400 5.6 L Question

Just a quickie...I understand the 400 5.6L focuses fast, which mine does, but it is audible, almost noisy, which my other USM's aren't. Is this typical?
Gotta give it a good workout this weekend, the jury's still out on my copy.
Thanks!

Mine's no noisier than my other L's...

Thanks for the reply Kenny. I'll give it a few weeks to see if it smoothes out and if not then I'll send her in. SIde by side with the 24-70 it is noticeably louder with a little squeak in it too. Seems not to hurt AF speed though, although dare I say I think my 100-400 was faster?

Listen to even the 24-70L. Point it in the dark, and listen to the focus go. You can hear it, but not bad, and it's not nearly as fast as the 400.

Now listen to the 400. When you make that focus ring go times faster, it'll make times as much noise.

In your situation, if the lens is still under warranty I wouldn't wait weeks. That squeak you describe is not normal. None of my USM lenses make any noise focusing. My friend has the 400mm f 5.6L lens and his doesn't make noise. Sounds to me like something has lost lubrication. I'd send it in now even if the lens isn't under warranty to avoid a possible big bill later if the lens does fail.

No, it shouldn't squeak. It just makes a somewhat audible "whoosh" noise while it's focusing.

It should sound smooth, audible but smooth. Anything much different and it could be a warning of trouble to come.

Ronald S. Jr. wrote in post #3453408
Listen to even the 24-70L. Point it in the dark, and listen to the focus go. You can hear it, but not bad, and it's not nearly as fast as the 400.

Now listen to the 400. When you make that focus ring go times faster, it'll make times as much noise.

Yeah the brick's not completely silent, but mine is more quiet than my 400mm. I don't think the 400 really focuses that much quicker. There's really no noticeable difference to me.

oldsquawk wrote in post #3453521
In your situation, if the lens is still under warranty I wouldn't wait weeks. That squeak you describe is not normal. None of my USM lenses make any noise focusing. My friend has the 400mm f 5.6L lens and his doesn't make noise. Sounds to me like something has lost lubrication. I'd send it in now even if the lens isn't under warranty to avoid a possible big bill later if the lens does fail.

Ronald S. Jr. wrote in post #3453558
No, it shouldn't squeak. It just makes a somewhat audible "whoosh" noise while it's focusing.

foxbat wrote in post #3453612
It should sound smooth, audible but smooth. Anything much different and it could be a warning of trouble to come.

I just got it yesterday, I was going to wait through the weekend to decide to send it back for exchange/something else or send it to Canon for calibration.
It's certainly not the stealthy woosh that the brick is when focusing though...

With the focus limiter on, the 400 should AF extremely fast. Of course you'll have to test it outside (or at least through a window) to get that much room

timbop wrote in post #3457501
With the focus limiter on, the 400 should AF extremely fast. Of course you'll have to test it outside (or at least through a window) to get that much room

Agreed! It's not slow by any means, but I was expecting more based on prior experience with the 1-4 and it's reputation...

well, I am horrible at tracking birds in flight, and when I drift off and back onto a bird the 400 reacquires focus in an almost imperceptable amount of time with the limiter set.

Yeah, the 400 has that nice "instant AF"

Last time I had the 400L, I had a lot of fun. My new one is currently "out for delivery", so I'm hoping to have my hands on it in the next couple hours.

There is a substantial difference with the limiter set, that's quick. The squeak is gone too. It's such crappy weather here today and yesterday it's tough to see how well it's performing on an IQ level. It doesn't seem quite "prime" IQ level but it's a teeny bit better than my calibrated 1-4 was.

Mine was also noisey the first week or two i had it. It's down to the quiet standard set by my other Canon lenses.

I need to update my lense list

Ya I got out with it today and it's the deal. Great lens for the money! Having the focus limiter set really speeds up the AF, but I think that would help with most any lens