Photography BLOG

The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM
Lens has an excellent focal length range that includes the longest focal
length found in a Canon zoom lens. This long focal length and focal length range
combine with very good image and build quality to make the 100-400 one of the
most popular serious wildlife and sports lenses Canon sells.

To say that the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens is a member of the
Canon L Series quickly says a lot about this lens. Weighing 3 lb (1,380g) and
measuring 3.6″ x 7.4″ (92.0 x 189.0)(DxL retracted), the 100-400 is solidly
built and feels like it.

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.

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.

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. Keep in mind that the version of IS
on this lens needs to be turned off when tripod-mounted. Not doing so may cause
the image stabilizer to act erratically. You can estimate IS on this lens to
help with 2 stops or so of shutter speed handholdability.

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 f-stop. My 100-400 is sharp wide open when the wide open aperture becomes
f/5.6 (250mm or so) and is very sharp wide open at 400mm. Full frame corners are
sharp wide open at all focal lengths with 200mm being slightly soft. Corners
show slight improvement at a one f-stop narrower aperture. Considering the focal
length range of this lens, the sharpness delivered is simply excellent.

The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens’ color and contrast are
excellent. An 8-blade aperture helps with bokeh (foreground/background blur
quality). Distortion ranges from mild barrel at 100mm to minor pincushion from
135-200mm to mild pincushion from 300-400mm. CA (Chromatic Aberration) is well
controlled. Exposures are in line with my expectations. Flare has not been an
issue for me with this lens.

The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens’ biggest negative to me
personally is the strong vignetting noticeable toward the long end of the zoom
range on a full frame body. At 400mm f/5.6, slight vignetting is even noticeable
on a 1.6x FOVCF body. This exception aside, vignetting is very well controlled.

Equipped with Ring USM, the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens focuses
very fast, quietly – and possibly most importantly – accurately. FTM (Full Time
Manual) focus is enabled. The manual focus ring has a small amount of play in
it. The 100-400 obviously extends with focal length increase, but less obvious
from the picture below is that it is an internally focusing lens – it does not
change lengths or rotate an attached filter.

The above picture shows the Canon EF
70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens (left) compared to the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
L IS USM Lens extended and retracted along with their included-in-the-box lens
hoods. Both lenses have Wimberley P20 Lens Plates mounted on them.

The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens is shipped with an ET-83C Lens
Hood as mentioned above. A nice Canon LZ1324 padded case is also included.
Filter size is the common-to-Canon-L-zoom-lens 77mm. This lens is not
weather-sealed.

With a minimum focus distance of 5.9′ (1.8m), the 100-400 turns in a mediocre
.2x maximum magnification. Adding extension tubes to a long focal length lens
does not make a great difference in maximum magnification. In this case, the
12mm and 25mm tubes respectively take maximum magnification to .19x (lower) and
.35x. No, 70mm is not a long focal length – but the maximum native magnification
is achieved at 400mm – which is a long focal length. Better close-up results are
had with a Canon 500D Close-up Lens.

Compatibility with the Canon Extender EF 1.4x II and Canon Extender EF 2x IIadds
to the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens’ already-high versatility.
Canon’s DSLR bodies retain autofocus with lenses as narrow as f/5.6 (1-Series
bodies will AF with f/8 lenses with the center focus point-only). With the 1.4x
attached, the 100-400 exceeds this aperture opening AF requirement – only
1-series bodies retain autofocus. Some use pin-taping tricks to make the camera
AF (it is very slow – even on a 1-Series body), but I’ll the implications of
this method up to you to determine. Added barrel distortion, CA and a dark
viewfinder are additional 1.4x downsides. With the 2x extender attached, the
viewfinder is very dark and autofocus is not supported by any Canon bodies. The
resulting focal length range of 200-800mm is definitely eye-catching, but … I
seldom use extenders with my 100-400 L …

… But I use my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens a lot. The range of
uses for this lens are huge …

The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens may be the perfect Canon Zoo
Lens. The 100-400 is also popular at air shows.

There is a large number of in-the-field wildlife being captured with the
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens. 400mm is long enough to reach some
of the smaller and more distant critters (including birds) – especially on a
high FOVCF camera.

The Canon 100-400 L is often the lens I grab when a beautiful sunset is
occurring. There is not much time to capture the spectacle of a setting sun -
the 100-400mm focal length range can grab a wide variety of framed shots in a
short amount of time.

The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens’ wide focal length range makes it
an excellent landscape lens. Landscape photography generally doesn’t
require a fast lens. The wide zoom range on the 100-400 allows widely varied
captures of a single scene.

The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens’ focal length range would make it
the perfect sports lens if it were not for the relatively-slow-for-sports
f/4.5-f/5.6 aperture. As it is, the 100-400 works great for sports photography
in decent light. You can work a wide range of distances with a single lens. This
is a popular watersports lens – IS helps settle a bumpy boat ride.

There are many portraits lenses – and the 100-400 works well for this as
well. The longer focal lengths provided by this lens make it good for
medium-to-very-tight portraits. With this lens, it is easy to capture candid
shots of people from longer distances.

The wide focal length range and long max focal length make the Canon EF
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens a highly versatile and a very
popular lens. This is one of the lenses I most-frequently recommend.