Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender Sandhill Crane Head Portrait

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I got myself a birthday present a few weeks back. 67 BTW on June 14; feel like 13.... Made this one on my birthday 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.

I did have one huge surprise when I was working with the lens. Click here and scroll down to "The Huge Surprise" to find out what amazed me. And to learn a lot more about the new zoom lens. Yikes, I almost forgot: the blog post includes a 100 crop of the image presented here.

As for the image, don't be shy; all comments welcome.

I wish you many happy return of the day and wish that your Birthday present give you a lot of joy of shooting.
Striking portrait image, nice details, HA and composition.

Happy belated birthday Artie! What a nice present to give yourself. Looks like a winner of a combo in terms of usability and IQ! That crop is pretty amazing.

Thanks Jeannean. As I recall, this was only a tiny crop at most from the original. Have fun in the Valley!

Happy birthday, Artie...and congrats on the new lens.
Sharp as can be here. It does seem like this lens is the business for Canon shooters, and paired with the 1Dx you should not need much more in Africa (if you are focusing on mammals, that is).

This is very nice.
I really like the IQ. It is excellent.
The light is great. Love the clean BG as well.
I might be tempted to add a bit more on the bottom ~ 5% because it feels a bit tight to me but that is purely a preference observation. I like my space!
Off topic:I am so tempted to buy or rent this lens for an upcoming trip to the Falklands. WWYD if spending 2 weeks in the Falklands? Take my 600 or leave it at home and rent the 200-400?
Gail

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus

Happy birthday, Artie...and congrats on the new lens.
Sharp as can be here. It does seem like this lens is the business for Canon shooters, and paired with the 1Dx you should not need much more in Africa (if you are focusing on mammals, that is).

Thanks Mork-man. It will be a great lens for Africa but I go nowhere without a big super-telephoto and a 2X TC :).

Quote:

Originally Posted by gail bisson

This is very nice.
I really like the IQ. It is excellent.
The light is great. Love the clean BG as well.
I might be tempted to add a bit more on the bottom ~ 5% because it feels a bit tight to me but that is purely a preference observation. I like my space!
Off topic:I am so tempted to buy or rent this lens for an upcoming trip to the Falklands. WWYD if spending 2 weeks in the Falklands? Take my 600 or leave it at home and rent the 200-400?
Gail

I would actually rent one as it is the perfect lens for down there. BTW, thanks for commenting.

Artie:

Happy belated birthday. I would say this one is fair to middling sharp :w3. It will be interesting to see how Nikon responds to defend this turf, which they have owned for years.

Cheers

Randy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arthur Morris

ThanAs I recall, this was only a tiny crop at most from the original.

Artie, I didn't mean this photo, but the 100% crop you posted on your blog. I knew this wasn't much of a crop (if any).
It's kind of hard to have fun in the Valley at the moment with 105 degree temps and 70% humidity, unless hanging out in the sauna all day is fun. :w3 Wishing October would hurry up!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeannean Ryman

Artie, I didn't mean this photo, but the 100% crop you posted on your blog. I knew this wasn't much of a crop (if any).
It's kind of hard to have fun in the Valley at the moment with 105 degree temps and 70% humidity, unless hanging out in the sauna all day is fun. :w3 Wishing October would hurry up!

Ah, now I get it. It has actually been a bit cooler than usual here so far this summer. You have my sympathies. I head to the Galapagos on Sunday :).

congrats on the b-day and the new toy!
Photo is sharp as can be.
A big zoom would be very handy, I am sure you will give us many nice images as well as food for thought.

nice capture,good BG,sharp,but on my screen,the bill is just a touch soft right at the end,may be because of the slight head turn? thanks.

Beautiful portrait, great details and eye contact. Great Lens and happy belated birthday Artie.

Yew what a awesome birthday present, looks like the lens is very sharp and it's great to have the zoom flexibility. Enjoy and hope have a great day.

excellent picture !

Quote:

Originally Posted by christopher galeski

nice capture,good BG,sharp,but on my screen,the bill is just a touch soft right at the end,may be because of the slight head turn? thanks.

Hi Chris, The bill tip is way sharp enough for me. Whatever you are seeing is surely a result of narrow d-o-f. I worry about getting the eye sharp :). At times lack of d-o-f from too much head turn but not at all with this image.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mohammad reza shahab

excellent picture !

Thanks Mohammad. If you like an image please let us know why. We work hard here to avoid becoming a "Great Shot" forum.

Thankyou for your reply Arthur,and happy belated birthday .:cheers:

What a wonderful colors and details you have captured here, Arthur Sir ?
Love the golden ring of eye,great details,BG and composition.
BTW, belated Happy Birthday to you, Sir.

Regards,
Satish.

Hi Artie, Happy belated birthday, ( 8 days after mine :w3 ) and what a great result from your birthday present. Excellent light and IQ, sharpness spot on, colours all look natural, and against a killer BG. I feel the comp works just fine as is.

Artie, you give a lot of credit to the lens, but I bet your skills make it shine! Looking forward to seeing what you can do with this lens while on travel.

Great image Arthur Bhai,
I can see that the lens does have a great ability to resolve the details and the 1.4 is impressive as well
Nice details and the BG is what is stunning, looking forward to more images from this lens ( from you)

Firstly Artie, belated Happy Birthday. :cheers:

It's a cracking lens, coupled with the 1DX the AF is superb, lighteningly fast and deploying the 1.4 is so easy and very effective when you need it. Crystal clear images and pin sharp, as illustrated above. How do you find the weight, seems like HH the old 500 lens to me? Certainly 'the lens' for Africa and many other similar locations for sure, and will be in my kit bag, fact!!! :S3:

Not sure if it's true, but I did read that deploying the extender whilst the camera is buffering may cause an issue, you might like to check that?

The 'kit' illustrates very well the great detail it captures, especially in the bill and I like the small hairs on the head. Having the contrasting green background really helps the reds & orange of the eye give standout.

Look forward to seeing more.

TFS
Steve

nice and sharp with great light

Sweet image, Happy BD. Looking forward to more images from this new toy.

Well Happy Birthday to you! You got you an awesome present. I am pretty impressed with the detail. As for the image, I like that too.