Down By the Lake With the EF200-400mm f/4L IS/Internal 1.4 Extender: One Huge Surprise!

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This image of a Sandhill Crane was created on Thursday morning with the hand held Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (with the 1.4X TC in place) at 560mm and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/1000 sec. at f/8 in Manual mode. Two sensors to the right of the central sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus just in front of and below the bird’s eye active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see the new even larger version.

Down By the Lake With the EF200-400mm f/4L IS/Internal 1.4 Extender

I couldn’t resist trying out my new lens on the morning of June 14, which just happened to me my 67th birthday. As there are almost always a few Sandhill Cranes around and the big fields were too wet to drive on safely, the cranes were my primary and only target. The image above was created with the internal 1.4X TC in place. I was delighted to see that the internal TC moves smoothly in and out of place with a fairly large, conveniently located lever on the left side of the barrel about only 1 1/2 inches from the camera end of the lens. Though I doubt that I will use the locking feature much, the internal 1.4X can be conveniently locked in place.

The Huge Surprise

The Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens weighs 8.65 pounds. I have a really hard time hand holding it. I am OK for a flight image or two but even then I struggle with framing. Working with static subjects is much more difficult as you feel the build-up of lactic acid within a few moments. The Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender weighs 7.98 pounds, exactly .67 pounds less than the 600 II. With the 2-4 being only 2/3 pound lighter than the big gun, I assumed that it would be a difficult lens for me to hand hold. )You can find complete specs for all Canon telephoto lenses here.)

The very big surprise was that I found the new 200-400 to be eminently hand holdable. Even when creating static images like the two above. I was easily able to hold the lens up and frame the subject for periods of from 20 to 30 seconds. Whenever possible I will of course sit on the ground and use my left knee as a support; I plan to be doing that a great deal in the Galapagos. And I am positive that the 200-400 with the built-in TC will prove to be the perfect lens for our panga (zodiac) photography cruises. It will, with the 1D X, serve as my primary lens for penguins and pelicans and flight photography. The 70-200 will be on the floor of the panga with another 1D X mounted ready for a Blue-footed Booby feeding spree. The 200-400 with the built in TC will prove to be even more valuable in Africa.

(Editor’s note: surprisingly, there is only one “m” in eminent.”)

Why?

With the weight of the two lenses being so close, it would seem that the size–especially the length–and the compactness of the 200-400 as compared to the 600 II are the main reasons that I found it relatively easy to hand hold. With the lens hoods in place, the 600 II is 24 and 3/4″ long. At more than 2 feet, that is one long lever arm. The 2-4 is a relatively manageable 19″, just a it more than 1 1/2 feet long. Other than that I am clueless: but I do know that I am confident that I will be able to hand hold the new Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in a great variety of bird and wildlife photography situations. And I am looking forward to doing just that.

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Sharpness?

Above is a 100% crop of the crane’s head from the opening image in today’s blog post. As expected, and as you can see, the 200-400 is razor sharp with the internal 1.4X TC in place. I made a few similar images with the lens alone and an external 1.4X III TC; they were equally sharp.

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This image of a Sandhill Crane was also created on Thursday morning past, this one with the hand held Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (at 200mm) and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. Three sensors to the left of and one row down from the central sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus on the crane’s upper back just behind the neck active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see the new even larger version.

Versatility

The Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender is of course an extremely versatile zoom lens with a focal length range of from 200-560mm which yields a very nice zoom range of 1 to 2.8. That with superb sharpness, the incredible four-stop IS, and excellent close-focus. In the image above I went with the lens alone at 200mm in order to include the pier at Indian Lake Estates in the frame to give the viewers a sense of place. The wide end of the 2-4 without the internal TC engaged will be useful for creating bird-scapes and habitat images.

Images copyright 2012: Denise Ippoltio & Arthur Morris. Card design by Denise Ippolito. Click on the image to enjoy a spectacular larger version.

Holland 2014 7 1/2-Day/8-Night: A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART/Tulips & A Touch of Holland IPT. April 17-April 24, 2014 :$4995 Limit: 12 photographers/Openings 9

This trip needs 8 registrants to run so please do not purchase your plane tickets until you hear from us; right now we need 5 more folks.

Join Denise Ippolito, Flower Queen and the author of “Bloomin’ Ideas,” BPN Photo Gear Moderator, former Nikon shooter, and technical expert Peter Kes, and Arthur Morris, Canon Explorer of Light and one of the planet’s premier photographic educators for a great trip to Holland in mid-April 2014. Day 1 of the IPT will be April 17, 2014. We will have a short afternoon get-together and then our first photographic session at the justly-famed Keukenhof. Peter who is originally from Holland, will be our local guide/interpreter/driver. Most days we will return to the hotel for lunch, image sharing and a break. On Day 8, April 24, we will enjoy both morning and afternoon photography sessions.

The primary subjects will be tulips and orchids at Keukenhof and the spectacularly amazing tulip, hyacinth, and daffodil bulb fields around Lisse. In addition we will spend one full day in Amsterdam. There will be optional visits the Van Gogh Museum in the morning and the Anne Frank House in the afternoon; there will be plenty of time for street photography as well. And some great food. On another day we will have a wonderful early dinner at Kinderdijk and then head out with our gear to photograph the windmills and possibly some birds for those who bring their longs lenses. We will spend an afternoon in the lovely Dutch town of Edam where we will do some street photography and enjoy a superb dinner. All lodging, ground transportation, entry fees, and meals (from dinner on Day 1 through dinner on Day 8) are included.

For those who will be bringing a big lens we will likely have an optional bird photography afternoon or two or possibly three. The big attraction should be gorgeous Purple Herons in flight at a breeding marsh. We would be photographing them from the roadside. And we might be able to find a few Great-crested Grebes at a location near Keukenhof.

Click here for complete details and some previously unpublished tulip images. Click here and see item one for lots more tulip photos.

Images courtesy of and copyright 2012: Bill Mueller. Card design by Denise Ippolito.

Old Car City Creative Photography In-the-Field HDR Workshop: Sunday, October 13, 2013/ 9am till 1pm.

White, Georgia: $250 plus a $15 entrance fee donation (cash only on the day of the event) that will go to charity. Limit: 16 photographers.

On October 13, 2013, Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART and Denise Ippolito/A Creative Adventure will be conducting an In-the-Field HDR Workshop at Old Car City in White, Georgia. Old Car City is about an hour north of Atlanta, GA and an hour south of Chattanooga, TN where they will, as noted above, be doing a full day seminar for the Photographic Society of Chattanooga on Saturday, October 12th. Click here for complete details.

Typos

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