Looks like I am going to be getting the 100-400L II a lot sooner than I expected.

[HDNitehawk]

I was hoping someone would get the 400 DO so I could see if it is a worthwhile lens or not. And I was kind of hoping it would be you because you are very thurough and particular in you assessments.

Go ahead... give it a try so I can live vicariously; and even better, find a problem so I can keep my wallet intact.

I have a feeling that once I bought the 400mm I wouldn't find anything wrong with it. I would just end up encouraging you to buy it and your wallet would be ravaged.

My new 500 just showed up, the box had a hole punched in the side of it during shipping and the UPS guy had placed tape over it. It was at a spot that it shouldn't have hurt anything.
I think the best you can hope for is I have buyers remorse or that something is wrong with the 500mm, I send it back and try the 400mm instead. I suspect that will not happen either.

[conropl]

Darn...

Well... I reluctantly hope all is well with your new purchase. Congrats!

[Dave Throgmartin]

Enjoy the 500mm! Joel has showed it makes an excellent 700mm as well with the extender.

Dave

[DavidWare]

Alright, so the weather has been pretty gloomy, and I have been busy working during the daylight hours doing landscaping, so I haven't really had a lot of time with the lens. However, first impressions are great.

The thing is built like a tank, and I love the way it feels in my hands. The weight for me isn't much of an issue, but I could definitely see it being a bit bothersome if you had to handhold it all day or carry it from a neckstrap. It is balanced quite well, especially with the zoom ring on the front. I know a lot of people aren't too keen on that because it's different than the norm, but it works out because the lens extends. I have seen people voice concern about bumping the focus ring with their palm, but I have tried to do that in normal use, and its not as easy to do as it seems. I wouldn't view it as a problem personally, but maybe for someone with bigger hands it could be an issue. Working both at the same time isn't too difficult assuming you have the zoom tension lock set loosely. I can operate the zoom with my thumb and index and ring fingers, and work the focus with my pinky and the meat of my thumb. Not an ideal way to do it, but certainly doable.

All the things that move, move well. The switches are tight enough you wont accidentally move one, but not too tight that you are ripping your nails out trying to flip them to the desired position. The zoom tension ring is great. there is no lock though when it is tightened all the way. There will be no lens creep, but you can definitely still move it. The focusing ring is smooth and takes just over 180 degrees to go from one extreme to the other. The tripod ring is easily and quickly adjusted, and the foot is easily removed but does take a bit more effort to put back on.

I have not done enough shooting to comment on the autofocusing and image stabilization abilities nor the image quality, but truth be told, there are much better people that can weigh in on that with me. The few pictures I have snapped off so far have been great, and I have included the first picture I ever took with the lens, straight from camera, no edits other than changing the size.

This is my roommates cat sitting across the room from me, waiting for me to discard the Adorama box so he could play in it.
Handheld at 1/15 a second
ISO 1000
400mm f/8

[HDNitehawk]

The weight for me isn't much of an issue, but I could definitely see it being a bit bothersome if you had to handhold it all day or carry it from a neckstrap.

A Black Rapid strap will take care of that problem.

Glad to see it finally showed. Enjoy.

[DavidWare]

I've been planning on getting one of those for a while now actually.

[DavidEccleston]

If all you're doing is shooting, and you're not sharing a camera, then I imagine the BlackRapid strap is wonderful. While I liked the initial feel of getting the weight off my neck, but, after a week or two it was taken off... either the strap was in the way, or it put the camera/lens dangling in the way, far, far too often.

We often share a camera, and we found that the strap made that extra annoying. Shooting without the strap in use is extra annoying too, as it's not as easily held up and out of the way as the neck strap. It's also annoying if you're doing anything non-photo related. The camera hangs lower, and swings around, when not in use, which means we need to be extra careful when bending or squatting down. ie: to tie a shoe, going to pet one of our dogs, giving them a treat, or picking up after them. We need to take the camera off and find somewhere for it to sit temporarily when helping to move anything.

[Joel Eade]

a 400mm optics shootout (sort of) http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2014...0mm-comparison

[DavidWare]

Well, I'm quite experienced with doing a plethora of things with a rifle slung, so I'm sure I could adapt to a lighter and much shorter camera

[conropl]

Use a quick release clamp on your Black Rapid strap. Screw the strap to one of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/844931-REG/Sunwayfoto_DLC_42_DLC_42_Duo_Lever_Clamp.html

Then clamp it to your Arca Swiss plate on your camera that you use for tripod mounting. When you want to remove the strap, then just flip the lever to un-clamp (it does have a safety release to prevent accidental release) and your camera is removed from the strap.

I also have quick release neck strap so I can take that off real quick so it is not flopping in the wind when on the tripod, or if I want to switch from the BR strap to the neck strap. This is the neck strap I use... it has a lot of stretch (great shock absorber) and I like the card holders.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ang_Strap.html

Pat