Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L
Introduction:
You're reading this as you have a need for something with this reach for your photography. If you have an interest in Wildlife, Sport or Astrophotography, this could be the lens for you.
In production since 1993, it was for 30 years one of Canon's top flight "L" series lenses. With an EF mount it fits directly to all Canon DSLR bodies and all R mount bodies with an adaptor. It has always been extensively used by professionals and keen amateurs alike.
Compact, solid and lightweight, this super telephoto lens is driven by Canon's USM technology. With Super UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) glass lens elements, colour refraction is virtually eliminated to produce extremely sharp, high-contrast imaging with very good colour accuracy.
It includes a very solid built-in slide out lens hood with locking mechanism.
Full-time manual focusing with selectable 3.5 to ထ / 8.5m to ထ for faster initial point at longer distances.
This is for specific fields of photography and you'll have many expectations, not all of which you'll likely be clear of before you start out; read on for a balanced account of what you should look out for when buying a Telephoto lens based upon this particular model.
The first things to be clear on are:
What is this lens for
What is this lens good at
What are the relative weaknesses of this lens
If you like lots of specifications, click this link - Canon 5Ds full specifications
Very different examples. The Kestrel is high and wings beating fast.
The Heron much slower but also a distant reaction shot.
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Original Canon White
Hood retracted and Canon tripod foot.
With neoprene jacket
Hood extended and Haoge tripod foot.
Wildlife:
Wildlife is a very broad subject, with a huge number of variables, but what lens focal length do you need? The basic answer is more or less always "as long as possible", generally wild animals and birds are nervous and would prefer we're not there.
Catagories include small, fast moving to larger and elusive, either way having a lens which is too long is rarely an issue and very rarely arises.
Small birds will allow you to get reasonably close and though easily startled you can find ways to carefully close the gap. However as they are small you are going to be cropping the final images perhaps 95% of the time.
Larger birds and larger mammals are more difficult to get close to, they keep a greater distance so are still relatively small in the viewfinder. Getting closer involves covering more distance, the net result is they are just as small in the viewfinder so you'll be cropping a lot anyway.
Lens Optical Quality:
You're going to be spending a lot of time and usually money to get your wildlife photos, do not get a lens of poor quality, no matter how much you save, you will literally be wasting time and money. A lens of limited quality may be acceptable for travel photos or just creating memories, but you are not going to use this for wildlife. You'll have spent many hours walking around, after lots of preparation, then looking at the final results you see poor quality images, not sharp, not in focus, not useable.
There is always lots of information, advertisments and "paid for" reviews out there. By all means look at them for information, they are a good source; but be wary of just accepting the conclusion unless it was a well rounded review.
There aren't bargains out there on a like for like basis the only good deals can be when buying secondhand, after weighing up the risks.
Image quality is of absolute importance, you should set your budget carefully around your needs, if only for social media, where people are looking on a phone screen or Instagram, where file size is limited anyway, perhaps a medium quality zoom will do. But, as is normally the case, you want to look at them on a larger screen, & will be cropping to show the subject, your quality is going to want to step up. If the lens can't do it, you can't!
The lens quality of course is not limited to the centre sharpness but also the "Bokeh", or "out of focus highlights".
This Stonechat image is fairly heavily cropped from the original shot. Though cropped hard the details are good; sharpness, contrast and colour quality is high, also the bokeh is smooth, round and consistent.
The main subject must be sharp, but a quality image includes the background to complete.
This 400mm lens packs in high image quality, whilst being comfortable to carry and handhold. It does this without compromising on rugged durability and reliability.
Handling, Carrying, (incl. 600 vs 400):
Most often, the subjects are going to pop up without warning; you need to be ready and not changing lenses etc. so your long telephoto is going to be attached to the camera and not tucked away comfortably in a back pack. The various clips and long lens belt bags are not good for these. For clips the combination is too heavy, and the bags are bulky in their own right; the extra movement or time lost to get to it can make the difference also.
You need camera settings ready for the environment and lighting conditions you're in, if it's in a bag you'll not be updating settings as you go, not shooting straight away. When out and about the size and weight needs to be optimised for handling. Too bulky and it will be excersize just to get it there. Too heavy and you'll either not have brought it with you or it could be tiring.
It is possible to hand hold a 600mm lens, but you'll find the conditions must be good enough to allow a high enough shutter speed, when lighting and wind are acceptable, so remember you'd be carrying a tripod. The tripod doesn't usually stay permanently attached to the camera, so you'll be settling down in one place. Your travel tripod is no good here, you'll have a decent tripod with the size and weight to be stable.
