New Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens

Does anyone have any new info on what changes will be incorporated into the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L II IS USM over the old/current 100-400L lens? Any idea of the price point? I'd like to get the Canon EF 100-400mm but I am waiting to see the 100-400 mk II. Not much hard info on Canon rumors. I will probably wait until the new lens comes out which should drive the price of the old lens down, however If review are good I would be willing to get the MKII. -rick

What makes you think there will be a new version released any time soon? When I bought my 100-400 I was tempted to wait for the new version that was rumoured to be very close to release. I'm so glad I didn't wait because this was in 2006!

Canon Rumours regularly post announcements predicting the imminent launch of a new 100-400. When they finally get it right (and if I throw 100 darts at a dartboard one of them is likely to hit the bull) they'll be crowing about how accurate they were.

The current 100-400 is a bargain. If you want one then buy one now. Nobody ever took any decent photos with a rumour.

I did more searching after I posted, and going all the way back to 2006 people were claiming Canon was imminently going to release a new 100-400L. Oh well, wishful thinking. -rick

Canon has already released the 200-400mm with teleconverter and the 400mm DO. Is there really more in the pipeline?

Sebring5 wrote in post #15955732
Canon has already released the 200-400mm with teleconverter and the 400mm DO. Is there really more in the pipeline?

I, along with lots of other people, hope so. Neither of those lenses is in the same league as the 100-400 or the 400 f5.6 prime. The two lenses you quote cost way more than the 'affordable' 400mm lenses.

But both of those lenses have, minor, problems that users would like corrected. The zoom is an old design with 1st-generation IS. A replacement would almost certainly be somewhat sharper, lighter and have super-new IS. The prime really just needs IS added (although it, too, would probably come out lighter and, if it's possible, sharper.

Or it may be that a new 100-400 would be even sharper than the 400 prime, making that lens redundant in the new lineup. Who knows? Only the R&D guys at Canon know, and they ain't talking.

Canon won't give people an improved 100-400 that is 1/3rd the price of the 200-400 until they milk as many 200-400 customers as they can.

Stupidly I've been waiting too. I made a rash decision and purchased the 70-300L, used on one trip and sold.

bobfather wrote in post #15955911
Canon won't give people an improved 100-400 that is 1/3rd the price of the 200-400 until they milk as many 200-400 customers as they can.

100-400 users are a completely different target market to 200-400 users. OP, just buy one now and go out and shoot. A new model will be much more expensive and will not affect the value of any older models........

bobfather wrote in post #15955911
Canon won't give people an improved 100-400 that is 1/3rd the price of the 200-400 until they milk as many 200-400 customers as they can.

Once again, the new 200-400mm is not a competing lens with the current 100-400L, so I seriously doubt that enters into Canon's equation when contemplating an upgrade to the 100-400L.

As has also been pointed out, a revised 100-400L has been probably the longest running rumor in Canon history. If you need an "affordable" wildlife lens, I wouldn't wait on this rumor. Besides, if a revised version does hit the market, plan on spending $2,500 - $3,000 based on Canon's current pricing practices for upgraded lenses.

Nikon has a 200-400 and a more affordable 80-400, which Nikon updated just this year. With the release of the 200-400, Canon appears to be following Nikon's pattern (which makes good competitive sense), so hopefully there will be an update to the 100-400 coming. When is the big question.

As suggested by the Canon Rumors article "When is the New 100-400 Coming", the 200-400 had to be released before Canon was willing to release a 100-400 mk II. Seems logical to me. Although, years of eager anticipation have proven futile, as Frank well-documented above.

If I could only change one thing about the 100-400 it would be to add a 4-stop IS system. Naturally I'd love to see improved optics. But mine is pretty doggone sharp right now, which is very impressive considering the cost of other image-stabilized 400mm lens options.

Hens teeth ! :P

A new 100-400 should have IQ on the same level as the 70-300, and an additional 2 stops of IS. I would be surprised if it hit the market inside of 6 months, probably more like 12-18. It'll cost significantly more than the mark I, just like every other mark II recently released.

The value of the used will probably dip slightly with an increase in mark Is on the market, but nothing more than the usual.

As with all lens, if the one you want has not been publicly released, you should probably just go ahead and buy the version that's out now, your choice of new or used, and then worry about the upgrade later.

hollis_f wrote in post #15955683
Nobody ever took any decent photos with a rumour.

I heard there was this one guy, back in the 1970s, who could take excellent photos with just a rumour. I think he did the cover art for a Fleetwood Mac album.



I'm here all week, try the veal, tip the waitress...

shinksma

alazgr8 wrote in post #15955671
Does anyone have any new info on what changes will be incorporated into the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L II IS USM over the old/current 100-400L lens? Any idea of the price point? I'd like to get the Canon EF 100-400mm but I am waiting to see the 100-400 mk II. Not much hard info on Canon rumors. I will probably wait until the new lens comes out which should drive the price of the old lens down, however If review are good I would be willing to get the MKII. -rick

It seems when Canon introduces an upgraded version of a lens the price increase of the new version usually drives the price of the used market of the old version up and not down. It is totally speculative on my part but if you look at the price of the 70-200L f/2.8 IS II and even the old 28-300L all priced at $2000 plus I bet the 100-400L II will be in the $2500+ range which will make buying a used older ver 1 100-400L seem cheap at $1500 or even $1700. I personally like the old version, especially the push/pull zoom for BIF but, it could use a little improvement in optics and IS especially when compared to Canons new lens offerings. What would be nice is if Canon could increase the zoom range from 100-500mm then I would seriously look at upgrading but as it stands now the current version meets all my needs.

Sebring5 wrote in post #15955732
Canon has already released the 200-400mm with teleconverter and the 400mm DO. Is there really more in the pipeline?

It would be nice if there were something in the pipeline that didn't cost almost $12k........