and fast. It is not a good low light lens, so shoot as much as you can when you have the light.

I am not sure if this is your first "L" lens but if so, welcome to the club. I find myself using that lens for a whole range of shots. I love the bokeh on the flowers I shoot with it. You will find that it is a great lens for just about anything.

NiL,

[JZaun]

Youre gonna love it before the week is out. Heavy or not, it is tops, and that IS is worth a ton!!! Yep the birds see it as a Canon :D ready to shoot them out of the saddle :D

JZ

[NILOLIGIST]

LOL...That is so true. People and birds see that lens they will pose for you. I swear.

Before I purchased the lens I read the reviews on Fred Miranda's site and one thing everyone said, it attracts a lot of attention and boy it does.

Enjoy it and be prepare to speak to a lot of people and get a lot of stares and comments.

NiL,

[GenEOS]

Wait till you get your 70-200. You will think it is light!

[NILOLIGIST]

I hope Canon start making lighter lenses, the price and the weight are too much. LOL

Maybe they can make Carbon fiber lenses....Hmmmmmmm.

NiL,

[Lincoln_Mennuti]

I hope Canon start making lighter lenses, the price and the weight are too much. LOL

Maybe they can make Carbon fiber lenses....Hmmmmmmm.

NiL,

They already are...Diffractive Optics (DO). The 70-300mm IS version just came out.

Took out my new 100-400mm to Central Park (in NY) for lunch today. Man! I haven't worked my bicep like that in a while!

Originally thought I wouldn't like the push/pull zoom, but now I PREFER it! And the way the smooth/tighten ring works is great; I hold the lens with my left hand and my thumb always sits right on the smooth/tighten ring...When I want to zoom, the thumb adjusts to 'smooth' and then push away. And when I retract it to move to the next shot, the thumb then quick adjusts to tighten...No 'lens creep', nice!

IS is just fantastic. I've already got the 28-135IS, but you really don't appreciate just how wonderful IS is until you're looking through a tele-zoom that's all the way out to 400mm and even holding your breath you just see every tiny shake...Then you press that shutter button 1/2 way and PRESTO, everything is smooooooth.

...Can't wait to get home and see my results.

[OnlyDigital]

Congrats on the recent purchase, It really is a great lens. I just bought mine two weeks ago and have had the opportunity to photograph a local high school lacrosse game. The pictures came out very sharp and when I had three of them printed professionally they had requested that I had added a watermark to them for copyright purposes...lol Needless to say I was fuul of awe. I love this heavy lens....works extremely well with a monopod for sports photography .....

[Jon Borcik]

I've had mine for over a year now and use it primarily for sports shots. It's been a great lens. It's amazing how many people this lens attracts when I show up at an event. For most events, I can hang around the local press staff at the sidelines without a pass or being bothered by the ushers. That gray lens with a red stripe carries some clout! :)

[OnlyDigital]

PS......Don't forget you are able to submit for a $50.00 rebate for your purchase.....easily the price of a good protective uv or skylight filter to protest that brand new baby.... :lol: Also to Jon Borcik, Maybe you could give me a few pointers to talk my way into Fenway Park with this lens....Now that would be awesome.... Dave

[where1]

I've been enjoying mine for a month now. W :) W was pretty much my reaction when I picked it up, looked at it and used it. W :shock: W was my lovely wifes reaction when she found out the price. I still say W :) W when I see some of the captures I get.

[mjordan]

I've been enjoying mine for a month now. W :) W was pretty much my reaction when I picked it up, looked at it and used it. W :shock: W was my lovely wifes reaction when she found out the price. I still say W :) W when I see some of the captures I get.

And now your wife doesn't say anything because she's not speaking to you. :lol:


Mike

[where1]

I've been enjoying mine for a month now. W :) W was pretty much my reaction when I picked it up, looked at it and used it. W :shock: W was my lovely wifes reaction when she found out the price. I still say W :) W when I see some of the captures I get.

And now your wife doesn't say anything because she's not speaking to you. :lol:


Mike

LOL My lovely wife does not know how to NOT speak. :D
As long as the bills get paid (some how that ended up being my responsibilty) she lets me get by. She does tease me about the size of the lense though. :oops:

[GenEOS]

Maybe they can make Carbon fiber lenses....Hmmmmmmm.

NiL,
I believe the hoods for the big primes are carbon fiber....to save weight.. :lol:

[EoSD30fReAk]

you'll have a lot of fun with that lens

i still get a lot of attention from people when they see it!
and i also get comments like: Are you going to shoot jupiter with that thing? :lol:

you'll love it

[Andy_T]

Based on personal experience, I can tell you that you really don't want to drop it.

