Hire Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Our thoughts

'Canon offers a vast range of telephoto lenses in its EF-mount lineup, but when it comes to zooms covering the 100-400mm focal length there’s only one lens to choose and it’s this one. Its maximum aperture of f/4 switches over to f/5 at 125mm and it doesn’t reach f/5.6 until it’s used beyond 300mm. It’s at home shooting cars on the track in the pouring rain as it is photographing animals on safari in midday sun and delivers exceptional sharpness across the frame with only a slight reduction in sharpness at the long end. Bokeh is beautifully portrayed in out of focus regions too. It’s an L-series lens that strikes the perfect balance between advanced features and sublime performance.'  

The details

Versatile super-telephoto performance
The EF 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6L IS II USM is ideal for photographers who are travelling light and want to take just one telephoto lens with them. A great choice for sports and wildlife photography – the 100-400mm zoom range puts you right next to distant subjects, and lets you react quickly in a fast-changing situation. When used on cameras featuring APS-C sized sensors, the EF 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6L IS II USM offers angles of view equivalent to a 160-640mm on a full-frame camera.

Stay sharp, whatever the light
The EF 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6L IS II USM delivers sharp, high-contrast images, using fluorite and Super Ultra-low Dispersion (Super UD) lens elements to tackle artefacts and distortion. A three-mode image stabiliser guards against blur from camera shake, allowing handheld shooting with shutter speeds up to 4 stops slower than normal.

Fear no flare
Shoot into the light confident that Canon’s multi-layered Air Sphere Coating (ASC) will protect against flare, ghosting and reduced contrast. ASC uses a multi-layer coating to reduce reflections including a layer of nanosized air spheres deposited on the lens surface to slow down light more gradually as it enters the lens, this prevents the internal reflections that reduce image quality.

Ergonomic handling
Different photographers work in different ways. Use the zoom touch adjustment ring to set the amount of resistance felt when zooming the lens: a light touch is ideal when you’ll be working quickly in a fast-changing situation. On the other hand, you might want to stiffen or lock the zoom mechanism when you don’t want the focal length to change accidentally.

Fast focus when you want it
Enjoy fast USM autofocus that locks on accurately and in near-silence. Full-time manual focus override allows precise adjustment without taking your camera away from your eye. The EF 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6L IS II USM focuses down to 0.98m, letting you react to subjects that come unexpectedly close.

Protected from the great outdoors
Keep shooting even in tough weather conditions. As an L-series lens, the EF 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6L IS II USM is sealed against dust and moisture, so you can keep shooting even when conditions turn bad. A fluorine coating on the lens’ front element repels dirt making the lens easy to clean.