fbeaston Loc: Vermont

I second Paul's suggestion ... I have the 100-400mm L II & am really pleased with it. And I too welcome you to UHH.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

The EF 100-400mm II is an excellent lens and certainly would be better for wildlife than the 24-105mm...

HOWEVER, on a full frame camera such as the 5DII, 400mm probably won't be "long enough" telephoto for a lot of wildlife. AND, while the 100-400mm II works very well with a 1.4X teleconverter, that's NOT a very good option on a 5DII because that camera is "f/5.6-limited"... It won't be able to autofocus the lens/teleconverter combo because it's an effective f/8... too dim for the 5DII's AF to work properly. In fact, the camera is designed to turn off autofocus when it detects a combo like the 100-400mm with a 1.4X TC.

Still, in my opinion, 400mm on a FF camera simply isn't enough lens for a lot of smaller and/or shyer wildlife subjects.

INSTEAD I would recommend either the Tamron 150-600mm "G2" or the Sigma 150-600mm "Sport", for the additional "reach" these two lenses offer. That extra zoom range from 401 to 600mm will come in handy for a lot of wildlife photography with a full frame camera. (You will also probably want to restrict to using only the center AF point of the 5DII, since that's the only one that's the higher performance "dual axis" type. Also use AI Servo mode for moving subjects.

Those 150-600mm lenses are a bit larger than the Canon 100-400mm II. Heavier, too... though not a lot with the Tamron: 4.4 lb. vs 3.6 lb for the 100-400 II, about 13 oz. heavier... and 10.25 inches long and 95mm filters, vs 7.5 inches and 77mm for the 100-400 II. The Sigma "Sport" is considerably heavier: 6.3 lb., or almost 37 oz. heavier... as well as bigger: 11.5 inches long, 105mm filters. But the Sigma "Sport" is a more robust and better sealed build than the Tamron. (Note: The 100-400mm II, typical of a Canon L-series, is also robust and well sealed for weather resistance... Lensrental.com took one apart and called it "the best built zoom they'd ever seen".)

If you wish, you can check out magnified test shots done with the Tamron and Sigma 150-600mm lenses here: https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1079&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=5&API=0&LensComp=978&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=7&APIComp=0 (Note: I set that to display shots done with the Canon 1Ds Mark III, which uses the same 21MP sensor as your 5DII... they don't have test shots done with a 5DII).

To my eye, the Sigma looks a little sharper. It sells for $1800 currently, which is less than the 100-400 II ($2049), but more than the Tamron G2 ($1299).

I am not recommending the cheaper (and smaller/lighter) Sigma 150-600mm "Contemporary" ($989) because it simply doesn't have as good image quality as the other two 150-600mm.

I'm also comparing and recommending the Tamron 150-600mm "G2" over the earlier and cheaper first version of that lens, which also doesn't have as good image quality.

Between the Sigma 150-600 Sport and Tamron 150-600mm G2, you'll have to decide if the extra cost, size and weight of the Sigma is worth the additional image quality it offers. The Tamron G2 comes pretty close, while being 1/3 less expensive and almost 2 lb. lighter.

At the above linked website there also are extensive reviews of these lenses (as well as most of the others mentioned here):

https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-150-600mm-f-5-6.3-Di-VC-USD-G2-Lens.aspx
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Sigma-150-600mm-f-5-6.3-DG-OS-HSM-Sports-Lens.aspx

Incidentally, you also can compare test images from those two lenses with the Canon 100-400 II, if you wish. You will find the IQ of the Canon sharper at all the focal lengths they share... The 100-400 II is one of the sharpest zooms made by anyone. BUT it still lacks the 401 to 600mm focal length range, which will be particularly important when trying to shoot shy or small wildlife with a full frame camera.

In spite of my recommendations and for sake of full disclosure, I've been using the Canon EF 100-400 L "II" for a couple years and it's my longest zoom. HOWEVER, for wildlife and sports I always use it on APS-C 7D Mark II cameras, which give the effect of a 1.6X teleconverter due to those cameras' crop sensors (without any stop of light loss, such as occurs with an actual 1.4X teleconverter). I very rarely use the 100-400 on my 5D Mark II for sports or wildlife. On a 7DII, the 100-400 II "acts like" a 160-640mm lens would on the full frame camera. The 7DII's also are "f/8 capable", so if needed I can use a 1.4X teleconverter on the 100-400mm and still have autofocus (100-400 + 1.4X on an APS-C "acts like" a theoretical 225-900mm f/8 lens would on full frame).

However, if I were only using a full frame camera and wanting to photograph wildlife with it, I'd definitely step up from the 100-400mm to a longer lens... and the Tamron 150-600 G2 or Sigma 150-600 Sport would be top candidates.

There is also the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 "Sport" lens, which works well with a 2X teleconverter (though I don't think the combo is quite as sharp at 600mm as the Sigma 150-600 Sport without a TC). With a 2X it's an effective 240-600mm f/5.6, so would autofocus on any Canon DSLR.... HOWEVER, that's a quite big, heavy and expensive rig. The lens costs $3400 and the matched 2X teleconverter another $300. Plus the lens alone is 7.5 lb., probably close to 8 lb. by the time the TC is added. That's a lot of lens to haul around! Other alternatives are even bigger and more expensive (Canon 200-400mm f/4 with built in 1.4X: $11,000... or Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6: $8000.)

Finally, you'll notice that the Tamron and Sigma 150-600mm lenses are f/6.3 at their longest focal lengths. That's only 1/3 stop slower than f/5.6 and they are designed to "fool the camera" and are still able to autofocus on f/5.6-limited cameras like the 5DII.

PGK

Thank you so much for this
It has given me a lot to think about.
I am just a novice with a small amount of experience in photography but learning all the time this will help me very much .

georgiapeach2 Loc: Georgia the Peach State

Hi Jerry, Thanks for the link, I downloaded the secrets to stunning wildlife great information.