Canon 400mm f5.6 lens - please help, good folks!

[dbellilo]

Hello there!
I'm seriously considering a switch to Canon for one reason: Nikon does not make a 400mm 5.6 lens, and probably never will. They do have an 80-400 lens, but it's notoriously slow to focus, or so I've heard. Anyhow, I'm looking for any comments at all from you folks who have experience with the Canon 400mm 5.6...any information would be very helpful. Anything at all! Please note that my intention is to use the lens WITHOUT a monopod, brace, or tripod. My intention is to use the lens only when there's a good deal of light available, or to crank up the ISO. I understand very well that without IS I'll need a fairly high shutter speed to get sharp images. Do any of you fine folks have any experience using it as a carry-around handheld-only lens?
Thanking you in advance,
David

[surfinbird]

Hi There
I just bought the lens myself and was testing it out over the weekend . I didn't use a monopod , but could see one being helpful . Auto focus is very fast . I am just getting used to it so I don't have much advice . I picked it up at Head Shots on Dundas at Logan . The sales person came down almost to the B&H price . He also said that Canon wasn't shipping and the factory is closed so certain lenses will be out of stock soon . I don't know if this is true or sales pressure .
Rob

[Moira]

I use this lens for all my birding shots.  It was highly recommended to me by many bird photographers.  I have always been advised to stay with the prime lenses (where the pocket book permits!)  I do use it on a tripod and sometimes a brace.  I cannot manage it without either, but most others I know do hand hold or use a brace.  The lens is very sharp and I would recommend it.  It is a great lens for in flight shots.  I have used it on three cameras now - Rebel xTi, 50d and 1d Mark III - excellent lens (imho)  I'm sure you'll be very happy with it should you decide to go that route.

[dbellilo]

Thanks folks, and Moira, I just PM'd you, but you've answered my question, so many thanks. I figure I'm too stubborn to use a brace or a tripod or a monopod, but we'll see about that...I've never shot above 300mm and I'm sure things get pretty shaky once you're up to 400mm...anyhow Rob and Moira, many thanks, both of you!
David

[farmer]

I got a 100-400mm canon lens in January. I've been reasonably happy with it, but do tend  to get a lot more soft focus shots than crisp ones. I haven't use it on a tripod or mono pod. I think a prime lens would give sharper focus photos. See Denis' photos!

[BoboBird]

I have a 70-300L and it is top-notch. But throw a 1.4TC on it to get 420 and pics come out a wee bit soft.

Am seriously considering the 400/5.6 (price range is right) specifically for birds and wildlife.

Any further input?

Thanks.

[denis]

thanks farmer.
david: you cant go wrong with the 400 mm.i almost never use a monopod,or tripod,unless i,m going to be doing static shots under tough lighting.i,ve got the brace that moira mentioned,and i do reasonably well with it.my thing is flight shots,so when i go out i,m in that frame of mind,and always ready for a bird flying by.i pre-meter,and adjust camera settings in manual for the present lighting conditions,so i,m not fumbling with settings if something flies by.one of my friends( nikon shooter) just switched over to 40-d/400mm,because nikon doesn,t have an affordable lens of that focal lenght.nothing wrong with either brand it,s just that canon has a more broader range of birding lenses at our disposal that will fit almost everyone,s budget.
by the way the canon 400 f/5.6 is still the fastest, and lightest lens of this caliber for doing flight shots.

[BoboBird]

Thanks for dropping in with your valuable contribution

I see lots of your posted pics are done in "not so good" light. How do you manage that with a 5.6 ? Flash? Some other technique?

[denis]

i rarely use a flash. have 2 of them but havent incorporated them into my birding.would probably have to buy a better beamer,to extend the flash beam to match the longer lenses.besides flight shots which require great light to maintain high shutter speeds,i usually get away with my brace,and with canon, ISO 800 is not a problem to deal with in PP.the noise cleans up real nice with all the software available out there.
so with great light,and ready for flight shots,my numbers would be:
ISO 400 F/8 and a shutter speed of 1/1600 to 1/2000 sec.
some adjustments would be made depending on what bird: white,black,etc....and speed of the bird ie duck,tern,etc...
if i need to maintain shutter speed for a particular bird,or the light deteriorates i will sacrifice depth of field,or crank the ISO up.
that,s pretty much it in a nutshell.sorry for the long winded post.

[BoboBird]

Not at all long-winded. Actually a bit short for me

Actually very very useful for a rookie like me. My BIFs are terrible.

I used the 430EX II for the first time last week and found that on a normal day all we really need is just that little bit of additional light for fill-in. I set the flash to +1 power and enabled the zoom function (though that only goes to 105mm) but with the added strength of the output I could just get that hint of additional light needed at distances up to about 30-40 feet. Still need to do a lot of learning but the initial results while not great seemed encouraging.

"Brace" has been mentioned a few times - what is that ?

[denis]

i have a 580 EX11,and sure fill light is nice,but you usually get double catch lights,which can be a pain to remove.i also have a ring light for my macro lens which i love as i can use any DOF f/16 to f/22 on bugs,and still maintain a speed of 1/250 sec,hand held.
there are a few versions of braces.mine is made by a guy in oshawa.it,s similar to a gunstock,which allows the brace to rest inside your shoulder,while you hold the camera.it uses a manfrotto system to attach to the lens tripod collar.

[BoboBird]

Thanks again denis, appreciate the furthering of my limited photographic knowledge.

Catch lights yes that is a distinct possibility but can be easily removed with the tools in Photoshop.

Brace - that would be a nice addition to the arsenal for sure. I already complain about the weight (550D + 70-300L). A 400 is going to make it heavier not to mention sometimes attaching a flash to that. On top I am looking to get the 7D later in the year. I hate weight so something like this could actually help displace some of that onto the shoulder.

[denis]

yes a bit heavier,but nothing compared to me last year. i was carrying a canon 500 mm f/4 prime around everywhere i went.
sometimes i would carry the tripod also,with gimball head.it weighed about 22,or 25 lbs. total with camera,and lens.
so the 7-d/400 combo is a lightweight.i use a blackrapid rapidfire RS7 strap,and that makes things much easier.

[BoboBird]

Wow.

But that is nothing.

I met this Chinese guy in HK a month or so ago. Shoots only birds and wildlife and goes out at least once a day for his fix. If the fancy hits him he will travel around for birds he has never shot before. Last year he was in Japan at the height of winter to get eagles.

He carries around a 1DMkIV and a 800mm plus whatever accessories he needs. He is 80 years old!

Even gave me an autographed print -

[denis]

yes i have a few friends that carry the same combo.20 thousand bucks!
but they are not 80 years old! that is impressive.
by the way who,s shot is this?