Review of Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM [1080p]

L-series super telephoto zoom lens equipped with an Image Stabilizer. The fluorite and Super UD-glass elements largely eliminate secondary spectrum. The floating system also ensures high picture quality at all focal lengths. The Image Stabilizer has two modes and it is compatible with Extenders 1.4x II and 2x II.

The push/pull zoom mechanism is possibly the most noticeable physical feature of this lens. While it works smoothly, it took me some time to get used to it. There is a ring on the back of the manual focus ring that adjusts the tension on the zoom part of the lens. That is a nice feature, but I find myself constantly adjusting the tension to get it just right for the moment. The ring also gets in the way of the manual focus ring - when making a manual focus adjustment, I often inadvertently change the zoom friction ring as well. Set the zoom friction too light and the lens extends by itself when pointed downward - fast and hard if set really loose. Set the friction too tight and zooming becomes difficult. So, it works as it is supposed to. Some prefer the push/pull design.

One of my favorite lens features found on the 100-400 is image stabilization. The image stabilizer helps significantly when handholding in low light - that is as long as you have a still subject. While the 100-400 L's IS system will detect a tripod and automatically disable itself, turning off IS when using a tripod will save a little battery life and cause the IS mechanism to be locked in a centered position. You can estimate IS on this lens to help with 2 stops or so of shutter speed handholdability.

Some may consider the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens to be a slow (aperture) lens. Starting at f/4.5, the 100-400 goes to f/5 around 130mm and finally to f/5.6 at approximately 250mm. A 100mm f4.5 lens is slow, but a 400mm f5.6 is not too bad (relatively speaking). Actually, to buy a faster 400mm lens will cost you a significant additional amount of money.

The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens is slightly soft in the center wide open at the shorter focal lengths, but gets very sharp when stopped down one stop. When the wide open aperture becomes f/5.6 at 259mm, center of the frame sharpness becomes good and is very sharp wide open at 400mm. Full frame corners are sharp wide open at all focal lengths with the long end suffering a bit from CA. Considering the focal length range of this lens, the sharpness delivered is simply excellent.


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