Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM Lens

Product Information

Above: Heading out to the corner at the maximum f5.6 aperture shows the lens essentially maintaining this performance with only the very slightest hint of softness or fringing if you’re really pixel-peeping. I’d be happy using it wide-open at 100mm though which is good news since the maximum aperture of f5.6 isn’t exactly bright to start with. Here’s the same image taken at f8 and now at f11 to show there’s little to be gained by closing the aperture. Above: Ok so here’s my side-on test view of Brighton Pier from about 200m away with the camera angled so that details run into the corners. I prefer photographing distant subjects under daylight to test a lens rather than using a chart at close range, although I also have portrait and macro tests coming up in a moment. The lens has a few different control surfaces. The manual focus ring sits prominently just ahead of the collar and is easy enough to find thanks to its size (broader than an inch) and ridged, rubber finish. The manual focus ring has a nonlinear response, meaning the focus drives slowly when you move the ring gradually and vice versa. (Credit: Jim Fisher) These are all shot hand-held as BASIC ★ JPGs; no tripods, NORMAL or FINE JPGs or RAW files were used or needed.

Above: That said, if you are able to frame your subject at 400mm, the lens can maintain the same focusing distance resulting in much larger bokeh balls as seen here, even at the maximum aperture of f8. They’re still far from perfect, but prove you can achieve some dramatic blurring if you’re careful how you shoot. The following 100% crops for each focal length show the Nikon Z 400mm f2.8 TC VR S from wide open down to f8/f11 compared to the Nikon Z 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 VR S + Z TC-1.4x up to 560mm.The zoom lens was shot in JPG normal with standard picture control which applies a stronger sharpening. It’s not my preferred settings but it will have to do for this comparison. This becomes more problematic when an optically-stabilized lens such as this does not feature a Vibration Reduction mode switch to toggle between Normal, Sport, and Off. Adding insult to injury, you can’t set one of the custom lens buttons to deal with this shortcoming (or any custom button on the camera itself). Since Normal VR mode acts quite different than Sport in that the viewfinder image and focus points will jump when the shutter is pressed, it’s not always preferable to have maximum compensation and I’m switching between modes a lot depending on my circumstance. A 600mm lens is perfect if you’re looking to take long-distance shots or capture wildlife in their natural habitat. Image quality and autofocus speed are impressive. Optional extras include a USB Tap-in Console for applying autofocus fine-tuning and firmware updates, and a tripod mount ring. Even so, at just over a kilogram, the Tamron is only about two-thirds the weight of Nikon’s 80-400mm lens and doesn’t really need a tripod mounting ring.

Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM Build and Handling

Whether you’re shooting photos or videos, the Sony 400mm F2.8 Wildlife Lens will help you capture amazing wildlife footage that you’ll be proud to share with others.

If this 1,200×900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a huge 27½×41¼″ (70×105 cm) at this same high magnification. Well, this Mark II version is extensively redesigned from its predecessor, ditching the questionable trombone-style push-pull zoom mechanism in favour of a more conventional twist ring. More importantly though, the optical design has been updated for greater sharpness, which is impressive throughout the zoom range. In our lab tests we found a little drop-off towards the outer end of the zoom, but it was still very impressive. If you don't have this card, if the card doesn't say "VALID IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES" or the serial number on the card doesn't match the one on your camera lens exactly, you got ripped off with a gray market version from another country. All legitimate Nikon lenses come with printed warranty cards, even if you prefer to register online. (The serial number on the outside of the box doesn't have to match, but if it doesn't it means you bought from a shady dealer who took lenses out of boxes and then resold these used lenses as new.) From the charts both 400mm f2.8 lenses show extremely high overall contrast even when used with a 1.4x teleconverter. But looking closely at the resolution of finer details the new Z 400mm f2.8 TC VR S seems to show a little less contrast than its predecessor. The Nikon Z 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 VR S does not look too bad in this comparison at 400mm. But keep in mind that it is shown here at f5.6. Above: This was taken at 100mm using the maximum f5.6 aperture on the EOS R5, and taking a close look in the middle shows a decent level of detail from the start. Closing the aperture to f8 or f11 made little to no difference to my results at 100mm in the middle.The 600 also has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity whereas these features are not available on the 400 model. Unlike its bigger brother, the Nikkor Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S does not have an integrated 1.4x teleconverter, but it is compatible with the Nikon Z TC-1.4x and TC-2.0x Z teleconverters, sold separately, which can extend its focal length to 560mm or 800mm respectively.