Canon 200-400 F4 L IS with 1.4x extender Prototype Review

Well the Canon 200-400 F4 L IS with 1.4x extender  has been announced and delivery of these amazing lenses is expected to start soon.

In February this year I had the joy of  seeing the Canon 200-400 F4 L IS with 1.4x extender prototype in the flesh.

I came along to shoot some video which culminated in the below video:

Canon 200-400 Pre-Production Sample Lens Review from Joshua Holko on Vimeo.

 

During my time producing this video I was able to get some hands on impressions of the Canon 200-400 F4 L IS with 1.4x extender and I must say I was impressed.  Actually I must confess… I just plain fell in love with this lens and haven’t stopped thinking of it since that day.

 

The sheer ease of use of being able to ‘roll’ in the 1.4x extender makes using this the Canon 200-400 F4 L IS with 1.4x extender a complete and utter joy.  In comparison on the day there was a Nikon D800E with the Nikon 200-400 equivalent and a Nikon 1.4x extender.

 

 

Now please note this lens was a protoype and not a production model, even my the latest firmware on the newest model cameras had no data for this lens.

When it came to shooting the range of the subject was changing, with the Nikon changing the extender involved removing the lens, attaching/removing the extender and then re-attach the lens to the camera body.  The time to undertake this just drove home how convenient the Canon design is and what a difference it can make whilst in the field when it comes to capturing that shot.  Convenience is only one factor in choosing equipment but in this case convenience is a very prominent factor.

What takes a mere second to do with the Canon 200-400 F4 L IS, dropping in the 1.4x extender, is a good 10-20 second process on the Nikon that involves exposing your lens elements and camera internals to the elements.  Not something you want to be doing if you’re in a Zodiac with water spray.

 

 

With the Canon 200-400 F4 L IS you can keep your eye up to the view finder, move your hand around the to extender lever and either roll-in or roll-out the extender and keep shooting.  At worst you’ll drop 1 second worth of frames.    With the Nikon you’re going to have to disengage from your subject, look down at the camera and using both hands to reconfigure the lens arrangement and then re-acquire your subject re-focus and start shooting easily loosing 20 seconds of frames. When shooting wildlife such as Polar Bears or even birds this can make a massive difference between getting ‘that shot’ and not.

Even with the Canon 1D-X, Nikon D4 and the likes of my trusty 1D Mark IV, loosing even 5 seconds of shooting time means 50 frames+ that could be that that micro expression or head position that will be missed but in reality it’ll take the average photographer well over 5 seconds to add or remove an extender to the rear of a lens.

Needless to say the optical quality of the lens albeit a prototype was without peer. Compared to the Canon 300 2.8 IS on the day it blitzed the Canon 300 2.8 IS from f/4 onwards.  An amazing feat. The only thing the 300 2.8 IS had it on it was a shorter length.

The only problem that I can see with this lens is the fact is  a $12,000 hole in pocket and that I will be way down the list of people awaiting delivery of this lens.  I am truly hoping to get to use the Canon 200-400 F4 L IS with 1.4x extender  on my Jewels of the Arctic Expedition in August.

Maybe I can take solace in the fact I haven’t upgraded my 1D MarkIV yet to a 1D-X yet and that that $6,000 could be spent on this beauty …