Quote Originally Posted by thekingb View Post
Yes, a 7D.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I think I need to go on a 5 year savings plan for that 500mm lens....

Anyone have ideas about my other question: how much shutter speed can I save on the 400 f/5.6 by using a monopod? From 1/800 or 1/640 handheld down to ____ on a monopod?
The 400mm f5.6 is sweet b/c of the weight. Not only is it relatively easy to handhold in decent light, but you don't have to dump $2000 into a tripod setup to support the lens. B/c of the light weight, I've had what I would consider critically sharp images with the 400mm f5.6 at 1/200s on a monopod. However, this is with me holding down the shutter and picking the one sharp one out of 15 from a 6fps burst. I wouldn't expect to use a single frame to capture a keeper with the 400mm f5.6 on a monopod at 1/200s. Anything under that and you pretty much just have to get lucky unless your technique is far superior than mine!

Now, I have a question: has anybody used the 400mm f5.6 with a 1.4x III. The posted iso charts look pretty good. The third generation teleconverter definitely gives you some better sharpness at the periphery. I've been throwing around the idea of getting a used 1d mark III (especially b/c you can pick these up for almost the price of a new 7d) for awhile and I was wondering if anybody uses this combination and how much AF speed is lost? Sorry if I change the direction of the thread, but I thought it was somewhat pertinent.