EOS 7D + 100-400mm for wildlife photography

There isn't anything such as cheap in any of these various options, but have you considered the 400 mm f/5.6L prime lens? Canon L primes are sharper than zooms although the 100-400 is no slouch by any means. Having a fixed FL lens is not a limitation when it comes to wildlife shooting ... unless you are on the verge of becoming lunch for a grizzly bear. Any perceived "limitation" would be that a longer FL is desired or needed.

I have even stacked both of my Canon extenders (EF 1.4X II and EX 2X II) onto my 400 mm lens for a total FL of 1120 mm and an aperture of f/16 and the results are still amazingly sharp. I only use this combination for astrophotography because I am sure that it would not give me the detail that I want in my bird images.

Here is a link to a moon shot that I posted a while back: Lunar Alps

I think that someone said that ISO 800 was the practical upper limit for printing for 7D images. Personally, I feel that it is more like ISO 1600 or 3200 depending on the subject and the the exposure quality. Here is a link to a bird image that I posted recently shot at ISO 1600: Barn Swallow

The slight amount of noise visible when viewed on a monitor isn't noticeable when printed on my Canon i9900 using Ilford Galerie papers.

A print of an image shot at ISO 3200 would very likely show some noise, but if you view this thread started by TeamSpeed, you will see that even images shot at ISO 12800 look very nice when cleaned up with a noiseware program. Of course anything that removes noise from very high ISO images will also have a negative effect on the very fine details in an image if viewed at 100% magnification. When viewing at greater than 100% one needs to keep in mind that what you see is "science fiction" (and varies depending on what application is being used because of differences in enlargement algorithms).

I like my 100-400 with my 7D ... when I go to the local airshow, I usually have the 7D w/100-400 for what is flying above and the 5DMKII w/24-70 for the ground shots. Been shooting my 100-400 with all my bodies and do not have a complaint at all!

You will have to get used to the push/pull of the lens but it really isn't any big deal ... in fact sometimes I wish other lenses had it!

One of the nice features of the 7D / 100-400 combination is the 7D's ability to lock focus on a rapidly moving subject using Servo focus. This brown pelican was a little more than 40m away, moving at a good clip at an angle which brought him steadily closer to me. Even though it was an overcast day, there was plenty of light to snag this shot at 1/2,000 sec, f/8, ISO 800. The 7D / 100-400 is probably your best buy for wildlife shots at about US$3,300.

BioSci wrote in post #14810694
One of the nice features of the 7D / 100-400 combination is the 7D's ability to lock focus on a rapidly moving subject using Servo focus. This brown pelican was a little more than 40m away, moving at a good clip at an angle which brought him steadily closer to me. Even though it was an overcast day, there was plenty of light to snag this shot at 1/2,000 sec, f/8, ISO 800. The 7D / 100-400 is probably your best buy for wildlife shots at about US$3,300.

Lovely shot. OP, if you're not absolutely committed to getting a zoom, the 7D plus 400mm f/5.6L also makes a great combination, and costs a little less than the 7D - 100-400 combo.

berlinfrank wrote in post #14804258
EOS 7D + 100-400mm -->640mm
The alternative I see is

EOS 5D Mark III with 200-400mm --> 560mm

The alternative you give is about $10,000 more. You probably get most of what you pay for, although they are in completely different leagues.

I personally feel that the fixed 400 5.6 is a bit long for SOME wildlife things.
I know that is is RARE to get close to things in the wild, but it does happen. I must be the
animal whisperer as I get within 10meters of large wildlife (deer mostly) almost every time I go out shooting.
at 10 meters with a 400 mm lens on a 1.6 crop you will only get the head of the animal. This is fine if that is what youre after but if you want more, you seriously risk scaring the animal away to back up for more view.

with the 100-400 you can just pull back the zoom and get the shot.
Here is one I shot recently at 235mm.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/jhayesvw/749194​8994/