The Canon 400mm f/5.6 hits the sweet spot for me, not heavy, not bulky, comfortably hand holdable for a while and easy to quickly spin around to target the subject.
Decision Options:
This wasn't the first 400mm lens I bought, the first was a good brand 100-400mm f/6.3 zoom. Initial impression good but with a quality issue, only half of the image in sharp focus, it was replaced but still similar issues - time up!
My decision was now:
a) Canon EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS II:
Pros:
• Flexibility of 100 to 400mm range.
• IS "Image Stabilisation".
• Good image quality.
Cons:
• Much higher cost.
• Heavier and bulkier.
• Barrel extends so dust ingress".
b) Sigma / Tamron150-600mm f/5.6-6.3:
Pros:
• Flexibility of 150-600mm range.
• IS "Image Stabilisation".
• Good image quality.
Cons:
• Much higher cost
• Much larger and heavier
• Barrel extends so dust ingress.
c) Canon 400mm f/5.6 L:
Pros:
• Good affordable price.
• Relatively small and lightweight.
• Very robust & built-in hood.
Cons:
• Only 400mm.
• No Image Stabilisation.
Final Decision
Revisiting the criteria:
Focal Length:
Looking at all the images taken with the ill-fated100-400, nearly all, (well over 95%), were at 400mm, this made sense but I hadn't prioritised this as much until then. So the shorter zoom range was not important!
The 600mm reach was of interest and this was really the only decision point, in the end the cost and bulk made the decision, cropped images are still excellent.
Image quality:
Based upon testing physically in the shop these were very difficult to split, all three looked to be very good, (the 150-600 softer at the edges but similar in the centre). The Canon 400mm is ahead from a cost/quality perspective by quite a margin.
Both Canon's and Sigma's zooms have Image Stabilisation, this was the main concern for the 400mm. In low light IS will clearly have advantages, but only when the shutter speed is high enough to freeze the subject anyway, with my main subjects being birds I need a minimum 1/1000 most of the time to freeze their movements, so IS is of little benefit. For larger subjects this would rarely be in low light, none the less IS is a win for the zooms.
Design and Build Quality:
The design of all three is very good, these are high end competitors, but the 400mm with it's very strong built-in lens hood and as one piece, it feels more robust than the zooms.
Handling:
The 400mm is smaller and lighter, easily ahead for portability. If it's comfortable to carry, you'll use it, if it's left at home or in the car you won't, its that simple.
Conclusion:
After what is now several years of use, I can in complete honesty say I don't have any regrets, I am completely satisfied with my choice.
There are no instances I can recall when a shorter length would have been useful or when the extra reach of 600mm would have outweighed the bulk and weight to carry. The times 600mm would have been useful were rare and then not clear without a tripod.
The 400mm prime has easily survived different body choices, being small enough for light setups and with no drawbacks when matched with a Canon 5Ds 50.6Mp sensor.
Not having Image Stabilisation was a question point when I bought this lens, now when used on an R mount body, the in-body image stabilisation takes care of this and on the fastest bodies such as the R7, this is still one of the best lenses available.
Real World miscellaneous:
There are two things we have done to improve the real-world usability of this lens, (would have been done to the other Canon also).
Having a big white lens is not what you want, it is a dissadvantage. Canon say the reason is to reduce heat build-up in sunlight. I'm pretty sure it is marketting and perceived status. In public you want to blend in not stand out, to wildlife you want to be as conceiled as possible, minimising presence.
There are a few companies who produce high quality fabric backed neoprene sleeves for lenses, they have a range of colours and patterns to suit different environments and are soft & resilient. Perfect lens cases offering protection from scratches - and absorbing shocks. They they protect from heat / cold and take up zero space.
The tripod mounting ring included with the lens has only 1/4" / 3/8" threaded holes and as above is white. If like us you use arca-swiss mounts for everything, this is a pain & adding a plate makes it taller.
The "upgrade" to an after-market alternative is a very good solution. We have the "Haoge LMR-C347" as it uses the best clamping system, (same as the original), has arca-swiss by default, and has a facility to add a strap. It is also BLACK, Canon please listen! 100% solution!
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Footnote:
This will be expanded upon from time to time, there is a lot more practical information we'd like to share and guides for more general use.
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