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"Canon 7d + 100-400mm IS Zoom Poor for Bird Photography"
2.0 starson by gzelychPros: For large objects the autofocus works well. But smaller low contrast objects ( e.g., anything duck sized or smaller ) come out soft and out of focus approximately 9 times out ot 10!
Cons: Abysmal low contrast focus capability and generally flat, muddy images.
Summary: In my opinion, and significant experience ( several months and several thousands of photos with the 7d and the 100-400mm lens ) Canon really dropped the ball with this cameras poor single point, ai servo ( i.e., the best the camera can do ) autofocus capability!
With it's speed ( 8 frame/sec ), crop factor ( 1.6 x ) and a 400 mm zoom ( 640 mm effective ) this pair should be a dream come true for bird photographers. In fact it's abysmal low contrast focus capability and generally flat, muddy images leave me very, very disappointed.
- 1 reply to this review
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I have had similar problems photographing small birds and butterflies, and landscapes with very low contrast, with a Canon 70 - 200 IS F/2.8. The only workarounds I have found for the landscape is to include higher contrast components, or use a smaller lens such as a Canon 17 - 55 IS F/2.8, and the photo comes out vastly better. The problem is especially bad at the 200 mm end of the Canon lens. Of course, there is always the option of turning off the autofocus and using manual focus: this works quite well when AF is a no go.
If anyone has other workarounds, I would be interested in hearing them.
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