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

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Specifications
Frame Coverage 35mm
Lens Construction (groups) 14
Lens Construction (elements) 17
No. of Diaphragm Blades 8
Minimum Aperture 32-38 (32-40 in 1/3 stop increments)
Closest Focusing Distance 1.8m (70.9")
Maximum Magnifcation 0.20x
Filter Diameter 77mm
Maximum Diameter x Length 92mm x 189mm (3.6" x 7.4")
Weight 1360g (48oz)
Source
BobAtkins.com
About 10 years ago I looked at an EF 100-400/4.5-5.6L IS and I wasn't too impressed. It was good, but it wasn't as good as a 300/4L. Since many users had reported very good results with their 100-400IS lenses I thought I should give it another chance. Well, I can say that the 100-400L I tested here was very good.
Michael Furtman
The "forgotten" 400 lens -- forgotten because the EF 400 f/5.6 is pretty low-tech and has no image stabilization -- yielded the sharpest images both without and with the telextender. It was followed closely by the 100-400 IS (which is my favorite all-round wildlife lens). The differences between these two lenses is very slight, but it is clearly there.
Arthur Morris
The lens performed well and--contrary to some early reports--proved to be exceptionally sharp, even when shot wide open at the 400mm focal length. Before I ever laid hands on this lens, I knew that it would be the ideal safari lens.
OutbackPhoto.com
If you avoid f/5.6@400mm you get great results with the D30/100~400mm IS Zoom combination. As it is an image stabilized lens it is better to have a longer shutter speed than to use f/5.6.
VividLight.com
In short this is a lens I would buy with confidence. It's ruggedly built, comfortable to use, provides sharp images, and the Image Stabilization will allow you to bring back shots that you wouldn't even attempt otherwise.
The-Digital-Picture.com
Although not as sharp as my Canon EF 300mm f4.0 L IS Lens at 300mm, the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens performed better than I expected after reading many reviews. I found it to be sharp wide open from 100mm up to 400mm with little change in between.
Photodo.com
In practice, when new, the lens is an improvement from the general group of 70-300mm lenses that many users will be upgrading from and the reputation that the lens has acquired is, for the most part, well deserved. It is only with the higher demands of digital capture, where everything gets inspected at 100% or more that some aspects of the design have come into question.
PhotoZone.de
The lens exhibits a very even performance throughout the zoom range. As to be expected the performance is best (very good) at 100mm and decreases towards the long end of the zoom range with good results.
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