Customer Ratings & Reviews

I upgraded to the 2nd version & love it! Much sharper!

I love this Len capturing my eagles pictures Love it

I've waited for years to own this lens and it was worth the wait! I'm amazed at the clarity of photos that I get with this. The image stabilization allows you to capture sharp photos even @ 400mm handheld. I live in Colorado and this lens is a must have for landscape photography. It's heavy but that's ok because I go home with some premium photos of the landscape and Astro landscape. I have a wide angle lens as well but favor this lens because it takes me up close to far away landscapes. You will not regret buying this lens, if you have the cash then just do it!

Despite researching this lens before buying I was quite surprised at how large and hefty it was. Previously I was using an 18-200 zoom that was like a third the weight and size. Photos taken on a tripod with a remote release have incredible detail and I find myself wanting to go out all sorts of places to be able to take photos with it. I am able to get some nice photos of wildlife because of the reach. I very happy that I decided to purchase this lens.

I bought this lens to replace my older 75-300 (non-L variety) zoom, which I never really cared for, and which often left me wanting a little more reach. (I bought the 75-300 back when I had a crop-body 7D -- so that lens sort of behaved like a 120 - 480mm, for image results; so when I purchased my full-frame 6D, the lens went "back to being 75-300".) The 100-400 is a tank of a lens. Heavy as can be (3.5 pounds!) which can really catch up with you if you have a full day of shooting and carrying a bag full of your other lenses to which you've become accustomed. But it has delivered really great image quality so far in my shooting. I love the included tripod mounting foot & collar -- the lens is far too heavy to traditionally mount your camera base on the tripod, and leave the weight of the lens hanging from the lens-mount of the camera itself -- the mounting foot solves that -- you mount the lens to the tripod, and the much-lighter camera body hangs "from the lens". And the tripod foot on this lens mount has the super convenient built-in feature of a rotating collar. So you can instantly swing the entire camera from a horizontal to a vertical orientation (thereby preserving a composition you've lined up, for example) without removing the tripod-mounted lens first. You can also detach the lens-foot so it isn't in your way when you're doing purely-handheld shots. It also comes with a zippered, padded lens case, which has a belt-loop on the back so you could hang the padded case (with lens inside) from your belt... it is heavy enough however, that it could slowly start to pull your belt (and pants) down a bit, depending on how tight you wear your belt. The lens is quite a grower -- it extends substantially as you zoom in. With the included lens hood attached and fully zoomed to 400 it creates a massive extension off your camera. The lens hood has a very clever design feature, if you also use rotating filters on your lenses (such as polarizer or variable ND) -- a little cut-out with a sliding "door" in the lens hood lets you rotate your attached filter without first removing the lens hood to reach the filter ring. The Image Stabilization has been superb, for the little bit of hand-held work I've done so far. There's always a trade-off, and of course, I wish this was a slightly faster lens than f/4.5 sometimes. But for the larger part of my shooting, I'm usually in daylight, and usually tripod mounted, so I haven't been seriously hindered by the 4.5 (yet). I really enjoy the close-focusing capability of this lens (ie, how close to your subject you can be, and still achieve focus.) In many ways, it performs like a macro lens that way, letting you fill much of the frame with a closer subject and blur out the background pretty decently. Someday I hope to try this in combination with a Canon tele-extender (1.4 or 2x) for a massive amount of zoom/reach.

This is a HUGE leap up in quality from the lenses that come with in the camera kits. The L just blows away the rest of the lenses. I use this with a 70D and a 7Diii, the shots are amazing. The 100-400 allows you reach beyond the imagination.............YOU WILL NOT REGRET this purchase. Take the leap.

I am an amateur photographer and I love taking nature photos along with action photos of my children during meets. I purchased this lens for my Canon Rebel T2i since I was looking for something other then my 55-250mm lens. This lens is great! It takes great photos both close up and faraway. I have used this lens for taking portraits of my children, close ups of flowers and animals and used it as a telephoto lens of nature, landscapes and animals far off in the distance. I am amazed at the clarity of the photos I have taken. The only con of this lens is that it is very heavy and much larger then I expected. Even saying that, this is by far my favorite lens that I own.

Have owned many cameras and lenses, but for some years, as I've got more critical, I have wanted a more professional quality telephoto. I looked at many different lenses including the 150-600 Sigma and Tamron. The Canon is much heavier and way more expensive, but I immediately preferred the solid feel and obvious build quality. I've taken hundreds of pictures with this lens in the last three months and it's proven even better than I'd expected. Incredibly sharp even at full telephoto. High ISO settings to increase speed in low light (e.g. for an indoor swimming event), seem to have less impact on quality than past lenses. The stabilization is incredible and a big reason to buy the Mk 2. This lens gets better the more you use it, but you should definitely handle one before you buy it, to make sure it's not too heavy. Take your camera body into the store!

