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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"]<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"]After too much reading about the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS USM lens I finally purchased the lens. I did obtain some valued opinions from several experienced people that own this lens and they all indicated it was a very good and solid performing lens. At this site I am very thankful to <st1:city w:st="on"]<st1lace w:st="on"]Bryan</st1lace></st1:city> his insights.
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"]<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"]This is my first L lens and after owning it for three days I am extremely pleased with its picture quality (I also have a Canon 50D). The contrast and details in my pictures are wonderful and the sharpness (which appears to be a main concern of this lens) appears great. Now I am an amateur so what is sharp to me may not be to others so after reading so much about the sharpness I was concerned. I performed the lens testing suggested at <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"][url="http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/technical/testing_lenses.html]http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/technical/testing_lenses.html[/url], thank you Bob Aktins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] The weather condition were not optimal (slight breeze and 10 degrees) but it was a clear sunny day. After cropping my test to 100% my images taken at 400 mm f/8 were still resolved at 3.2 lp/mm. It is my understanding this is very good but most importantly my images taken with this lens look great to me. My suggestions to anyone that might have concerns about a lens they own read the article and perform the tests. Any thoughts are appreciated