Extremely sharp, very versatile, IS is great, Aautofocus is quiet and fast plus accurate.

slow lens at 400mm (5.6)

Exceptional value for the versatility of this lens. May become my standard lens for Africa. Sure is handy for most everything I shoot. There are cheaper lenses out there but this one is rock solid and critically sharp. If you are selling your photos, this lens is a must. Great for sports, wildlife and scenics.

Customer Service

Have not used them at all.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 200-400
Canon 80-200 2.8L

Has an incredible range, I love it for portrait (some don't), and the IS works perfectly!

Is really heavy, personally I don't like the push-pull zoom. The hood is a bit cheapy.

Great lens, a bit too heavy (but I'm strong). I still have some problems with the push-pull sometimes. Makes great, sharp pictures.

Customer Service

Perfect.

Similar Products Used:

70-200mm/2.8 L
20mm
50mm/1.4
28-135mm/3.5+ IS

* IS Modes 1 & 2. * f/5.6 @ 400mm (can AF with 1.4x TC on EOS-3, -1v), * High contrast and sharpness for a zoom lens. * Tripod collar & carrying case provided * It’s not an f/4 so it only weighs 3 lb.

* f/5.6 @ 400mm: not f/4 so present EOS bodies will not AF with a 2x converter. * Zoom torque collar often misused as manual focus ring * Tripod collar is not ultra smooth and 0 and 90 degree detents are not real positive. * Battery drain on 2CR5’s

I have been a zoom fanatic for 30 years and THIS is my big boy. There was a substantial trade study prior to buying this monster. I did so only after discussing the quality and usefulness issues with the renowned Arthur Morris (see his 600mm f/4 IS review in the PRIME LENS section of this site). The fixed 400mm f/5.6 may provide better quality when using teleconverters (if one is counting lines of resolution under a microscope), but the IS feature here sold me. This is the longest lens I use when shooting birds (some of us just don’t have the budget for the 600 mm f/4 IS). I have used this lens hand held at 400mm f/5.6 and 560mm f/8 (incl. the 1.4x TC) using Provia F100 film with very good results on “still” subjects. Battery drain on the EOS-3’s 2CR5 is a nuisance. I regularly mount this with a 1.4 TC on a carbon fiber tripod with a ball head. In practice, I find it very sharp even when hand held (braced) with a 1.4 TC. (I will reserve the word “excellent” for the 600 f/4 class.) I have mixed results with the 2x TC because manually focusing at f/11 is a chore, especially on moving subjects. Stopping down may improve sharpness but you may need higher speed/more grainy film. Using Provia 400 film, the sharpness with a 2x may be somewhat masked by the film resolution. I do find using the IS-1 mode on a tripod results in visibly less jitter -- contrary to Canon recommendations. Be sure to allow the gyros time to attain speed (~1 sec) before pressing the shutter completely. I am not a dyed-in-the-wool (down?) birder, so I am anxiously awaiting the next air show!

Customer Service

Used Canon service once 10 years ago on an F-1. No complaints.

Similar Products Used:

Various Vivitar & Tokina FD zooms, Canon FD 80-200 f/4L,EF 135 f/2L USM,EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM,EF 70-200 f/4L USM

Good step up from an EOS 75-300 without paying the $$ for a prime lens. Very sharp optics. Solid build.

Slide zoom mechanism takes a little of getting used to. Wont focus as good as a f2.8 lens in lower light conditions.

This is an awsome lens for its price, sharpness, size, and range. Its also costs way less than a prime. I feel it is the perfect stepping stone between a regular portrate/landscape lens and a 400 f2.8 IS and up lens. The optics are very sharp and even when using a good 400 asa film you get AWSOME color reproductions.

Customer Service

Top notch as usual

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 75-300 USM
Sigma 70-200 f2.8
Canon EF 70-200 f2.8

Image stabilization, zoom range, robust construction, quick & quiet USM autofocus.

Prefer ring zoom to push-pull. Rather have rubber hood in place of hard plastic.

Paired with 28-135mm Canon IS lens and 1.4x Canon teleconvertor a 20:1 handholdable range! Also does well with 500D close-up lens.

Customer Service

Not needed for this item. Was fine for repair of A2 impact damage.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 75-300 IS, Canon 300mm f4 IS.

