The Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM Lens is Canon's first DO (Diffractive Optics) lens - yielding 400mm f/4 IS performance in a relatively small and light handholdable package . Small and light are of course relative.

My review of the Canon EF 400mm F/4 DO IS USM Super Telephoto Lens. This is such a high quality super telephoto lens that I feel deserve a lot of praise. Here are some the reasons why I decided to acquire this lens.

Great lightweight lens (for a 400mm f4). The resolution is very good however the contrast is lower than other L series super telephotos. This is due to the DO construction. Images taken with this lens will need a little extra local contrast addedd in raw processing.

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  Light weight for it's specification and very good resolution.

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  lowish contrast

I use this product for taking photos mostly of wildlife and sport close-ups. This lens is the best zoom lens i have ever had in my life and i will never get board with using it. There is nothing wrong with this lens.

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  Consistent Output, Durable, Easily Interchangeable, Easy To Clean, Lightweight, Perfect, Rugged, Sharp Focus, Strong Construction

After a first disappointing try, I bought one of these lenses second hand as new, to take care of my back suffering from my practice of the 500 mm f/4 and for traveling light. My lense has been made in 2002 I think.

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  Size, weight, stabilizer, AF, aperture at f/4

• -

  Price, average optical quality, weakness at f/4

I've worked with this lens for about 6yrs now and it does not fail to deliver. Unlike most all of the other super-tele lenses, you will just carry this around with you like a walk around lens and it's out and ready to go.

• +

  Fast auto-focus, Superior build quality, Super-sharp images, lightweight, always ready on my camera

In my opinion, this is a fantastic go-to lens for wildlife photography. Very lightweight and easily handheld, even for longer periods of time in the field. Most of the time, however, I have this lens mated to a 7D along with a 1.4x III attached to a pano-gimbal head/tripod combination.

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  Fast auto-focus, Superior build quality, Super-sharp images, great with 1.4 extender, very light in weight

Despite the bad reviews this lens had in earlier models, I have had no problems with it. It takes fantastic pictures, although primarily designed for "birding" I used it quite successfully, on a recent trip to the zoo. People that viewed my pictures asked "are you a pro?