Canon 100-400 L IS Lens Settings!

Subject: Canon 100-400 L IS Lens Settings! 2009-06-03, 04:08

Bought one of these a couple of months ago, coupled with a 50D Body, and am still getting used to it. Can anyone give me a few tips to get the Best out of it?

Cheers

Location : Mid Cheshire Spotter Watch Member : Yes

Love to help you , but I'm in the same boat. I have the 400d and use appeture priority. What I don't understand is the iso setting in relation to the AV , which is best for bright days iso 400 or 200 etc??
I do have it set at the 6.5 metre focus setting, and the image stableiser is mostly turned off , both of these tips were given to me to reduce focusing time
Hope this helps slightly , and I look forward to other peoples advice.

Subject: Re: Canon 100-400 L IS Lens Settings! 2009-06-03, 08:58

My advice would be to use it at around F/8.0 if you can. Seems to be sharpest here, as opposed to fully wide open. The results at ISO100 are significantly better than those at ISO 200 and 400 I think. I also keep it set to 6.5m minimum focus for aircraft, but normally leave the stabiliser on Mode 2 (panning), because I dont think it affects focus time too much, and does help in lower light.

Ben

Location : Mid Cheshire Spotter Watch Member : Yes

Thanks Monty , I will try that at Cosford in a fortnight

Location : Northwood

Quote :: My advice would be to use it at around F/8.0 if you can. Seems to be sharpest here, as opposed to fully wide open. The results at ISO100 are significantly better than those at ISO 200 and 400 I think. I also keep it set to 6.5m minimum focus for aircraft, but normally leave the stabiliser on Mode 2 (panning), because I dont think it affects focus time too much, and does help in lower light.

Agree with what Monty said, I will also add to have the camera set on centre weighted focusing. One thing that does worry me with people who get new lenses (not just the 100-400) is they tend to only use it when they go to an event and they are then dissapointed with the results. You need to practice with it, Panning, low light, different exposure settings. Get down to you local airfield (be it Commercial (Urgh), GA or military and take lots of shots then look at the, see which ones you are happy with, check the Exif details and then work out the best way to set it up. Another thing to remember is different lenses produce different results when set to the same settings.

It is not only the camera and lenses that produce the poor it results. It can be the way you stand, hold the camera and of course the subject you are shooting.

So in summary - practice, practice and then more practice

Subject: Re: Canon 100-400 L IS Lens Settings! 2009-06-03, 12:26

Cheers Everyone! Guess Coningsby will be getting a few extra visits over the next couple of weeks!