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Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott, and I just wrapped up my review of the Canon RF 100 to 400 millimeter F5.6 to F8
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IS USM lens, and about a month ago, I reviewed the Canon RF 100 to 500 millimeter F4.5 to 7.4.5.7
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1 L-IS-USM lens. So these are two lenses that cover mostly the same focal length
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Obviously, the L-Series lens has an extra 100 millimeters of focal length, but they occupy
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very, very different price points. So as soon as I finished up the review of the RF 100 to 500 L, a lot of people begin to
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ask me, would I review the 100 to 400-IS non-L-Series lens, which of course I have at this point
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But that leads me to today's discussion, because I recognize that, you know, that, you know
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Not only are people interested in a review of those things, but maybe some people are debating
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whether or not they can get by with the cheaper lens. Now, for some of you, the L-series lens is just not even in the consideration
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And a big part of that is because of the price itself. About $2,900 US dollars, and I know from responses of many of you around the world
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in your country, it's equivalent of well over $3,000. And that's the same in my country here in Canada as well
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So the 100 to 400 millimeter lens comes at a much more manageable $650
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So probably those of you that can't afford the L-series lens are wondering, well, is the 100 to 400 good enough
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The answer to that is a little bit complicated, but what I'm going to do today is to talk to you very briefly about the relative strengths of each lens and then give you a summation at the end as to whether or not I think you can live with the cheaper lens or not
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So let's talk about some strengths for the 100 to 400. Obviously, it has a much lower price
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In fact, if you do the math, you could buy four of these lenses and still have several
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hundred dollars left over to invest in something else. So that's going to be a huge factor for some of you
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Another reason to consider the 100 to 400 is it is significantly smaller and lighter
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This is a lens that has a form factor more similar to a 70 to 300 millimeter lens and it comes into about 700 grams lighter So obviously that going to make a real difference for those of you that just aren up to either carrying a large amount of weight or aren interested in carrying that weight all day
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or maybe you need to travel light, and every gram matters in that situation
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So here we've got a lens that is only about 650 grams, and so it is very lightweight
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very easy to bring into the field. Another strength of the lens relative to the L-series lens is that the cheaper lens actually has a higher magnification
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The L-series lens is good, 0.33 times magnification, but the 100 to 400 is even better at 0.41 times magnification
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That's obviously going to be a really useful figure, and being able to focus as close as 88 centimeters is going to be very useful for many different applications
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Interestingly, another strength relative to the L-series lens is that there is
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full compatibility with cannons 1.4 times and 2 times extenders. They will physically fit
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You can travel with the mountain, whereas with the L-series lens, you could actually only use
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those extenders from 300 to 500 millimeters, and they just won't physically fit if you're zoomed in
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any less than 300 millimeters. So it was very surprising to me to find that the cheaper, much
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smaller lens is more compatible with extenders, at least physically, than what the
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the much more expensive and larger L-series lenses. One final, maybe more minor distinction is that there is a minor
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a higher rating for the cheaper lens when it comes to its rating for its IS or
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image stabilization system. It's at five and a half stops. And if you have a body with embodied image stabilization
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that will bump up to six stops with the combined effort. Obviously a half stop is not really all that much of a difference
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With the L-series lenses, it's rated at five stops as opposed to 5.5. So another advantage there. And of course, the biggest one
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let's be honest, is going to be the price. And if price were no difference, probably many
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very few of you would choose to purchase the cheaper lens, but that price is a huge, huge factor
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So what about the L-series lenses? What advantage does it have? Well, first of all, it has a bigger
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zoom range. Instead of a four-time zoom range, it has a five-time zoom range. And that extra
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100 millimeters getting you all the way to 500 millimeters is really useful it means that for many of us that were coming from the maybe previous L 100 to 4mm lens we can now not worry about using an extender because 500 millimeters is probably going to get you close to as far as you want to reach
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It also has a much faster maximum aperture throughout the zoom range
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And though while I critiqued the L-series lens because it closes down to a smaller maximum aperture than any L-series lens before it
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At the same time, it has a significant improvement of maximum aperture throughout the zoom range
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And so that's going to be a serious factor. It also has a pro-grade build with weather ceiling, flooring coatings
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all of those things that are going to make it the more durable lens
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and also mean that you can use it in a wider variety of weather conditions
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It's going to be a lens designed to be used by professionals, while the 100 to 400 is more of a consumer-grade lens
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It does have dual nano-USM motors versus a single nano-USM motor in the 100 to 400
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though I will note because the elements are smaller, because of that smaller maximum aperture
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I found that autofocus was not terribly different between the two, though I will give the edge for overall tracking performance to the L-Series lens
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The L-Series lens, while its stabilizer is not rated quite as high in general
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it has more stabilizer modes, and I also found that it worked a little bit more consistently than the cheaper lens
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It has a focus limiter, which could be useful. If you want to eliminate close focus possibilities, it has a tripod collar, which matters a lot to a lot of people
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It has a friction ring that gives you more versatility on how you're going to zoom it in and out
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and where you want that friction to be, whereas the cheaper lens has only a lock at 100 millimeters
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The L-series lens comes with both a lens hood and a case
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And probably the most compelling reason to consider the L-series lens is it has much, much better image quality
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It's much more consistent throughout the whole zoom range, and in fact, it is one of the most consistent zooms that I've used for consistency of just great image quality across the frame all throughout
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So it's not only more consistent throughout the zoom range, it's more consistent across the image circle, where you have great sharpness in the center, great sharpness in the midframe, and great sharpness right out to the corners
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The 100 to 400 is pretty good in the center of the frame Not quite L series good but you know fairly competitive But the further you move out from the center the more that the image quality drops Another big difference I noted with the L lens is that it has almost all of its image quality potential on from wide aperture
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So from F4.5 at 100 millimeters to F7.1 at 500 millimeters, you can be assured that you are getting close to peak performance right there from whatever that maximum aperture is
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That's just not true of the cheaper lens. In many cases, I found that it benefited from being stopped down one or two stops
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which can be extremely limiting when you have such a small maximum aperture to begin with
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For example, at F8, you're stopping, you only really have the headroom to stop down to F11
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before you really start to see the effects of diffraction after that. And so it is very much a lens that is designed for use in good light and certainly not along the margins
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The L-Series lens is still not top-notch, but the fact that you can get top-notch
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top-notch, image quality from it wide open, does make it more versatile in more situations
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In this case, I do believe that you get what you pay for, though I think that there's still
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probably an argument to be made for many people that there is not enough of an advantage
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with the L-series lens to warrant its incredibly high price tag. At the end of the day, if you can't afford the L-series lens, then you can't afford it
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And I think that the 100 to 400 is a pretty good alternative
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and for other people who are more concerned about traveling light above all else
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maybe a little bit less of a pixel peeper, it's a very compelling option because it is a great package
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So I think that there is a market for both lenses. Just don't expect that the cheaper lens is really going to perform
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at the level of the L-Series lens, despite what someone might say out there
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I do think it is a good option for some, but if you are someone who is a pixel peeper
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you shoot an inclement weather, you need the very best performance. you better save up and buy the L-Series lens
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I'm Dustin Abbott, and if you look in the description down below, you can find link to both of my reviews of that
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also buying links for both lenses. There's also linkage there to follow myself or Craig on social media
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to take a look at our new channel, let the light in TV, to become a patron or to purchase channel merchandise
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And if you haven't already, please click that subscribe button right here on YouTube
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Thanks for watching. Have a great day and let the light in