I bought this lens to use outdoors for wildlife photos where I need to be farther away. Wow! I am very pleased with the zoom and picture quality. I went looking for Eagles but found other birds and a Hawk instead. It gets heavy, so I use a monopod to help hold the camera in place.

The auto focus is fast and quiet, and the image stabilization is fantastic. Clarity is also superb. The only thing that is a negative is that, with this much glass, it’s going to weigh a bit more. Canon helps out with that also with the built in tripod mount.

I finally splurged on a good zoom lens and love this! Great quality. A little on the heavy side but so worth it to me! I mainly use it for sports photography and love the reach I get and quality of the shots.

For a while I have been shooting happily with my 70-200 f/2.8 lens. My daughter is a competitive equestrian and sometimes the rings are not photographer friendly. He jumps are many times out of range even for the 200mm and cropped sensor of my 7DM2. That said I do have a 1.4x extender but the crispness is lost a bit even if not to the untrained naked eye. I finally had an opportunity to shoot with the 100-400 and not only were the conditions perfect but the sharpness of this lens makes me happy. I realize that isn’t a technically helpful description. I personally wouldn’t use this lens and camera combination in low light but in the right setting, there is no better lens for what i need. I had no problem reaching across the ring. I do recommend using a monopod as the camera grip and lens do add up and are heavy.

I already owned the original version of this lens but found myself without a long lens on vacation due to the lockup of my old pump 100-400 ( many many miles on that one). I purchased my new one in-store in Houston and was very pleased with its performance, as expected. The new twist-extend was a welcome change and the new one seems to be even a tad sharper than the old one, as if that was even possible. Great glass for anyone that needs to get out there just a little further. Performs very well with the Canon 1.4X III extender as well. I attached a Moon image I shot with this lens the other morning.

So if you are looking for a lighter option that other lenses that are out there that is also a high quality option, try this lens. It is a very different lens than the first edition in many respects. Two things that were important to me were the image quality and how the AF works. I have a 7D, 5D III and 1DIV. This lens works great with all three and with the 1.4X TC although some AF limitations w the 7D. If you have the 7D II then its not problem. The zoom capability is really nice in that I can get by with fewer lenses.

We have looked at this lens for a while. I has exceeded our expectations as far as ease of use and image quality. It is heavy, but the tripod mount that is built onto the lens makes it easier to use.

The Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM is a stabilized super-telephoto zoom lens for Canon's full-frame and APS-C digital SLRs. One of the older L-series lenses in Canon's current lineup, the 100-400mm has long been a favorite of enthusiast photographers working in the sports and wildlife fields, and it is compatible with Extenders 1.4x II and 2x II for even more reach (albeit with a penalty in maximum aperture and critical image quality). The lens is weather-sealed, and its push-pull zoom action has a friction control. The downside of the push-pull design is that it tends to suck in dust, over time. Optical construction includes fluorite and Super UD-glass elements.

This lens is a great alternative to having 2 lenses (Canon 70-300 L IS and Canon 400mm f5.6). The image quality at 400mm and f5.6 was a pleasant surprise. Let me qualify though-image quality is excellent but the Canon 400mm f5.6 is a bit sharper and it is clearly observable at 100% crop. Also, the 100-400 IS II has good af speed but not as fast as the Canon 400mm f5.6. So, if one was only doing BIF then the Canon 400mm f5.6 is best. If one is using only one lens and does other sports along with BIF then the best choice is the 100-400 IS II which I purchased.

I ordered this lens online without trying it out first and I was shocked at how big it was, but I should have done my homework. The lens has great build quality and feels really good to use. I got the lens for outdoor and wildlife photography and am looking forward to using it. The little bit I have with birdwatching has been great - great fast autofocus, clear crisp pictures, and fantastic zoom.

Very good lens! Just recently used it on my cross country trip through the Badlands, Yellowstone, Mojave desert etc. and have to say it is incredible for wildlife photos and for pretty much anything nature related. The pictures come out super clear and works great along side my 7D mark 2. I would suggest this lens to anybody and say it’s worth it getting this lens over the cheaper telephoto lenses because canon just makes them better!

I am getting back into photography and doing a lot of wildlife and plant photography. The lens has been excellent I catching foliage, bald eagles, red shouldered hawks and others. The weight is not bad and I can shoot for over an hour without tiring.