Still going....

Long after everyone else has packed up and gone home as the light fails. Or been forced to crank up the ISO to unacceptable levels, the EF400 f2.8 can still keep going. The light gathering power of this lens is remarkable even with a 2 stop robbing extender!

In the Air Transat example I wanted to see how long I could continue shooting as the Sun went down. This lens will change the dynamics of how you photograph aircraft.

Firstly there's really no need to go anywhere near the airport. These shots were taken at Hornby, Steeles Ave / Trafalgar Road, base leg for Rwy 06L, some 12 nautical miles from the airport. Unless you are looking for landing or take-off shots. No parking hassles, no Police hassles, no nightmare traffic hassles. Something I had not previously thought about before testing the 400 + 2.0x combo. With a full frame 5D this provides 16x magnification. On a crop body this increases to 25x.

Hand-held...

For the purposes of testing the beast, every single shot was hand-held. Imagine the quality if it were on a tripod with Wimberley head! Still, it is better to see how it performs in the worst case scenario. Focussing was instant, even at sunset with the dark underbelly of the aircraft. Piercing landing lights were laying in wait to fool the AF, but I could not initiate a missed focus. Even lining up the centre AF-point with the fuselage port collision avoidance light, could not fool the system. It performed flawlessly.

Martin.