Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens Review

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.

Canon Telephoto L Zoom Lens Comparison

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 II adds 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.

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens Sample Pictures ...

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