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Hi Paddy
The 400mm F5.6L is a nice lens. Through reading posts and reviews on various photography forums and lens review sites, it appears to be the de facto “bird in flight” lens for those who cannot afford the 500mm F4L or 600mm F4L.
The auto focus is very fast which is important for birds in flight. The lens is (relatively) lightweight so I do not experience any sense of discomfort or fatigue even after carrying it around for 3 to 4 hours.
The lens is sharp wide open.
I have used it mainly in bright daylight so the F5.6 aperture is not really a limitation. Under a forest canopy, at dawn/dusk or under dull skies this may be a problem unless you bump up the ISO setting to allow for a suitable shutter speed to minimise camera shake.
When shooting BIF I don’t think that IS is important as I shoot at around 1/1600 sec to minimize camera shake and motion blur.
It is a specialised lens so unless you plan to do a lot of BIF, sport, surf shots, air shows, etc. then it may not be a suitable investment if it only sees the light of day once or twice a year.
Although it is light weight and easily carried all day, I have obtained my most pleasing results and outdoor experiences when I park myself in one location for a few hours with the lens mounted on very good tripod with either a very good ball head (I have a PhotoClam) or a Gimbal Head (I have a Jobu Design model). Having it mounted thus allows me to pan within a defined “strip” of sky whereas handheld, the movement is a lot jerkier as you track a BIF and try to keep it centred.
My standard settings are:
Centre AF point.
AF Servo
High speed drive mode (either 3 or 7 frames a second depending on target)
Manual mode: 1/1600 sec, F5.6, ISO 400 (modified for light/dark plumage)
I really like this lens and for me, it is a definite keeper!
Cheers
Dennis
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