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Canon 100 - 400mm L MKI

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fhorn1

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I have just bought a Canon 100 - 400mm L MKI to go on a 7D and wonder if I have a dud. I have rarely had issues with focus or sharpness with my previous Canon telephoto lenses (300mm F4 L, 70 - 300mm L and 70 - 200mm f2.8 MKII) but this 100 - 400mm L MKI seems way off. Admittedly, I have only had the lens a day so not discounting user error but as I have never had issues like this before looking for answers. I have uploaded some images to my Flickr account including two from my 300mm lens (an impala and a couple of ducks). I have used single point focus for all of these images.

The images with the lens stopped down seem OK but I need to be shooting near to wide open which I had thought would be possible with this lens. The images are straight out of camera Jpegs but I do have the Raw files as well.



28947a75f1c642a6b48c85fef8c8946a.jpg



https://www.flickr.com/photos/129197...57677718879724

Would doing a manual focus adjustment help? It seems to me that wide open nothing is in focus (eg. the chimney) so maybe MFA won't help.

The lens was made in 2014 and in new condition.

I have loved my other Canon lenses so am hoping that I can resolve this.

Thanks for your help.

Peter
 
Last edited:
fhorn1 said:
I have just bought a Canon 100 - 400mm L MKI to go on a 7D and wonder if I have a dud. I have rarely had issues with focus or sharpness with my previous Canon telephoto lenses (300mm F4 L, 70 - 300mm L and 70 - 200mm f2.8 MKII) but this 100 - 400mm L MKI seems way off. Admittedly, I have only had the lens a day so not discounting user error but as I have never had issues like this before looking for answers. I have uploaded some images to my Flickr account including two from my 300mm lens (an impala and a couple of ducks). I have used single point focus for all of these images.

The images with the lens stopped down seem OK but I need to be shooting near to wide open which I had thought would be possible with this lens. The images are straight out of camera Jpegs but I do have the Raw files as well.

28947a75f1c642a6b48c85fef8c8946a.jpg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129197...57677718879724

Would doing a manual focus adjustment help? It seems to me that wide open nothing is in focus (eg. the chimney) so maybe MFA won't help.

The lens was made in 2014 and in new condition.

I have loved my other Canon lenses so am hoping that I can resolve this.

Thanks for your help.

Peter
Click to expand...
My mk l was soft at 400mm. That's why eventually sold it and bought the 400 F5.6 until the mk ll was released. The mk l was sharp through 350mm.

--
 
Try it on a tripod and also shoot using live view. If it is bad in live view, MFA won't help. If it is good in live view and bad through the viewfinder, MFA will probably take care of it.
 
gscotten said:
Try it on a tripod and also shoot using live view. If it is bad in live view, MFA won't help. If it is good in live view and bad through the viewfinder, MFA will probably take care of it.

--
George
Click to expand...
I decided to do the three battery tests with a tripod and flash and the lens seems to be really out at the short end. The results are the same with live view and auto focus. I wonder what the fix is? The 400mm end looks really good.

100mm f4.5
100mm f4.5



400mm F5.6
400mm F5.6
 
I have the same lens and I had to do a micro adjustment to it. That took care of the problem. I have a 70D. Unlike the 50D the 70D allows the user to make separate micro adjustments at 100mm and at 400mm and the camera will then interpolate the value for any intervening focal length. I see you have the 7D listed in you gear list; I don't know if you can micro adjust at both ends of the lens with that camera.

Over the years a number of people have complained that this camera is a bit soft at 400 mm and that It's best to pull back a bit to maybe 375. I've always watched for that in my photos and just can't say for sure if it's true or not.

The biggest complaint about this lens is that the push/pull required to change the focal length (rather than turning a ring) sucks dust into the lens. Maybe I've been lucky; I haven't had that problem with it... yet!

Peter
 
Last edited:
ppage said:
I have the same lens and I had to do a micro adjustment to it. That took care of the problem. I have a 70D. Unlike the 50D the 70D allows the user to make separate micro adjustments at 100mm and at 400mm and the camera will then interpolate the value for any intervening focal length. I see you have the 7D listed in you gear list; I don't know if you can micro adjust at both ends of the lens with that camera.
Click to expand...
Thanks Peter

I have a feeling that micro adjustment for this lens won't work as the images I took of the batteries included some using live view which focuses direct from the sensor and the results were pretty much the same as using the AF sensor in auto focus.

Peter
 
fhorn1 said:
The lighting wasn't great but the 400mm looks OK at all apertures. The 100mm and 200mm are dreadful wide open.Much worse than being just 'soft'.
Click to expand...
I don't think there is anything you can do except delivering this lens to the Canon service shop.
 
I have to agree with you. Probably a minor adjustment.
 
Before I sent this lens to Canon, I would be curious to see if it will focus at a little longer distance. It appears that you are trying to focus very near the minimum focus distance (MFD) of six feet. The MFD often varies quite a bit across the zoom range, so you may be inside the actual (as opposed to stated) MFD at 100mm.
 
fhorn1 said:
I have just bought a Canon 100 - 400mm L MKI to go on a 7D and wonder if I have a dud. I have rarely had issues with focus or sharpness with my previous Canon telephoto lenses (300mm F4 L, 70 - 300mm L and 70 - 200mm f2.8 MKII) but this 100 - 400mm L MKI seems way off. Admittedly, I have only had the lens a day so not discounting user error but as I have never had issues like this before looking for answers. I have uploaded some images to my Flickr account including two from my 300mm lens (an impala and a couple of ducks). I have used single point focus for all of these images.

The images with the lens stopped down seem OK but I need to be shooting near to wide open which I had thought would be possible with this lens. The images are straight out of camera Jpegs but I do have the Raw files as well.

28947a75f1c642a6b48c85fef8c8946a.jpg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129197...57677718879724

Would doing a manual focus adjustment help? It seems to me that wide open nothing is in focus (eg. the chimney) so maybe MFA won't help.

The lens was made in 2014 and in new condition.

I have loved my other Canon lenses so am hoping that I can resolve this.

Thanks for your help.

Peter
Click to expand...
I can't see the EXIF data but try using it at f6.3 with a high shutter speed on other objects

my old original 100-400 is pretty sharp


cropped 50% !
 
I can't recall whether or not you have any sort of a filter on this lens. If you do, try taking it off. This lens does not like filters which will often result in focusing errors.
 
I did run the tests without a fliter. I am returning the lens as it is clearly faulty. The images at f4.5 are unacceptable - this is more than just being soft. I have compared with other lenses at the same focul length and aperture and there is no comparison. A pity but these things happen.
 
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