Hand Holding the 400 5.6

The 400mm f/5.6 is a great lens to hand hold, especially for BIF. Just keep your shutter speed up and you won't miss the IS at all. Here are a few sample images.

It's always a dilema choosing. I decided on the 400mm f/5.6 nearly 2 years ago and have not regreted the choice.

As you've seen, at f5.6 the lens is sharp. There will be times you'll need to keep the shutter speed up but if you've got steady hands/arms, hand holding will not be a issue.

Here you go.......Canon EOS 1D Mark II
1/250s f/7.1 at 400.0mm iso400 full exif

The 100% is not quite as sharp as that WW2 fighter posted earlier in the thread, but it's not too bad.



cheers
Bill

Gotta believe in something....believe I'll take another photo...

http://www.pbase.com/billrobinson

Great shot Bill,

thanks for the help and for sharing!

Bill Robinson said:

It's always a dilema choosing. I decided on the 400mm f/5.6 nearly 2 years ago and have not regreted the choice.

As you've seen, at f5.6 the lens is sharp. There will be times you'll need to keep the shutter speed up but if you've got steady hands/arms, hand holding will not be a issue.

Here you go.......Canon EOS 1D Mark II
1/250s f/7.1 at 400.0mm iso400 full exif

The 100% is not quite as sharp as that WW2 fighter posted earlier in the thread, but it's not too bad.



cheers
Bill

Gotta believe in something....believe I'll take another photo...

http://www.pbase.com/billrobinson

Click to expand...

Set camera to M mode, select shutter speed & camera will select aperature. Press shutter button 1/2 way & the screen on flash (430EXII) will tell show you the max range of flash. Adjust as required after that. Better beamer only works on 300mm or greater lens. On 400mm at iso100 & f5.6 the beamer range is 50' & @ f11 25'.
--
Ryan

Bill Robinson said:

It's always a dilema choosing. I decided on the 400mm f/5.6 nearly 2 years ago and have not regreted the choice.

As you've seen, at f5.6 the lens is sharp. There will be times you'll need to keep the shutter speed up but if you've got steady hands/arms, hand holding will not be a issue.

Here you go.......Canon EOS 1D Mark II
1/250s f/7.1 at 400.0mm iso400 full exif

The 100% is not quite as sharp as that WW2 fighter posted earlier in the thread, but it's not too bad.



cheers
Bill

Gotta believe in something....believe I'll take another photo...

http://www.pbase.com/billrobinson

Click to expand...

That is sharp. Nice exposure as well.

What EOS body are you using that allows M mode to behave that way?

I think he meant Tv mode. One can only hope. Unless.... M is Magic mode ;-)

MartG said:

What EOS body are you using that allows M mode to behave that way?

Click to expand...

I use a 40D
--
Ryan

Hear is my experience

I had the same dilemma as many of us trying to chose between these nice lenses and After trying 100-400 in my local camera shop(didn't like it,it was too soft, i found out later IS was turned to pann),so i went with 400f5.6 and after almost one month of good use out side and in the zoo i have got very nice and sharp pics, but i missed many more due to lower light situations,so i went again to local camera shop and i asked to try another copy of 1-4 and to my amazement it was very very sharp and focus was extremely accurate in side the dim light of the shop,so i asked if i can take out side the shop to take some photos with it attached to my 7d and end up taking about 50 shot of moving cars, and signs, far and close, and they all came out nice and sharp without having to use high iso like i do with my 400f5.6, plus having such zoom lens mean i don't have to switch lenses as often as i did with my 400f5.6 that i no longer have. my 1-4 is coming in the mail tomorrow,good luck to you and happy holidays to all.

Very easy, it is one of the advantages of this lens. If you don't need tripod or monopod you could disconnect tripod colar and it will be lighter.

M mode does not behave that way on a 40D, the TV mode does though.

I have the 400 5.6L for the past 18 months or so.
It is quite easy to hand hold with some familiarity.
My pictures improved as I used the lens in the initial phase.
One tends to learn the optimum placement of the left hand after a while.
I support the lens farther away with my left hand, under the extended hood.

The right elbow is tucked to the body, right hand pressing the camera to the face.
I breathe in and hold my breath while squeezing the shutter.
With shutter speeds above 1/1000 s, there is no noticeable motion blur.

One can get keepers upto 1/250 s but need to shoot a series in continuous mode and pick out the sharpest ones
It becomes second nature and is easier than it sounds.
Cheers,
Vishwanath