Renting/buying Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens

Last year, I went to Lakota Wolf preserve in NJ, and shot some pics of the wolves. This year, I am going back, and renting the 400mm f/5.6 to get closer. I have the x1.4 extender if I need it, giving me 560mm using FF. It will be on my Monopod, not handheld. Am I, after using it for two (2) days, going to want to purchase it, or will I be disappointed? I don't think that I will be wasting the $48 renting. I was happy with my 300L last year with the x1.4 extender, but wished that I could have gotten closer. I have read the reviews, but it seems that only the good ones are printed. If I purchase it, I will also use the lens for Lehigh Football and Lacrosse. thanks for the input.

No you will not be disappointed at all if you buy the 400 5.6; I have one and love it for what it is capable of doing. I also went ahead with it and the Kenko 1.4x TC (so that AF is retained) with the right expectations (contrast and light requirements), so I like that combination too. That said, if you plan to buy a 400mm range and money is not a constraint, I would recommend 100-400 over the 400 5.6 for its versatility and IS. And here's why I say so. Thanks to Steve for writing this review.

By the way, AFAIK, the 400 5.6 will retain AF with 1.4x only with 1D series bodies not with your 5D.

Nikhil. Thanks for your input. I probably will purchase the 400mm f/5.6. Thanks for reminding me that my 1.4x will not work, the way I want, with it. I was going to check out the AF compatibility chart later. BTW, money is a constraint. If I had the money, I would purchase the f/4.0. thanks again. nick.

nikmar08 wrote in post #13334455
By the way, AFAIK, the 400 5.6 will retain AF with 1.4x only with 1D series bodies not with your 5D.

The Kenko 1.4 Pro300 DGX teleconverter retains AF with any current DSLR, including the 5D and 60D, without any pin taping. You need A LOT of light, but it does work. There have been several threads about this.

I agree that you will like the 400 5.6, Nicksan3. I like it a lot. And I do think that adding the TC is a good thing, because when there is plenty of light it gives you the option of getting more reach, which is kind of what you want in most cases.

You'll want to purchase the 400 lens for sure so be prepared to spend and have no regrets.

RAH1861 wrote in post #13336543
The Kenko 1.4 Pro300 DGX teleconverter retains AF with any current DSLR, including the 5D and 60D, without any pin taping.

Yes, that is right. My point was w.r.t. to Nick's 1.4x which I assumed to be Canon and not Kenko.

rich/doug/nikhil. You were correct. I have the Canon 1.4x teleconverter. The kenko teleconverter sounds good. I will have to check into it. So far, the positives have outweighed the negatives by 150 to 1. B&H has the 400 in stock, and they only take two (2) days to get here. Maybe, I will rent the lens this weekend, and purchase it for my 19Nov11 trip. thank you all for your quick responses. nick.

Nick... just to weigh in, the 400 is one you will probably want to buy after you use it a bit.
I have the 5DMII, and the 400 is a great lens to use with it. And the 1.4x TC works well in that combo also. (only borrowed that, but I used it a lot!) The 400 5.6 is a great option for those of us that don't have the loose change for the 400 2.8 ...
Let us know what you think when you use it! And post some pics

nikmar08 wrote in post #13334455
No you will not be disappointed at all if you buy the 400 5.6; I have one and love it for what it is capable of doing. I also went ahead with it and the Kenko 1.4x TC (so that AF is retained) with the right expectations (contrast and light requirements), so I like that combination too. That said, if you plan to buy a 400mm range and money is not a constraint, I would recommend 100-400 over the 400 5.6 for its versatility and IS. And here's why I say so. Thanks to Steve for writing this review.

By the way, AFAIK, the 400 5.6 will retain AF with 1.4x only with 1D series bodies not with your 5D.

I agree that the quality of the 400mm f/5.6L is absolutely great.

I wish that the Canon Gods had seen fit to allow the 7D to auto focus at f/8 so I could use my 400L with my 1.4x TC. Hopefully (although I doubt it) the 5Diii or 8D will have that capability but they will probably have articulated LCD's.

I don't really need the video capability and just how many users of sophisticated cameras use print from camera?

I'd also love to see 5 shot exposure bracketing bursts and dual memory card slots... But that would have made it a competitor to the 1D line of cameras.

I would not mind having ISO-25 capability to facilitate slower shutter speeds with only a CPL filter....

You will be very happy with the 400 5.6. I love mine af is very fast and accurate and sharp wide open. I use it a lot in ai servo with my 7d for eagle shooting and its been superb. One of the best bang for the buck lenses, when you rent or buy you will see why there are not many bad reviews.

RPCrowe wrote in post #13339359
I wish that the Canon Gods had seen fit to allow the 7D to auto focus at f/8 so I could use my 400L with my 1.4x TC. Hopefully (although I doubt it) the 5Diii or 8D will have that capability

Extremely unlikely as even the 1Dx no longer has that ability.

hollis_f wrote in post #13341414
Extremely unlikely as even the 1Dx no longer has that ability.

Really, a camera hat expensive does not provide AF with a TC beyond f/5.6?

RPCrowe wrote in post #13339359
I wish that the Canon Gods had seen fit to allow the 7D to auto focus at f/8 so I could use my 400L with my 1.4x TC. Hopefully (although I doubt it) the 5Diii or 8D will have that capability

I would not bank on it as even the new 1 series Cameras are now going to lose the ability to AF at f8.
EDIT: Opps, just noticed this has already been mentioned by Frank

Nicksan3 wrote in post #13337743
rich/doug/nikhil. You were correct. I have the Canon 1.4x teleconverter. The kenko teleconverter sounds good. I will have to check into it. .....nick.

Which one? The Mark II is pretty good, probably about equal to the Kenko in terms of image quality.

Before you buy another teleconverter, be aware that you can simply tape up a couple of the elctronic contacts temporarily on the Canon to fool the camera into not recognizing that the teleconverter is installed. I can't tell you which, so search here for more info.

You might get your camera to AF successfully by doing that. It will depend upon the lighting and contrast, and probably will be a little slower than usual. Might hunt a little at times. But, it's worth a try for the cost of a piece of electrical tape covering a contact on the teleconverter.

Limit your camera to the center AF point only, for the best chance of getting it to AF. I've gotten 7D to give focus confirmation on a manual aperture at f7.1, f8, and even f9, f10, f11... with an extension tube installed (so the amount of light reaching the AF sensor was actually a bit less than the set aperture, due to add'l light falloff in the tube). In really good light, it was pretty reliable at f8, pretty spotty by f11. The viewfinder was pretty dim, too.

If you want to try the tape trick, search here on POTN for info about which ones to cover. I haven't done it myself, but am aware it's possible to do.

Besides allowing AF to continue to try to work, you'll also notice the focal length info in the EXIF is incorrect. Rather than showing the effective 640mm created by combining 400mm with 1.4X, you'll just see 400mm as if the teleconverter isn't there.

Any auto exposure (P, Tv, Av) will still be correct, as the TTL metering of the camera automatically compensates for the additional light loss. If using manual exposure, the readout from the camera's metering system will be correct for match needle metering, but if using a separate hand held meter I think you'll have to factor in one stop smaller than what's being shown by the camera, since it's not taking the TC into account.

amfoto1 wrote in post #13342038
Limit your camera to the center AF point only, for the best chance of getting it to AF.

In fact the opposite is true, you will find that the centre AF point will work the worst with a non reporting or taped tc (on the 7D, 40D, 50D at least). One of the outer AF points will most certainly give you better AF at what is effectively f8. This is something to do with the centre point being enhanced for a f2.8 lens. This is why most people do not bother with it because they cannot use the centre point.