Too high expectations? 100-400mm

Hi

I use my EOS 7d camera for mainly aircraft/air show photography.

When using my 100-400mm f5.6 L IS I can never seem to get a razor sharp image as often I see with other photographers who were at the same show in roughly the same position.

I nearly always use the 400mm setting.

I attach a lens test shot I took this afternoon, are these the results you would expect from such a lens? Or is it just my incompetence?

Does anyone have any advice on using the Image Stabiliser for such situations as fast moving aircraft at distance?

Thanks for looking.

Philip L Jackson

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sorry I am of no help for your questions however I will follow this thread closely since I have the 7D and am considering the 100-400 for birding and horse show jumping

Do you have any real shot?

I understand that you want to pixel peep a bit with your new lens, but it doesn't look all that bad to me.

If you're almost always at 400mm, the 400mm f/5.6 prime might suit you better. IS doesn't help if the subject is moving. Raise your ISO to keep your shutter speeds up.

philipljackson wrote in post #10516954
Hi
Does anyone have any advice on using the Image Stabiliser for such situations as fast moving aircraft at distance?

If you are panning moving aircraft then put the IS in mode 2.

That test shot appears to be out of focus but tiny 1024 150K images are not really useful. How did you focus it? The Exif data is almost all missing so I can't tell anything about how you focused, what points etc.

My airshot shots with that lens are awesome even with a 1.4x. Have you tried to micro focus adjust it at 400mm? Still under warranty? If so I'd send it in though the 7D seems to cause many people grief in learning the focusing system so it could be you.

krb wrote in post #10517345
If you are panning moving aircraft then put the IS in mode 2.

Mode 2 is only for fast pans like the flyby at close distance. From far away the plane barely seems to move and mode 1 is actually better. Mode 2 is more meant for race cars IMO.

I'll never understand the infatuation 7D owners have with test targets.

Post up some real images please.

Hi

Thanks for everyone's replies.

The following link is to a web site I am using for comparison using the Hawk picture below

http://www.fast-air.co.uk …ngton-Air-Show-100703.php

Re the comment "I'll never understand the infatuation 7D owners have with test targets". The reason why I posted a test photograph is that in my ignorance I thought that this was the best way to illustrate the issue.

Regards

Philip L Jackson

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Switch IS off, set ISO for a good shutter speed (i.e. 1/800s - assuming you're not going for prop blur) and you'll probably find you get better results. I'm assuming you're making the common mistake of expecting miracles from IS.

edit: You posted just before me! That image looks fine to me.

The images on your site look very, very good.

I really don't see an issue at all.

Hi Jay

Thanks for your reply

I perhaps did not explain myself clearly but the photo attached is mine and I was using the linked web site as a basis for comparison as to what had been achieved by others. If only mine were as good as the web site I would be very happy.

Regards

PLJ

Ah, gotcha...

Well then, as others have said, let's see a few more of yours for comparison sake.

philipljackson wrote in post #10517495
Re the comment "I'll never understand the infatuation 7D owners have with test targets". The reason why I posted a test photograph is that in my ignorance I thought that this was the best way to illustrate the issue.

Regards

Philip L Jackson

Some early 7D's had serious Servo focus errors--would not focus on moving objects--but had no problems with a stationary target.

Yours looks good to go--and welcome to the neighborhood,

Again your picture is small and has little or no Exif info so it is useless for analysis. Please upload a full res picture with full Exif data intact to a photo sharing site or something so we can really take a look at what you're doing.