No problem. Just cut the sleeve from a camo anorak with sufficient padding instead of a shirt...

Maybe they can make Carbon fiber lenses....Hmmmmmmm.


They are still working on some refraction issues with their new Fluorite Carbon fiber lenses... sure saves a lot of weight over normal glass :lol:

Best regards,
Andy

[johneo]

The first full day with my 100-400 L ...

Word of advice. Do some weight training if you intend to lug this lens around but the results will be well worth the effort!

Everyone I showed the lens to and some that just noticed it, all had the same reaction ... Wow! You definately get noticed.

Just shooting any and everything I could and didn't even change the lens the entire day. Not the greatest of days here, around the water, to be using this zoom as it was very hazy and windy. I'm not a small person but with this lens I was being blown about pretty good.

Anyway ... not a great example of the hundreds of shots I took but very impressed with the reach and quality of this lens. Looking forward to a clear, haze free day to really see what this lens will do.
(Lucky for my bank account, the local camera store didn't have a TC in stock yesterday.)

http://members.cox.net/johneo/e014734n.jpg

I'm also impressed using this lens inside with the built in flash. Naturally, you have to be standing a good distance away to get a clear shot but this was from the other side of my kitchen. (both shots resized but unedited)

http://members.cox.net/johneo/d304614n.jpg

OH, Tom (Belmondo) ... I hear your warning and I'm heeding it. I now put the camera strap around my neck with the 100-400 L on the camera. Figure it's two fold ... it'll help me from dropping it and good workout for my neck and back muscles ... :roll:

[Andy_T]

OH, Tom (Belmondo) ... I hear your warning and I'm heeding it. I now put the camera strap around my neck with the 100-400 L on the camera. Figure it's two fold ... it'll help me from dropping it and good workout for my neck and back muscles ... :roll:

Tom wasn't talking about the camera strap. His 100-400 L wasn't wearing a seat belt :wink:

Best regards,
Andy

[Wickedfn4u]

Can anyone tell me why I see both push pull and then twist 100-400L is usm, they were both new? Is there an advantage of one over the other. Also besides the f-stop what are the disadvantages of this lens with the 10D.

[Belmondo]

OH, Tom (Belmondo) ... I hear your warning and I'm heeding it. I now put the camera strap around my neck with the 100-400 L on the camera. Figure it's two fold ... it'll help me from dropping it and good workout for my neck and back muscles ... :roll:

Tom wasn't talking about the camera strap. His 100-400 L wasn't wearing a seat belt :wink:

Best regards,
Andy

Sadly, Andy is right. I'd love to be able to have someone or something to blame on my little misadventure. The sad truth is I was suffering from a momentary brain fart and let the lens roll out of the truck door onto the ground. I've taken steps to make sure this never happens.....a good thing because I've bought a new truck that's a few inches higher than the old one.

[LazyPhotographer]

Word of caution:

All that pushing and pulling on the zoom will give you a disproportionately large bicep on your left arm.

Someone should have mentioned this to us women before we bought the lens... it ain't just my bicep that's bigger. Pretty soon, I'll be walking in circles. :lol:

[pradeep1]

If you look in your backyard, you should notice a few ducks that have wandered in. This seems to be a common reaction after one purchases a L telephoto. See previous threads on this phenomena. :wink:

[Belmondo]

Word of caution:

All that pushing and pulling on the zoom will give you a disproportionately large bicep on your left arm.

Someone should have mentioned this to us women before we bought the lens... it ain't just my bicep that's bigger. Pretty soon, I'll be walking in circles. :lol:

Now that you mention it, I only ever knew one female trombone player in all my years of music; I wish I could remember what she looked like. It’s safe to say that if she had developed in any ‘non-symmetrical’ manner, I'm sure her image would have etched itself into my brain forever. You don’t forget things like that.

[Macksphotography]

Well it seems to be the month to Buy the 100-400 baby.
I have had mine a week now and I think I agree with pretty much everything that has been said about this beast. I put on my old Sigma 70-300 at the weekend for a walk round Amsterdam and boy was it slow in focusing. I primarily bought it for the aviation side of my photography and now wonder how I ever captured an in focus sharp aircraft in the past. This is my first 'L' and me thinks I will have to have more now :D The URL will take you to a few test shots made at Schiphol the second after I got the lens, conditions were pretty tough with a fair amount of wind blowing so when I got the results downloaded I was well happy.

http://aviation.macksphotography.com/schiphol/