wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

I find, with especially bird shots, that I'm always wanting a bigger lens. Love my 70-300 but the f stop trade off, and I wanted bigger, got a off brand 150-600, still find I want to get closer. I've concluded you can never have a big enough lens.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

The first thing I recommend, if you are not a pro with unlimited budget and/or do not have a muscular physique is to use an APSC crop frame sensor/body.

The canon 400 f5.6 prime is a cheaper/lighter alternative to the Canon 100-400's and also takes the Canon 1.4X II. If fast/accurate AF matters, stick with CANON lenses.
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imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Mostly, AF performance ......

LEWHITE7747 Loc: 33773

Canon is coming out tomorrow with the R lens. I would go for the 100-500 one . If it is as good as the L canon lens it would be ideal. I have both crop and full frame canons The old 100-400 is superb on a crop sensor.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Because with a prime all too you often have to move your feet being too close or too far away. I have found the 100-400 LL with a 1.4 extender, maybe heavy, but I seldom miss shot changing lenses and 560mm is close to 600mm.

JohnH3 Loc: Auburn, AL

Keep this though in mind: The longer the lens, the shallower the depth of field at any f stop setting as compared to a shorter lens/focal length. Yes, it does get to the point that it doesn’t matter as much in the smaller aperture settings. I have so many friends who have purchased 150-600 mm lens who are initially disappointed with the lens because one part of an image is in focus and other portions are blurry. (Example: They photographed a large animal such as an elk or bear wide open at a fairly close distance. Only part of the animal is in focus and sharp. This outcome was due to the shallow DOF of that longer focal length and chosen f value.) After some discussions with them regarding depth of field and the review of a chart for the camera, focal length, and f settings, they start getting better images. (To me, the Photo Pills app has sections that consider the camera, focal length, and f value with regard to DOF. They are friendly to use.) Why do I say this? Before purchasing a lens, study a DOF chart and gain an understanding of DOF at various focal lengths and f values. Consider the distances you generally shoot, the light conditions, etc. Make sure that you are purchasing a lens with zoom (or a prime) lengths/range and f values that are suitable for your shooting conditions that will afford you sufficient DOF for your intended use. Long lenses can foster a lot of frustration when they are not managed properly. Managed properly, they can foster wonderful results.

Rick Garside

I have a question about this as well. A couple people mentioned using an extender. Apparently Canon has the EF 1.4xIII and 2xIII. Since the OP owns a zoom telephoto, and with the full frame camera, it won't zoom in as close as on his older crop sensor camera, are the extenders a good way to go to save money and still have a longer zoom? I've only heard people recommend the 1.4, not the 2x. Can anyone weigh in on this option that has experience with them? Thanks!

LEWHITE7747 Loc: 33773

Be aware you lose an F stop so less light. I have found using a canon 1.4 on the 100-400 really doesn't help because you lose light. Most 5.6 lens don't utilize the extender. I don't use mine. Cropping seems to show little difference.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Extenders are an "option" - in some cases a doable/OK option - they are never really a GOOD option - especially on variable aperture non-OEM zooms.

Cropping and using pixel enlargement is another option - mostly better than extenders IMO.
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BudsOwl Loc: Upstate NY and New England

LEWHITE7747 Loc: 33773

HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD!

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

You forgot get the 1.4x and put it on a crop sensor. I do that with a 7DII and sometimes an 80D. But when using a blind that combo goes back on my 5DIV.

Now if Canon would just bring out a real update to the 7DII (an aps-c mirrorless that can AF at f/11??? and has all the choices and features of the 7DII-whoppee I could use a 2x extender). My wife would get an upgrade to an 80D from her T6s, our special needs son would get to use her T6s instead of my old bridge camera (maybe).

By the way, a 180 mm macro lens with a 1.4x on a crop sensor (7DII or 80D in my case) gets a 403 mm Angle of View - birding and wildlife reach. And in good light it produces ultra detail on the bird feathers.

HiFromSusan

Totally agree.

skalter

Hi,

The Canon EF 100-400 is a wonderful lens. It gives you so much flexibility. Sometimes, the creature that you are photographing just happens to move your direction. With the 600, you could be out of luck. The 100-400 is perfectly "hand holdable". If you really want the extra reach, you can always put a 1.4x or 2x teleconverter on and see what you get. With the teleconverter, you do lose some light, but in many cases you can just use the auto ISO function on your camera and you still will be ok.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Depth of field is solely determined by the reproduction ratio and aperture - the focal length only affects the subject distance.