June 1, 2015
Common Raven, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA and the Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM

While Common Raven (Corvus corax) are common in Yellowstone National Park, it's uncommon to photograph them. This guy (I think) was calling on a boulder which made a great eye-level perch and the diffuse light was perfect to show the feather detail. By the time I stopped and set up to photograph him from the car, he had stopped calling and was partially hidden behind the boulder. I took some head shots with my 600, then he hopped down to the ground and ate something. I sat and waited for him to return to the perch, and he obliged. I used my rather new 100-400 II to capture him in full profile.

Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM

I wasn't eagerly awaiting the arrival of the EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM zoom lens. I had slowly stopped using the previous version, the EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS USM, because I didn't like the image quality and sold it shortly after getting an EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II USM because the 70-200 with a 2x III tele-extender was sharper. I was quite happy with the 70-200 and extenders and especially liked the constant-length design which is useful when operating out of a short long-lens case on safari.

After the EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM was released, I read the reviews and I was surprised that the image quality was so much better than the previous version. (See the image quality comparison at The Digital Picture. Mouse over the image to see the image shift. Warning: Using the image quality resources at The Digital Picture can lead to lens envy.) In fact, the 100-400 II is as sharp as the EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II USM with a 2x III in the center and much sharper in the corners. (See the image quality comparison at The Digital Picture. Mouse over the image to see the image shift.) I ordered one in time to use it in Yellowstone in January and then took it with me to Africa in February. I'm quite happy with the image quality, autofocus, and IS (image stabilization).

The tripod collar with screw-off foot leaves a lot to be desired. While it provides silky smooth rotation, the lens wobbles all over the place when attached to a tripod. In fact, it wobbles a lot more than the EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II USM with a 2x III attached which has a much longer moment arm from the camera body to the tripod collar. Before going to Yellowstone in May, I purchased a Really Right Stuff replacement foot LCF-54 for Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM. The replacement foot attaches securely with a bolt, and reduces the lens wobble so it's comparable to the EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II USM with the stock Canon foot.

Despite the shortcomings of the lens, I highly recommend it as a reasonably-priced, very sharp, hand-holdable, long-range zoom lens.