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I have a decent mid-level collection of lenses but am lacking a supertele for birding etc. My wife and I love to hand carry and prefer smaller/lighter lenses in general. The DO seems like it could be a great fit. Thoughts?
How does it pack into a crowded backpack-type bag? Looking for comparisons to the 70-200 lenses, and 24-70 with which I am familiar.
Lastly, I prefer to shoot jpg (lazy about post) and have heard this lens wants tweaks in post (not in camera). Thoughts?
- Isaac
from what iv seen it looks small and especially for a telephoto like others canon makes. Its a constant nice f/ 4 but it does not need to be as bulky as the 2.8 yet is good for birding for sure
The 400mm DO will give more reach than any other lens under 4.3 pounds and 9 inches. If money is not a problem, then go for it.
I suggest reading Bryan's review if you haven't already:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-400mm-f-4.0-DO-IS-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
Compared to the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS, It's about an inch longer and 1.5 pounds heavier.
The primary alternative for under 4.3 pounds is the 400mm f/5.6. It lacks the f/4 maximum aperture, so it cannot take as many teleconverters (if any, depending on your body and whether you prefer to use autofocus or not). With TC, you can convert the 1-stop aperture advantage of the 400mm f/4 DO into more detail on your subject. (Not to mention the fact that a TC fits in the bag pretty easily.) More importantly, the 400mm f/5.6 lacks I.S. It's a little sharper than the DO at f/5.6, but not nearly enough to make up for a teleconverter. It's one inch longer and 1.5 pounds lighter (2.8 vs 4.3).
The 100-400 has I.S. and zoom, but isn't quite as sharp as the 400mm f/5.6, particularly with teleconverters, and the short end of the zoom would get used very little when birding.
The 300mm f/4 with a 1.4X TC is another option, but I think the 100-400 would have the same image quality and focal length without a TC.
I can't think of any other lenses that would provide similar quality in less than 4.3 pounds.