100-400 L is Help

Hi guys, I bought one of these 10 days ago and I am wondering, how do I know if I got a good one...?
I have been using it hand held and on a tripod, and when i zoom in 100% the images are not razor sharp..!! Should they be? Is it my technique?

Your thoughts please.....

Its a lot easier for us to know whats going on if you can post a couple of shots with exif data attached. A lot of folks who first get long lenses overestimate their ability to handhold so they confuse slight motion blur with a lack of sharpness from the lens.

It took me a little bit to get used to this lens before I started getting good results.

I found hand held I needed to wait just a little before taking a picture for the IS to settle in.

When mounted on a tripod make sure IS is off.

For sharp images make sure the subject fills the frame. Let's say 1/6 to 1/4 of the area of the view finder. It is harder for the camera to get an exact focus is the subject is far off and very tiny.

+ for shutting IS off when tripod mounted (you don't necessarily need to do this with the latest IS technology but, the 100-400L IS is old technology).

+ for using a tripod

+ for waiting a split second until the IS cranks in

AND...

Make sure that the focus point selected by the camera is what you want to be focused on. I often use center-point focus with very long lenses because the camera will sometimes choose a point that is not where you want to focus. This can throw off focus for the entire shot.

Additionally, when I shoot with the older IS systems, I still try to keep my shutter speeds pretty high when hand holding. Remember, you are effectively shooting with a 640mm focal length when using this lens at 400mm on a 1.6x camera. I would rather have a sharp image that is a bit noisy from high ISO than an image that is blurred from using too slow a shutter speed...

+1 ^^^ RPcrowe

If you shoot under decent outdoor ambient lighting conditions at 400mm so you can stay around ISO400 or less + a SS of at least 1/150 or higher the better and your subject is in say 25% of the 96% viewfinder frame of the 60D you should be getting fairly sharp images.

Also if you want to run some relatively easy checks on your new copy read the below:

http://www.lensrentals​.com ….11.26/how-to-test-a-lens

Regards,

Thanks for your replies guys, How do I attach an image with exif data?
Yesterday I went to a local nature reserve to shoot some birds and using a tripod, is off, do I still need to keep the shutter speed up?

Watch your shutter speeds, don't let them get too low. Experiment with various shutter speeds to help determine what difference there is with you and your equipment. Even with IS or a tripod the slightest movement is magnified at longer focal lengths. There is a difference between shooting at 50/55mm and 400mm.

cheffievrs wrote in post #11941851
Thanks for your replies guys, How do I attach an image with exif data?
Yesterday I went to a local nature reserve to shoot some birds and using a tripod, is off, do I still need to keep the shutter speed up?

generally exif data stay attached unless you use a program or a host site that strips it off. Its probably easiest if you use a host site like flickr.

cheffievrs wrote in post #11941851
Thanks for your replies guys, How do I attach an image with exif data?
Yesterday I went to a local nature reserve to shoot some birds and using a tripod, is off, do I still need to keep the shutter speed up?

Read the below articles which should help you out & also play around with the below camera demo:

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shutter-speed

http://www.diyphotogra​phy.net/shutter-speed

Camera Demo: http://dryreading.com/​camera/

Regards & Have Fun !

I don't know if you use a filter or not, but I get better results using the my 100-400 without the filter. And I use a monopod/tripod almost 95% of the time.

A couple of points: 1) There are soft copies of the 100-400. My photos have always been soft even using what I believe to be good technique. I finally decided to test mine in controlled conditions (tripod, live view, 10x, wireless remote, both AF and MF, etc., etc.) across a lot of focal lengths and apertures. Every photo was equally soft. I finally sent it to Canon this morning for alignment. 2) Set up your camera on your tripod at 400mm with live view at 10x and without touching the camera, notice how much movement you see in the viewfinder. Unless you have a very stable tripod, you can still get significant movement. I have a lighter travel tripod, and when I observe that kind of movement (e.g. on a windy day) I turn the IS on even using the tripod. And I always use a wireless remote when using the 100-400 on my tripod. 3) In the older models like I have (not sure about newer ones) the IS kind of clunks in and you can see it freeze the frame - so you know it's working or not.

Thanks for your comments guys, I have just loaded a picture on to flickr for you to have a look at, Taken on a tripod
I think I am going to take the lens back to the shop and get them to have a look at it.....!!

http://www.flickr.com …/59499293@N08/5​493028550/

cheffievrs wrote in post #11944352
Thanks for your comments guys, I have just loaded a picture on to flickr for you to have a look at, Taken on a tripod
I think I am going to take the lens back to the shop and get them to have a look at it.....!!

http://www.flickr.com …/59499293@N08/5​493028550/

Your S/S 1/200 and aperture @ 7.1 and ISO100 was fine.

Are you using one-shot AF, just the centerpoint focus, and the camera in AV mode ?

Did you have the IS turned off ?

Was it a windy day ?

Did you use the shutter time delay?

Appears the ambient light was an overcast day but that might just be the ISO100 setting.

Regards,

Silverfox1 wrote in post #11944400
Your S/S 1/200 and aperture @ 7.1 and ISO100 was fine.

Are you using one-shot AF, just the centerpoint focus, and the camera in AV mode ?

Did you have the IS turned off ?

Was it a windy day ?

Did you use the shutter time delay?

Appears the ambient light was an overcast day but that might just be the ISO100 setting.

Regards,

One Shot AF, and Center point focus, and yes AV mode
very overcast, wind 6mph
IS was off
No delay on the shutter

Big thing that people have missed:

How far away is your subject? Every zoom in the world will suffer if you're shooting near infinity in ordinary conditions. You'd be amazed at how much dust, haze and water there is between you and your subject. The 100-400 is super sharp I've found.. And it's always sharper when the subject is close.