Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM - AKA The Dust Pump

itw wrote in post #16655557
More than once I have read the comment that this is a great lens ...."once you learn how to use it".

You guys care to school me on shortcuts, pitfalls and the ins and outs ?

My use will be birding. Thanx

TW

A few more points, assuming you will be much farther away from your subject than 6ft in most situations for your stated application, infact, more like "near infinity", you can reduce focus hunting by doing the following (especially in low contrast, low light, small subjects in bushes/foliage and similar such situations):

1. By default, setting your lens to the longer min focus distance setting (6.5m - infinity IIRC) and switching to the shorter one only when required.

2. Starting with the focus distance scale near infinity and then start focusing.

Also make appropriate use of the two 2 IS settings and push ISO to get faster shutter speeds in low light.

I will leave this discussion here as this is a pictures thread. If you have more questions about TC, a whole lot of discussion has happened on this forum in various threads. Please feel free to PM if you don't happen to find what you are looking for, will be happy to help.

Just a random shot from the other day...

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …ikhilmarathe/12​249223644/

h14nha wrote in post #16657256
...It is a lens which has its images degraded like no other I've seen when fitted with a filter. Use the lens hood at all times to protect the glass and ditch the filter.

My tuppence-worth on the pros and cons of this lens... which is my best pal!

My copy is about 6 years old. I use it a lot, and I push-pull with no thought for being careful. There is no sign of dust behind the front element - not a single speck.

Due to the kind of things I use it for - such as following shooters, where I am crawling through brambles and gorse, climbing over barbed wire fences with it hanging round my neck, lying down with muddy spaniels' tails swishing across me, I keep a protective filter on. I dare say I might get a little more IQ without it, but the IQ is as good as with my other lenses. Wide open I don't think is a problem.

I also take it out in boats, where there is water and slime and mud and worse sloshing around, so again I keep a protective filter on it. As everyone says, (if hand holding) keeping the shutter speed up is key. I try and keep at least 1/350s in crap light, and 1/500s or faster in good light.

400 mm @ 5.6 1/500s, ISO 160. Protective filter fitted...

Thanks Nikmar and all who responded. Guess I am in the wrong place with this, sorry.
I started a new thread under "EF EF-S Lenses" ("once you learn how to use it" )

Hope to see you there !

TW

nikmar08 wrote in post #16657300
I will leave this discussion here as this is a pictures thread. If you have more questions about TC, a whole lot of discussion has happened on this forum in various threads. Please feel free to PM if you don't happen to find what you are looking for, will be happy to help.

Flowers and Bees ...

Magpie...

Have been shooting mostly jpegs with the 6D and 100-400L.

Frosticles wrote in post #16660472
Freightliner Class 70 no 70003

I like the way the heat haze rising from the locomotive creates a blurring of the near background, so it's rather like the effect a TS lens creates when used to shorten the natural DoF the eye is expecting... so it looks a little like those 'toytown' shots folk do with TS lenses. Does that make sense?

Col

Capn Fishy wrote in post #16659763
=Cap'n Fishy;16659763]Magpie.​..

400mm, 1/200s, f6.3, ISO 8000, cropped.

Col

love it

Some test shots with a new Kenko TelePlus 1.4TC in less than stellar light. All hand held at 1/1000 sec ss. I noticed it has a difficult time focusing in low light with low contrast, nothing new there though as it is well known. BIF was close to if not impossible under the light conditions, and may well be period but again this is well known. Focus was like without the TC when the light was good. I notice very little if any IQ degradation.

50%+ crops

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Wild flower and Bee ...

Sunset

My daughter

Sunset