Revup67's reviews

  • Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Great Wildlife lens, economical, very sharp, built in lens hood, limiter, lightweight 400
    Lack of IS (obecjtionable), not weather or dust resistant

    I use this lens at least 3 times a week. 95% of the time hand held and for hours on end with a Canon 5D Mk III or Canon 7D. I hike with this lens quite a bit. I'm 54 years old and have no issues hauling this around all day. My primary use of the lens is for birding but sometimes other wildlife such as fox, rabbits, coyotes, etc. It is important to note that you must be able to exploit the features of your camera in order to get this lens to work optimumly. By that I mean knowing ISO, AI Servo, and shutter speed. I did take a while for me (mostly birds) to find what worked best. For the Canon 5D Mark III with this 400mm..I'm almost always on ISO Auto unless I know there's sufficient light in almost all scenarios then I might set it to 400 or slightly less but a static setting. if there's going to be shaded areas, then Auto ISO it is as its one less thing to worry about. Rarely do I go below 800 on shutter but 1250-1600 is my norm and almost always at 5.6 for max light. The Exposure depending on lighting ranges between -1/3 with a mostly white birds and +2.5 if a subject is backlit. I never use a UV filter. For AI Servo, the case settings I use are 2,5 and 6 depending on the bird. The lens was calibrated with Reikal's software so it is spot on. The tripod foot is off 95% of the time to reduce weight and therefore you are working with an unobstructed barrel. I have found this lens sometimes has a hard time finding the subject if a bird is off in the distance on a branch with minimal contrast. MF in this scenario is a must so get to know this lens without having to look at it is a plus as every second counts with wildlife. Take lots of shots as there will be about 30%-50% throw aways. I bought this lens over the 100-400 as when using the latter I was always on that range, 400mm. I've gotten some amazing shots in the two years I've owned the lens they can be seen here on flickr - http://www.flickr.com/revup67

    reviewed June 8th, 2013 (purchased for $1,150)