-optical quality
-fantastic "L" construction
-handholdable
-fast AF
-IS work perfectly

-suck expensive EOS batteries

Believe me, this is a milestone in photographic gear. "IS" let you use a 300-400mm lens without tripod with slower shutter speed and with sharp results, so its f5.6 "means" f 2.8, at least for static subject. Obviously is not cheap, but very often quality costs...

Customer Service

-never called

Similar Products Used:

-no other IS lens

very fast focus, glass produces extremely sharp high quality photo's, very easy to use.

not much to say here, a little heavy, but that's very minor

I compared this to the new Nikon 80 - 400 VR lens. Selected the Canon lens primarily due to very high reviews and it is readily available.

Customer Service

excellent

Similar Products Used:

n/a

Perfect range, very sharp at all f-stops and
focal lenghts perfect for wildlife, solid build, light color does not absorb heat from the sun, IS works, very faat and almost silent focusing with EOS 3

Push-pull is not silky

One of the posters here helped me to decide to get a new camera and lens for my wife. I have Pentax equipment, but I wanted to offer my wife something better than that. Now I find myself borrowing her EOS 3 and the zoom quite frequently. Before I purchased the lense, I had studied all the opinions I could find. This site was very helpful in most of of the
instances. I remember reading an opinion where a gentleman stated that he could not read letters (numbers?) ofa licence plate when he used Sigma 400mm, but with the Canon lense all was great. It just happend that now I have both of these lenses, and I used them for my first test. I placed a box from Dreamweaver software with various letter sizes about 15-20 yards away from me. The day was sunny. I used the same film (Sensia II 100) on two cameras. Then I set my PZ1P with Sigma on a tripod, read the light from a tree bark, set f5.6, and used remote release cable. Then I transfered my Sensia film into EOS which was set at the same f-stop and shutter speed (EOS 3 and PZ1p offered the same reading from the tree bark) as my PZ1P. I also used tripod and a remote release.
Result? Looked at my very large projection screen and could not see a difference. Yes, Canon lense is very good, but so is the Sigma.
Next I tried IS. With f13 and shutter 1/125 I could not see a difference with or without IS.
I must say I have a pretty steady hand (lift weghts and walk for hours with 600mm). I also took a shot at 1/60 with IS, and the slide was very sharp. Of course all of these shots were taken at 400mm. I did not attempt to try 1/60 without the IS, because from experience I know that about 1/125 is my limit.
I looked at my slides taken with a new Tokina 80-200 f2.8 Pro, and the Canon is as good.

If you are into wildlife, zoo, sports, or your pet photograpy, it is a perfect lense. I have not tried it with birds, but I see that Canon 100-400 has very good speed and with EOS 3 should work very well. I would not use it for long walks just to shoot landscapes as shorter zooms would be more suitable.

Customer Service

Tried to give me answers to "improve" the product's specs (EOS 3), answered most of my questions. Not very impressed.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 5.6 APO Macro, Pentax FA f 4.0 600mm

1. Excellent optics
2. IS works well
3. Excellent build quality
4. Tripod mount is removable
5. Case and hood included
6. USM

1. Size and weight (which are not unreasonable in light of zoom range and IS capability)

Amazin'! IS really works. With good handholding technique, 3-4 stops can be gained (yes, I know, not with moving subjects and DOF is not the same as if lens really were 3 stops faster).

Customer Service

No occasion to find out

Similar Products Used:

Lots of zooms, never an IS, though

Durable build, IS, Great zoom range, very sharp optics from 100mm thru 300mm

optics fall off beyond 300mm, wish it was a constant F4.5 aperature,wish it was a true IF design like their 70-200 F2.8 zoom

Very nice lens ,I hope Canon will update this and include the tripod mode IS feature like they have on their newest 300F2.8, 400F2.8, & 600F4 lenses.It's only weakness optically is @ 400mm . Great lens handheld for panning action such as race cars or race horses. Use IS mode 2 for panning and mode 1 for all other shots. I also think Canon could redesign the tripod collar and make it much closer to the lens, this will ensure sharper pics especially when zoomed to 400mm.

Customer Service

dropped last winter on rocks fell about 2ft. 6 weeks later IS worked erratically. sent to Del's and he sent to Canon. took 2 months to get back because Del's checks all repairs from Nikon & Canon before releasing back to customer. Del sent me a note saying he had to have Canon repair it 3 times before it was up to snuff.

Similar Products Used:

none