400L 5.6 delivered tomorrow

[Homer]

After reading hundreds of reviews I chose this lens over a 100-400. Always seem to shoot at 400, have zoom and wanted best quality results.

Wondering what the best camera setting for this lens is on my 7D. I had been using my 70-200l 2.8 IS II with the ex1.4 but short on reach. With the ex2.0 II I was just not happy with the image results. I shoot mostly eagles. Most of the shots are not BIF but perched in their nests or on branches. Probably 75% are not BIF. Since it does not have IS I know to crank up the speed but is a tripod or monopod a must and what speed/settings would give best results? When shooting BIF again what settings/speed would provide me the best results

THANKS

/click on

7D, 10-22, 24-105, 70-200 2.8 IS II, ex1.4, ex2.0 II (Thanks to everyone as all my purchases were influenced mostly by this forum and have not regretted it)

[Dave Johnston]

Congrats, Homer!

I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Don't forget to throw some pics up so we can see what the homer + 400mm combo can do!

Dave.

[bob williams]

Homer, Congrats. Though I love my 100-400, I often wish that I had made the same decision you did for basically the same reasons. The IQ of the 400 5.6 just seems to outshine the 100-400.
Regarding settings: a good rule of thumb is shutter speed at least double the focal length when hand held or moving subjects which means keep it above 800 when possible and don't be afraid to bump the iso if needed to maintain shutter speed. You can fix or improve noise but you can't fix blurry, so keep it fast. A tripod or mono pod isn't a must but will probably improve your keeper rate. My tripod did more to improve my images than did lens or camera upgrades.

Congrats again, and don't forget to share some of your new images.

[conropl]

Regarding settings: a good rule of thumb is shutter speed at least double the focal length when hand held or moving subjects which means keep it above 800 when possible and don't be afraid to bump the iso if needed to maintain shutter speed. You can fix or improve noise but you can't fix blurry, so keep it fast. A tripod or mono pod isn't a must but will probably improve your keeper rate. My tripod did more to improve my images than did lens or camera upgrades.

Congrats again, and don't forget to share some of your new images.

The rule of thumb is to double the focal length, but with a cropped body such as the 7D, I thought you also should multiply by the crop factor. So in the case of the 7D with a 400mm, the rule of thumb for hand holding w/o IS would be 1/1280 sec (2*400*1.6). At least that is my understanding.

[Dr Croubie]

My "OMG a bird!" mode on my 7D is basically:
Tv
Shutter 1/400s (a nice middle-ground for my 70-300L with IS enabled, I can take it down to 1/200s for nest/branches or up to 1/800s for BIF easily). You might want 1/800s or a tri/monopod.
Auto ISO (and you still get +/- EV Comp)
Centre-Weighted Metering (birds are normally too far away to take up a whole frame)
9-point AF
Image-review to OFF (I found that I would lose time before the next shot while the camera was trying to display the last shot after a burst)
Power-save to 1 Minute (I generally hike for hours with 7D and 70-300L on my wrist, it wakes up faster than I can switch the power on if it's off)
I think my CFns are set to Tracking Priority over Release Priority (don't know off the top of my head, but they're the same for every mode on my 7D)

And set everything to Custom User Function C3, so no matter what i'm doing I can just turn the dial to the end and start shooting when something feathery flies past.

[bob williams]

I thought you also should multiply by the crop factor. So in the case of the 7D with a 400mm, the rule of thumb for hand holding w/o IS would be 1/1280 sec (2*400*1.6). At least that is my understanding.

Thats probably more accurate---and with these lenses, the faster the better.

[Joel Eade]

Congrats on the new lens...excellent choice. The 400/5.6 is a fabulous BIF lens.

Good advice given to you already, I would add that for BIF shoot in manual mode so you can expose properly for the bird and you will get better shots when the background is variable. To get good detail and best bokeh I would probably shoot wide open (f/5.6) and try to get a shutter speed at least 1/1600 and even faster if you want to freeze the wing tips. That means you need pretty good light but as Bob said push the ISO up if you have to. You want to get some data over to the right side of the histogram without blowing the whites out.

Good luck...looking forward to your images!

[Dave Throgmartin]

What do you guys typically do with long non-IS lenses to keep the viewfinder steady enough to frame the shot the way you want? Do you typically use a monopod?

Dave

[Homer]

As requested, here is one of the first taken with my new 400MM. Overall very happy so far but will take a couple outings to really get it to shine. I did find out a couple things. Did not have much success yesterday but my fault as adjusting and learning what this lens can do. Shots on tripod were very good but my handheld were not great. I have just a bit to much camera shake but am sure BIF will be fine. Due to tight focus I found my focus was out lots with "Manual Select AF Zone" Would of been fine if i was closer as some of the points focused on the branches. I will now go with "Manual Select Single Point AF" as had much better results then with Spot AF.

Overall, very happy with the results and the image quality is what I was looking/hoping for. Lens is fast and the price is right. With built in lens hood and case provided makes it even a better deal. I did not miss the IS as really with this lens it performs best mounted on a tripod/monopod. I did miss zoom as before I would zoom out to find the subject and then zoom in. The quality and price to me out ways both.

Aperture Priority, Auto WB, Evaluative metering F5.6, ISO 100, SS 640


_MG_1994 by Homers2012, on Flickr

Aperture Priority, Auto WB, Pattern metering F5.6, ISO 100, SS 800,-1EV

_MG_2008 by Homers2012, on Flickr

S100, 7D, 10-22, 24-105, 70-200 2.8 IS II, 400 5.6, ex1.4, ex2.0 II

[bob williams]

Congrats Homer, and your right, the IQ is impressive. Love the first shot.