Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens USA

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

After receiving the lens I did a series of shots with and without the 1.4 III Extender. There was very little difference (if any) in autofocus speed. The sharpness using the the 1.4x III on this lens was superb. I used a bird shot for my testing. Just an incredible lens. The Lens is heavy i use a Really Right Stuff Tripod with a RRS gimble head. Superb combination.

I can't say enough about the sharpness of this Lens

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

I bought this lens to capture wildlife and nature.
It exceeded my expectations regarding it's image quality and performance.
Image quality, sharpness, and lightweight are some awesome features.

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

This lens is off the charts from a capability and results perspective. I'm accustomed to a 20% usability ratio when photographing sports. The keep ratio is much, much higher with this monster. Tack sharp, fast – it's a dream. I believe it was the great philosopher Ferris Bueller who once said, "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

Perfect in every respect.

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

I really, really would like to give this lens 5 stars. It is incredibly sharp as is or with a 1.4x or 2x teleconverter. I love everything about this lens with one exception: My experience using this lens with the Canon 2x III teleconverter is too slow for photographing BIF (birds-in-flight).

I currently own the Canon 600mm, f/4 IS lens and with a 1.4x teleconverter at 840mm f/5.6 it's autofocus is really fast.

With the 400mm, f/2.8 IS II lens and a 2.x teleconverter at 800mm f/5.6 it's much slower at hunting for autofocus compared to the 600mm @ f/5.6.

Please note: Photographing BIF is probably the most demanding form of wildlife photography. Using this lens for sports or other wildlife will undoubtedly perform stellar even with a slower autofocus @ 800mm.

For BIF, it will work but you will miss shots if you lose focus on the moving bird...It will take the lens a while to re-establish focus on the bird instead of the background.

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

This is amazing lens. Output is great, no matter, if you mount pixel packed APS-C, fullframe body or combine it with extenders. Big tripod and stable gimbal head is a must for this lens. Lens cap is much better than previous generation of lenses. Weight with hood, cap and lenscoat: 4.5kg Even when used with extender (iii generation), output is perfect. For sample pictures with extenders, you can see examples in my review of extenders (it's written in Slovak, but you don't have to understand to look at pictures). http://www.ephoto.sk/fototechnika/recenzie/objektivy/telekonvertory-canon--iii-generacia/

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

Love the lens! The change they made to the "support ring" is fantastic, the weight reduction is unbelievable... the new image stabilization setting #3 is GREAT!... Just all around, the improvements do make this lens much better. Yeah, if the price was less it would be great but to get the images this lens can grab... I can't comment if the images at the pixel level if this lens is better than the previous one... I don't really care, the other features that this lens has far outweigh even considering buying an older version for me.

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

When you're looking at a $11k lens you're really asking yourself if plunking down that amount of coin is going to be worth it....

Simple answer, yes. The lens "functionality" is far superior to the previous model. Both the new 300 & 400 offer improvements that really do make a difference... and it's the little things that make the difference. The new collar is much easier to deal with. The weight is certainly noticeable. The new image stabilized "3" setting really does help... I've traditionally been one to turn off IS because I didn't like how it worked... both the 300 & 400 are set to the new "3" setting.

As far as image quality... compared to the old... I'm not a great judge. I borrowed the old 300 & 400 from CPS 3 times each... all are very nice... but the features of the new ones, in my mind, really did make it worth waiting and I'm very glad I did wait. Yea, it hurts, the extra $$ but I'm feeling like they're very much worth what I've paid.

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

As a amateur/semi-pro I couldn't wait for this lens for shooting my kids in sports (mainly football and horses). This lens produces incredible images. I was using my 70-200/2.8 IS II (+ TC when needed), and just got this lens...as good, if not better, than the 70-200 without the TC, only MUCH closer. Can't wait to try it out with my 1.4x and 2x TC's to see how much more reach I can get for wildlife photography. Only downside is the size, which draws A LOT of attention, and it's weight making it a pain to move up and down the football sideline (but with it's reach, I didn't have to move nearly as much as I used to).

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

I'm a Sports Photographer in Brazil. I Usually work at soccer games. I came from 300 2.8, and I fell the great difference.

Comments about Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Lens:

I sold the prior version to try to afford this one, and the investment is worth it. It's tack sharp from f/4 and largely replicates Canon's MTF curves. It hangs in there before diffraction sets in just beyond f/11. What makes this lens worth it, moreover, is how well it works with both the 1.4X III and 2X III TC's. On top of weighing quite a bit less than the earlier version, this one's really sharp at 560mm, 800mm, and 1280mm (7D with 2X III TC). Unbelievable they can sell such a sweet lens in production.