EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Review WOW!

Edle wrote in post #17510563
Thank you!!! At the risk of pushing my luck, any chance of indoor pics at 400mm?

Just for you - and on Flikr you can download anything you want.
For all images I upped the default 25 lightroom sharpening to 50 and did Profile correction - that is it.

The pictures are taken on a tripod with:
- IS turned off
- ISO 1250, 1/25th, F2.8 for the 100mm L and 70-200mm L II and then 1/6th at 400mm F5.6 (to adjust exposure)
- distance is 27 feet
- focus point was placed on the fish food (see what the label looks like)
- exposure was about 2/3rds of a stop under what the 5D3 called optimal (I didn't want to use higher ISO to introduce ISO noise and I didn't want to go lower than 1/6th incase vibration becomes an issue (for the 100_400) so that was my compromise (the room is almost wedding room dark)
- I adjusted the 100mm exposure down -.2 to equalize the wall brightness (it was the first picture and possible light coming in from the kitchen window was brighter OR the 100mm L is very slightly faster than a 2.8


- you have the full images from the 100mm, 70-200mm, 100-400 all from the exact same spot take at most 5 minutes apart in total
- you also have crops of the 100mm and 200mm to give nearly the exact same framing of the 400mm (thus 1/16 of the pixels for the 100 and 1/4 of the pixels for the 70-200 @200)

- i view the 100mm and 70-200mm II as 2 of canon's best and sharpest lenses
- it would appear to me that you can add the 100-400 II to that list (which is what most people have already determined)


100mm

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Awesome! thank you. You've just added another 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM owner to this forum, will be ordering mine soon. They appeared to be back-ordered from the Canon Website and since I can get a discount through PerkSpot and pay $1,880.10 for it, I will wait until Canon restocks to pull the trigger.

Edle wrote in post #17510815
Awesome! thank you. You've just added another 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM owner to this forum, will be ordering mine soon. They appeared to be back-ordered from the Canon Website and since I can get a discount through PerkSpot and pay $1,880.10 for it, I will wait until Canon restocks to pull the trigger.

Thought I would give you one more.
I realized when I relooked at my pictures that the fish food container is reflective and reading it is not the best.
I decided to grab 2 loose papers - a your child does not have lice letter that was brought home and a Fuji Insta Camera instruction manual from our Pink Fuji Insta Polaroid type camera.
Please look at the Fuji instruction part. In the top right hand corner, if you further zoom in, is basically the smallest writing you will ever see in any instruction manual ever. Under the section that says TROUBLE SHOOTING and then PROBLEMS, there are words 'The shutter release won't trip'. I measured the word 'The' - it is 3/32nds in length. This picture was taken from the exact same spot 27.2 feet away at 400mm / F5.6 / 1250 ISO/ 1/20th / Tungsten WB / 10 second delay / IS in position #1 / RRS lightweight tripod - but this time with IS ON - I did a back to back and even on a tripod, it is slightly better with IS ON.

Same as usual, brought image into LR, 50 on sharpening, Profile correction, added 1/2 stops to simulate previous pictures exposure.

The lens is simple amazing in terms of sharpness - and the IS is the best of any Canon lens in my opinion - and I'm a big IS user.

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That really is amazing that those words are so clear at 1000% crop. Thank you.

Edle wrote in post #17511010
That really is amazing that those words are so clear at 1000% crop. Thank you.

I have a 5DSR on order - I'm going to guess, that with this lens, you could read the small print from at least 100 feet away at ISO 100. If they could just figure out now how to add 2 more stops of NR I would stop looking at Nikons.


Finally, just to see what it looks like with a 7D2 - here it is.
Getting darker here so to I kept the ISO 1250 but added 1 stop in LR, added a tiny bit of contrast - but I did add some noise reduction - I find the 7D2 noise cleans up very well with small amounts of NR and Masking where appropriate. You can see it is even clearer than the 5D3 given more pixels are put on the target. Again it is about a 1000% crop. The image as I see it on my screen is 50% bigger than in real life and far easier to read - but again it is 27 feet away.

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7D2 and this lens is extremely versatile for my needs. From BIF to near macro, it is making me smile more each time I venture out.

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I just bought both (7D2 & 100-400 II), and I'm LOVING it! My keeper rate in Lax has skyrocketed with this combo! If anyone is on the fence on this lens, get it!

A guy from work wanted me to check his copy out as he didn't think it was performing as well as he had hoped... He is using a 5D, so I am thinking that maybe the lack of MA is the reason along with the dated AF (he is upgrading with the next 5D when it comes). He upgraded from the original 100-400 and thinks it performed better. This was a nice way to finally try this lens, though! I have been wanting to for a while.

Anyway, on my 5D3 it requires no MA and is sharp throughout the range. Not to the level of the 70-200 II, but close. Very good detail.

For my own curiosity, I tested it side by side with my 300 II. The prime is sharper wide open than the 100-400 at 300mm and f/5 or whatever it is, but it's pretty close overall. Color is "richer" on the zoom, more saturated. I do however prefer the neutral look of the prime better... The prime also appears to have the edge in contrast as well. This is just being critical, though.

Bokeh is fantastic on the 100-400. I liked the closer MFD as well.

Build quality was awesome, no complaints there! I felt a bit "strained" to quickly to zoom the lens from 100 to 400, even with tension adjustment at loose. I never used the original, but makes me feel the push/pull would have been better for how much movement the lens goes through. I am sure you would get used to it and it would loosen up.

Glad I got to try the lens out... But using it has also curbed my interest as it didn't blow me away as I had hoped for some of the reasons noted... While images looked fantastic, they don't pop as much as the prime. I am not expecting it to as they are different lenses for sure, at very different price points, but I compare because it is what I am used to. Being able to try it out was exciting so I can compare those two.

But it was for sure a very sharp, versatile lens that would be amazing for many people! I prefer to stick with my 70-200 II and 300 combo (I had thought of selling the prime and going to the 100-400 instead).

It is an amazing lens!

80 percent crop (meaning about 80 percent was discarded).

70D with 100-400II, 400mm, F/8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400.

What are people's thoughts on the 100-400 MkII with 1.4x TCIII vs the Tamron 150-600 in terms of AF and IQ? Similar focal lengths, the Canon ends up a little slower (f8 vs f6.3; not an issue on a 7D2 for focus though).

DionM wrote in post #17518028
What are people's thoughts on the 100-400 MkII with 1.4x TCIII vs the Tamron 150-600 in terms of AF and IQ? Similar focal lengths, the Canon ends up a little slower (f8 vs f6.3; not an issue on a 7D2 for focus though).

I had the Tamron for about 10 months and sold it when I got the 100-400 MkII.

I also have the 1.4III.

I feel the Canon with the Extender still focuses faster and locks quicker than the Tamron did (albeit centre point only) and I would give the IQ to the Canon for sure at the long end; this on a 1DIV.

This is totally unscientific but these are both cropped about the same amount.

Tamron @ 600mm

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Spiekeroog, Germany

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Is his name Mozart?

I get that! Sweet little pic

Yup! Took me just a moment to catch it.