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

1.4 MkIII not used for this.

Just trying the 100-400L MkII for this type of shot.

First time in ages I've taken the extender off - Noticeable reduction in weight.
In case you're wondering - it records the hours of sunshine by focusing the sun's rays onto the chart and burning a mark across the chart. The observer measures the length of the burn to determine how much sunshine that day. A new chart is needed each day. Daylight hours only - no moonshine. This was a serious instrument and a few people still use it, mainly out of nostalgia and the charts are still available.
If you want to use it as a 'crystal ball' it is not very accurate, I gazed into it and asked it when the 7D III would be available - I got no answer.
(From my instrument collection)

Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)

Ray.Petri wrote in post #18798712
1.4 MkIII not used for this.

Just trying the 100-400L MkII for this type of shot.

First time in ages I've taken the extender off - Noticeable reduction in weight.
In case you're wondering - it records the hours of sunshine by focusing the sun's rays onto the chart and burning a mark across the chart. The observer measures the length of the burn to determine how much sunshine that day. A new chart is needed each day. Daylight hours only - no moonshine. This was a serious instrument and a few people still use it, mainly out of nostalgia and the charts are still available.
If you want to use it a 'crystal ball' it is not very accurate, I gazed into it and asked it when the 7D III would be available - I got no answer.
(From my instrument collection)

Interesting device.
It's got minute levelling adjustment but I can't see any bubbles or level vials.
Curious how they oriented and levelled it

Another first for me - an equestrian event. I was on a steep learning curve regarding being in the right place at the right time and struggled to pre-empt the action, but with the 100-400 MKII bolted to the 7D2 and used in combination with the 5D3/24-105 f4L, I was able to reach every corner of the arena and still have 'enough wide' for when the riders were close by.

The 100-400 MKII really is a superb piece of equipment.

avondale87 wrote in post #18798981
Interesting device.
It's got minute levelling adjustment but I can't see any bubbles or level vials.
Curious how they oriented and levelled it

Hi Avondale - I should have given a Wiki-Link for the Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder - here it is:-

https://en.wikipedia.o​rg …l%E2%80%93Stoke​s_recorder.

A better ref would be the 'Handbook of Meteorological Instruments' published by HMSO (Her Majesty's Stationery Office). 1956. If you can find one that is!

A friend of mine still manufactures/supplies them. https://www.russell-scientific.co.uk/sunsh​ine-recorder-30-c.asp

Mine is only used as an interesting ornament for the wife to dust.

I am not too surprised they didn't build a level into it because once set-up and adjusted it need not be set up again(questionable with vandals around).
Initial levelling was done with a spirit level across the 'horns' and base-plate. You also needed to know the Lat-Long of the station.

Ray.Petri wrote in post #18799257
Hi Avondale - I should have given a Wiki-Link for the Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder - here it is:-

https://en.wikipedia.o​rg …l%E2%80%93Stoke​s_recorder.

A better ref would be the 'Handbook of Meteorological Instruments' published by HMSO (Her Majesty's Stationery Office). 1656. If you can find one that is!

A friend of mine still manufactures/supplies them. https://www.russell-scientific.co.uk/sunsh​ine-recorder-30-c.asp

Mine is only used as an interesting ornament for the wife to dust.

I am not too surprised they didn't build a level into it because once set-up and adjusted it need not be set up again(questionable with vandals around).
Initial levelling was done with a spirit level across the 'horns' and base-plate. You also needed to know the Lat-Long of the station.

Thanks Ray
indeed interesting devices.
I realised it would be setup once and left - capstan screws for levelling.
They wouldn't be put in places where vandals could (normaly) reach as for one thing, they don't need any overshadowing for obvious reasons
I wonder how many times the card caught fire

I worked in the scientific instrument industry off and on (mostly on) from 1973 - 2005. The companies I worked for made mass spectrometers. I recall very vividly the day, roughly 2008, when I was walking through the corridors of a university engineering school, past glass cases containing relics of bygone instrumentation, when I saw one of the first instruments I built as a young technician at VG Micromass. At that moment, I became 'old'.

