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	Username   Password FM Forum Rules Canon SLRs, primes, and zooms lenses reviews FM Forums | Canon-mount SLRs | Join Upload & Sell    end    Archive 2012 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored..

dehowie Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #1 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. G'day all A couple of weeks i was lucky enough to pick up a Canon 400/2.8 II when on a trip to Singapore. Its hard enough to even find one even if your in the position to be able to afford one!! Anyway having seen what a 400/2.8 I could do as several friends have used them and i have played with them in the past. So for a visit to Sydney over the last week i put her through her paces at different times and locations pretty much most of which where to see what you could get out of it. To say its a brilliant lens is the understatement of the century. To me its a game changer. Canon has somehow got its weight down to be easily hand holdable which is a miracle in its own right and almost a kilo lighter than the Nikon. The big difference is in the balance its cg is right where you rest the lens on your hand making it so easy to use where the old one was very heavy at the end of the barrell. It is a major engineering achievement. Using it on the Wimberley is a joy...a few pics from my first night out..most of these where shot in the region of 1/13th to 1/25th which when combined with a MK4 means an effective focal length of 550mm...pretty decent so a few images from the first night. These where taken in a stiff wind around 20-25kts making panning difficult. on a subsequent night in calmer conditions around 1/10th is doable consistently. The big surprise however is just how amazing it is with converters. I have never seen anything like this performance from any other super tele. When using a 1.4x or 2x series III converters there is very little image degradation at all. As an example using a 2x Original image Crop unsharpened... Please note the aircraft is around 4000' and a total distance away of around 2km-2.8km. As you can see from the flag on the 767 photo some distortion is evident due to atmospherics. still great performance. What is even more amazing is stacking the TC's here is a shot with the 2x and the 1.4x Original crop The performance of this lens is staggering at worst and utterley insane at best. It is by FAR the best long lens i have ever used. As someone who really didnt think these new Canon series II super's would be than much better i am pretty shocked. Ive posted several time saying i really didnt think they would be THAT much better. Fortunately i was wrong they ARE better and with TCs not just a bit.. The raw files are excellent as to be expected and to me that is not where the difference lies. Its in the use of TC's is where the difference is. The TC performance of these lenses is staggering with very little difference if any with the TC fitted. I cant see any difference in speed and almost none in accuracy once locked. With the 1.4 it is effectively no different from a straight lens in terms of AF performance. With the 2x i've seen an odd hunt trying to lock in poor light but once on its tracks superbly. With the converters stacked i still got a good lock in decent light. With one lens and some TC's you have every focal length covered...400...560 and 800 and all provide stellar results. I really am surprise by how good the lens is with converters providing far less drop off in performance in corners etc than the series I's. Every where i travel now this lens is coming with me it is that good. Feb 07, 2012 at 08:19 AM

dehowie Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #2 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. A few more quick edits from the second shoot where the wind was lighter letting shots down to 1/8th.. Feb 07, 2012 at 10:56 AM

CarlG Online • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #3 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. nice planes Feb 07, 2012 at 11:02 AM

CW100 Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #4 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. dehowie wrote: G'day all To say its a brilliant lens is the understatement of the century. To me its a game changer. It is a major engineering achievement. The performance of this lens is staggering at worst and utterley insane at best. It is by FAR the best long lens i have ever used. Every where i travel now this lens is coming with me it is that good. I'm going to take a wild guess and say you like this lens Feb 07, 2012 at 01:06 PM

Will Patterson Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #5 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. So what's your overall feeling about the lens? Feb 07, 2012 at 02:10 PM

tonyhart Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #6 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. That TC performance is downright ridiculous. Ridiculous. Feb 07, 2012 at 02:11 PM

giulioz Online • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #7 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. What about AF speed with the 2x? Feb 07, 2012 at 03:52 PM

timgangloff Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #8 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. Wow, looks like I may need to keep the 1d4 for a while and put the money towards glass...400 2.8 IS II glass. Very impressive with the TCs. Feb 07, 2012 at 04:51 PM

Gust Offline • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #9 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. did you use the new IS ?? [3?] Feb 07, 2012 at 05:16 PM

dehowie Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #10 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. ThevAF peed with the new 2x is far improved over any of the TCs I've used on my 300,500,600 or 800 in the past. With the 1.4 I can't pick the difference in speed once locked only the time it takes for initial lock.once it's on as quick as a bare lens. The images above where with a series 2 2x converter and the series 3 I picked up s sharper again. With one lens and 2 TCs now you are in a real position to leave everything else at home on trips away. Havn't tried mode 3 IS or played with the new AF mode for video. Feb 08, 2012 at 07:53 AM

Pixel Perfect Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #11 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. Gee these are rather plane shots, not very exciting Feb 08, 2012 at 09:06 AM

skibum5 Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #12 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. yeah, yeah, whatever, but what about when you stack three or more TCs? Feb 08, 2012 at 08:13 PM

gocolts Offline • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #13 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. skibum5 wrote: yeah, yeah, whatever, but what about when you stack three or more TCs? Looking forward to the 1,200mm f/5.6 vs. 400mm f/2.8 II w/stacked TC's comparison. Feb 08, 2012 at 09:38 PM

Pixel Perfect Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #14 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. gocolts wrote: skibum5 wrote: yeah, yeah, whatever, but what about when you stack three or more TCs? Looking forward to the 1,200mm f/5.6 vs. 400mm f/2.8 II w/stacked TC's comparison. Actually given how well my 500 + 1.4x + 2x performs this may well be a fair fight. Feb 08, 2012 at 09:44 PM

gocolts Offline • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #15 · Canon 400/2.8II...im floored.. Pixel Perfect wrote: gocolts wrote: skibum5 wrote: yeah, yeah, whatever, but what about when you stack three or more TCs? Looking forward to the 1,200mm f/5.6 vs. 400mm f/2.8 II w/stacked TC's comparison. Actually given how well my 500 + 1.4x + 2x performs this may well be a fair fight. ....that'd be another good comparison. Does your 500 AF on a 1D body with that combo? I know the body only recognizes the 1.4TC, but wasn't sure how far you could push it. Feb 08, 2012 at 11:01 PM

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