Canon 200-400/4,​0L IS USM 1.4X Teleconverter

I've been in Africa for three and a half weeks. This lens has been awesome. There were afew shots I wish I had my 600 ii w me but overall this lens was plenty. I'll be sharing photos over the next months.

Canonised wrote in post #16139590
Over the weekend, I met up with one of my photo buddies who recently returned from Africa photo trip. He managed to acquire a 200-400 before his trip and he kindly lent me his lens for the morning to test at my zoo. Here are a few of the captures.

First, it is much bigger than I first anticipated. Not handholdable over the course of the day. Needs a monopod at least. with the extender in operation the drop in F stop does slow down the shots and it pushed the capability of the EOS 5D3's noise management. Fortunately it was able to do it in most circumstances. Image quality for my eye is near or matching up to 300 f2.8. So prime superteles are in for a real fight. But apart from Safaris, I am not completely convinced that this 200-400 has another role. Most sporting events need faster lenses. The other drawback is the huge price tag. S$14k is serious lot of money.

Motorsports. In the Nikon world the 200-400 is pretty popular. And also a lot cheaper. Many motorspots guys are carrying a 300, 400 or 500. Or a 500 and a 300. Most races are during the day so the stop isn't terrible. Lots of people use the 400/5.6 with no problems. Most of the time trackside you have a 70-200 and then one of the main super tele photos. You give up something... if you had the 200-400 you have on two cameras 70-560mm covered.

tommykjensen wrote in post #16052791
@200 mm : 400 mm (external 2x)

@200 mm : 560 mm (external 2x) + (internal 1.4x)

@400 mm : 800 mm (external 2x)

@400 mm : 1120 mm (external 2x) + (internal 1.4x)

100% crop

No I am not going to post 100% crops of all shots. As I mentioned before I am not pixel peeper. But that last one I thought needed a 100% crop. I am blown away with the quality. In the last there is no autofocus of course since aperture is f11. But since the internal extender is so easy to switch on and off I just switch off, focus, kept shutter down, enabled internal extender again and took the shot.

Not that I will ever own one , however - I looked at hires in the UK and they had this warning:

NOTE - Switching the internal Extender in or out whilst the lens or camera is operating (e.g. shutter button half pressed, autofocus, image stabilization, continuous focus, live view, movie mode, etc.) can damage the electronics. Such damage WILL be expensive to repair and WILL NOT be covered by insurance. You have been warned.

some from africa. some of these are heavily cropped. i had an external 1.4x iii attached at all times. why? well mainly for small birds or wildlife that was far away and i could just flip the switch and get almost 800mm.

the lens is very versatile with some tradeoffs.

Mind sharing what you think its trade offs and limitations are? I have yet to see a solid review comparing the 200-400 with a 500ii or 600ii, and which they prefer.

I've been lucky enough to borrow one of these for the last month or so. I have been using it mainly for birds, I will upload some of that later. Now, its my dogs as models, f/4 and ISO2000, the 2 first are about 100%crops, the last 2 about 40%.
1

Wow this lens is awesome! How much can my kidney sell for these days?

scpictaker wrote in post #16178137
Wow this lens is awesome! How much can my kidney sell for these days?

You'll have to sell all 5 of your kidneys to pay for this lens.

trade offs

cons - maximimun focal length 780mm, heavier than the 500mm ii, almost as heavy as the 600mm ii (which can give you 1200mm total)

pros - it zooms and is crazy sharp, even w/ the 1.4x engaged and an additional 1.4x iii.

Some impressive images on this thread. I seriously considered this lens. I ended up buying a 500mm f/4 and a 300mm f/2.8 for similar money as these were better suited to what I want.

bigcountry wrote in post #16179782
trade offs

cons - maximimun focal length 780mm

Hmm I would actually put that on the pro side. (btw its 784 mm with extra 1.4x extender )

bigcountry wrote in post #16179782
trade offs

cons - maximimun focal length 780mm, heavier than the 500mm ii, almost as heavy as the 600mm ii (which can give you 1200mm total)

pros - it zooms and is crazy sharp, even w/ the 1.4x engaged and an additional 1.4x iii.

So would you choose the 200-400 over a 500/600 in most circumstances?

dioladetus wrote in post #16177560
I've been lucky enough to borrow one of these for the last month or so. I have been using it mainly for birds, I will upload some of that later. Now, its my dogs as models, f/4 and ISO2000, the 2 first are about 100%crops, the last 2 about 40%.
1

Wow. Incredibly sharp. Almost looks like a pic I got of my dog with my then 200 f2. Only your shot is better

Great pics. Just got a message that mine shipped today from B&H. I had ordered on 6/23. Can't wait to try it out.

Depends on the situation and where i am going and what i am shooting. There is no perfect tool for the job, but some tools are better than others.