Years later, when working for Australia's national research agency, I was wandering through some recently vacated buildings that were scheduled to be sold off for redevelopment. Though empty and unused, they still contained many examples of 'one-off' instruments built years before, usually as a means to solve one question that was part of a larger research project. Often, in the course of studying X, researchers needed to measure something with a much higher degree of accuracy or precision than was possible using proprietary instruments so, being scientists and engineers, they built one themselves. Many of these were unique, groundbreaking and remarkable in themselves but, because they were peripheral to the research project, they were shelved and rarely saw the light of day thereafter. I saw these wonderful devices thrown in skips or sold for scrap. It was heartbreaking to me, but just a nuisance to the beancounters who were desperate to get their hands on the millions that would flow from closing the site down.

avondale87 wrote in post #18799264
Thanks Ray
indeed interesting devices.
I realised it would be setup once and left - capstan screws for levelling.
They wouldn't be put in places where vandals could (normaly) reach as for one thing, they don't need any overshadowing for obvious reasons
I wonder how many times the card caught fire

Well; down under, with your temperatures, I guess the whole thing would catch fire and melt. It was capstan screws with everything those days and they seemed to get mistreated and mangled by the less knowledgeable.

However hard I try, I frequently need a correction after I post. In this case the publication should have been dated 1956 and not 1656 - I have edited my previous post. (Perhaps you could re-calibrate your spell checker - it seems to have mis-spelt normally)

The cards are impregnated with some sort of chemical that only smoulders with a bit of a pong in a confined space - saltpetre comes to mind, but I dunno for sure? The focal point is only about an inch from the ball. Some seaside councils used to display them in a prominent position and boast about their resort's sunshine hours.

Spencerphoto wrote in post #18799275
I worked in the scientific instrument industry off and on (mostly on) from 1973 - 2005. The companies I worked for made mass spectrometers. I recall very vividly the day, roughly 2008, when I was walking through the corridors of a university engineering school, past glass cases containing relics of bygone instrumentation, when I saw one of the first instruments I built as a young technician at VG Micromass. At that moment, I became 'old'.
.

Spencer wrote At that moment, I became 'old'

I know that feeling - a good few moons ago - I owned my first car - a 1929 MG 2 seat sport. Roof leaked, rain poured in, overhead camshaft jumped a tooth now and again and the wire wheel hubs seemed to detach from their mountings on a bit of Grande Prix cornering. It cost me £20, I sold it later for £22 and patted myself on the back - I'd made a profit.
Years later I went with my sons to a motor museum. And there it was, fully restored. I can't, and won't try to describe the feeling. Current value???

[GALLERYIMAGE]: embed failed, id not found (image not in gallery any more)

[GALLERYIMAGE]: embed failed, id not found (image not in gallery any more)

[GALLERYIMAGE]: embed failed, id not found (image not in gallery any more)

[GALLERYIMAGE]: embed failed, id not found (image not in gallery any more)

[GALLERYIMAGE]: embed failed, id not found (image not in gallery any more)

[GALLERYIMAGE]: embed failed, id not found (image not in gallery any more)

[GALLERYIMAGE]: embed failed, id not found (image not in gallery any more)

pcs wrote in post #18799799
[GALLERYIMAGE]SRSGi[/G​ALLERYIMAGE]

[GALLERYIMAGE]yg8x1[/G​ALLERYIMAGE]

[GALLERYIMAGE]ELqJA[/G​ALLERYIMAGE]

[GALLERYIMAGE]iytFi[/G​ALLERYIMAGE]

[GALLERYIMAGE]EuiCD[/G​ALLERYIMAGE]

[GALLERYIMAGE]AnB4w[/G​ALLERYIMAGE]

[GALLERYIMAGE]XGwKK[/G​ALLERYIMAGE]

A nice series of shots, your pics seem to get sharper by the day.
Getting better at grooming your store of stuffed birds I suppose?
I don’t want to start WW3 but, I am beginning to think - or imagine - that your 5DIV/100-400 IS II combination is turning out very slightly sharper results than my 7D2. (Note I said very slightly)

ive been seeing a lot of doves around too lately.

can't get too close to them though as they're on the other side of the river.

Ray.Petri wrote in post #18799866
A nice series of shots, your pics seem to get sharper by the day.
Getting better at grooming your store of stuffed birds I suppose?
I don’t want to start WW3 but, I am beginning to think - or imagine - that your 5DIV/100-400 IS II combination is turning out very slightly sharper results than my 7D2. (Note I said very slightly)

Thanks, they are still very much alive.as you can see here: https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=18799953
With either combo you should be able to get very sharp results, if not the problem is behind the camera(at least that's my problem).
You still have the advantage of most pixels on target.

If I wanted to get one of these, which one would you get and why? I am shooting with a crop factory Canon 70D. I'd like autofocus to work even with just 1 focus spot.

Canon EF 1.4X III Telephoto Extender

or

Canon EF 2.0X III Telephoto Extender for Canon