Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Pro Reviews

The EF 400mm f/5.6 USM L is one of the oldest lens in the Canon lineup and it's a little bizarre that Canon didn't really bother to upgrade it during all these years. After all there're many users interested in wildlife or sports photography and few amateur can actually afford a behemoth like the EF 500mm f/4 USM L IS. Admittedly most users will probably vote for the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 USM L IS due to its extra zooming flexibility. However, the prime lens has some advantages. It is capable of achieving an evenly high resolution across the image frame combined with very low lateral CAs. Vignetting is not an issue even on a full format body. There's also only a minimal amount of image distortions. The quality of the bokeh is generally very fine with the exception of "onion-like" out-of-focus highlights.

There's not much more to add that our tests haven't already shown. The lens performs well, perhaps not up to the level that more recent Canon lenses have, but considering the age of its design it still works extremely well. Image stabilization would be a welcome addition to the lens, given the temptation to use it hand-held. If you don't need the larger apertures of the 400mm ƒ/4 or 400mm ƒ/2.8, this is a very convenient and relatively economical lens.

The EF 400mm f/5.6 USM L is a very good to excellent lens in all aspects and optically a somewhat superior to the current (locally tested) 400mm alternatives - at least compared to those that are affordable for mortals. So if you can live without IS and search for a very long tele lens for wildlife or sports photography you should have a deeper look at this lens.

Canon classifies the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM Lens as a "Super Telephoto" lens. It is super in image and build quality, but is not super in size. The Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM Lens is relatively light in weight but very solidly built. It feels long and narrow in your hand - and feels even lighter than it is. This feel is most similar to the Canon EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM Lens. The built-in slide-out lens hood is very convenient.