Canon EF Lenses

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Zoom Lens

A truly professional telephoto zoom lens with Image Stabilization, making hand-holding practical even at its 400mm focal length. Both a Fluorite and a Super UD-glass element ensure outstanding contrast and sharpness, and it accepts the EF Extenders 1.4x II and 2x II. A ring-type USM makes AF fast and silent down to 5.9 feet (1.8m); of course it offers full-time manual focus override. This durable L-series lens is regarded by many pros as one of the world's finest telephoto zooms for hand-held outdoor use.

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM

Features and Specs | Large Image

Key Features of the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Zoom Lens

Fluorite (CaF2) Lens Element: The refraction of light differs depending on the wavelength. The point of focus therefore differs depending on the different wavelengths or colors. When the different wavelengths are focused at different points, the colors look smeared. This is called chromatic aberration. The longer the focal length, the more pronounced chromatic aberration becomes. Usually, an achromatic element is used in a lens to correct chromatic aberration. However, normal optical glass can only be corrected for two primary spectral colors. An exception to this limitation is Fluorite, an ideal material. Fluorite, which is crystalline, has abnormally low refraction and dispersion characteristics, which optical glass cannot achieve. It also has anomalous dispersion from the green to blue wavelengths. Canon developed production technologies to manufacture Fluorite. By incorporating Fluorite in lenses, the points of focus of the three primary spectral colors of red, green, and blue all meet at one point for ideal correction of chromatic aberration.
One Super Ultra-Low Dispersion UD Glass Element: UD-glass is a special type of optical glass whose properties nearly match those of Fluorite. Super UD glass was introduced in 1993 as a new material that achieves almost the same performance as Fluorite while achieving a new balance of cost reduction and high quality. One Super UD glass element gives almost the same effect as one Fluorite element.

Floating System: Ordinary lenses are designed to give the best results when the correction of aberrations is most effective. This is usually at the most commonly-used focusing distances. At other focusing distances, especially at the closest focusing distance, aberrations tend to appear. Canon's floating system suppresses aberrations at close focusing distances. This system adjusts the gap between certain lens elements in correspondence to the focusing distance. The aberration is effectively corrected. The result is high image quality with aberrations suppressed at all focusing distances.
Image Stabilization Technology: No matter how great the lens is, camera shake can spoil the shot. Blurred photos due to camera shake usually occur when the shutter speed is slower than the reciprocal of the lens focal length. For example, a shutter speed slower than 1/400 sec. at the 400mm focal length can invite a blurred photo caused by camera shake. In such cases, a tripod is necessary. However, a tripod can be a heavy and troublesome burden when you go hiking or traveling. There are even places where using tripods is prohibited. Using a slow shutter speed then becomes difficult.
To resolve this problem, Canon became the first manufacturer to incorporate an Image Stabilizer in an SLR camera lens. Optical shake is detected by gyro sensors which provide the data necessary to shift the image-stabilizing lens group in parallel to neutralize the shake. This increases the usable shutter speed range by up to 2 full steps for hand-held shooting. Like most Canon IS lenses, the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Zoom Lens has two IS modes. One is for normal image stabilization and the other is for panned shots. With a monopod, the Image Stabilizer operates normally as during hand-held shooting.
Ultrasonic Motor: Powered by Canon's exclusive Ultrasonic (USM) motor for autofocusing, the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM is silent in operation and very quick to focus, even in low-light conditions. There is virtually no whining noise as the lens focuses to distract the subject or draw attention to the photographer. Most important for the photographer in the field, the motor draws minimal power so the camera batteries last longer.
Inner Focusing and Rear Focusing: An inner focusing lens has the focusing lens group(s) in front of the diaphragm, while a rear focusing lens has the focusing lens group(s) behind the diaphragm. Both focusing systems allow the focusing lens group to be small. This minimizes the load on the actuator which drives the autofocus. In turn, the AF speed is faster. The whole optical system can also be made more compact. Also, since the lens does not rotate during focusing, the effects of a circular polarizing filter or gelatin filter remain intact.
Full-Time Manual Focus: Ring-type Ultrasonic Motor allows manual focusing without switching out of the auto mode, making this lens ideal for many photographic applications including sports, photojournalism, portraits, and landscapes.
EF Lens Mount: In designing the EF lens mount, Canon engineers gave photographers a lot more than simply a way to quickly attach an interchangeable lens to a camera body. With the elimination of mechanical connections and the incorporation of an electronic interface between the camera and lens, Canon cameras have greater flexibility with regard to incorporating future technologies and future system upgrades. This fact has already been proven with a vast increase in AF speed, increased functionality such as predictive autofocus systems found in EOS cameras, auto-aperture tilt-shift (TS-E) lenses, the use of ultrasonic motors and the development of the Image Stabilizer lens.
Passes Distance Information to E-TTL II: The lens passes distance information back to the camera's E-TTL II flash system for consistently accurate flash metering.
Canon L-Series Lens: The lens embodies Canon's highest standards of L-series optics, build quality, reliability and operability. A robust construction includes dust and moisture resistant seals to protect against harsh weather conditions.

Specifications

Focal Length: 100-400mm
Lens Construction: 17 elements in 14 groups
Maximum Magnification: 0.20x (at 400mm)
Maximum Aperture: 4.5-5.6
Minimum Aperture: 32-38

Data based on EOS models with exposures displayed in 1/2 stop increments. It varies slightly with the EOS-1Ds, EOS-1D Mark II, EOS-1D, EOS-1V, EOS-1N, EOS-1 and EOS-3.
Diagonal Angle of View: 24º - 6º 10'
Focus Adjustment: Rear focusing system with USM
Closest Focusing Distance: 1.8m / 5.9 ft.
Zoom System: Linear extension type
Filter Size: 77mm
Max. Diameter x Length: 3.6" x 7.4" / 92.0mm x 189.0mm
Weight: 3 lbs. 0.7 oz. / 1.38Kg

Canon EF Lenses
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