Canon® Canon 400mm F/2.8L IS III

The Canon 400mm f/2.8L IS III is a superior super-telephoto lens that’s ideal for sports, nature, and wildlife photographers, and an update to the . Key features include:

• Redesigned optics for greater sharpness

• 2 lbs. lighter than its predecessor

• Improved 5-stop, 3-mode image stabilization

• Fast, accurate, silent autofocus

What’s New? The Canon 400mm f/2.8L IS III is a substantial improvement over in several key areas. Its optics have been redesigned to further combat flare and ghosting, it boasts a shorter minimum focusing distance, and it’s just over 2 lbs. lighter—in fact, it’s the lightest available 400mm f/2.8 as of September 2018.

Versatile Super-Telephoto Prime. This lens’s super-telephoto length makes it great for outdoor, sports, and wildlife photography. Its aperture is consistently bright, and its rounded nine-blade diaphragm gives you great depth-of-field control for selective focusing. Using an APS-C camera? You’ll have a focal length equivalent to 640mm.

Redesigned Optics. This lens’s thirteen-group/seventeen-element optical formula includes Super Low Dispersion and fluorite elements that minimize chromatic aberrations and color fringing while providing high clarity, color fidelity, and sharpness. Canon has applied Super Spectra and Air Sphere coatings to the lens elements to further combat ghosting and flaring, even in harsh lighting.

Ultrasonic Focusing Motor. This lens uses a ring-type Ultrasonic Motor to provide fast, accurate, and nearly silent autofocus performance for both still and video shooters. You also get full-time manual-focus controlled by a customizable electronic focusing ring with three sensitivity levels, and a Focus Preset button to quickly recall a programmed focus position.

Optical Image Stabilization. The 400mm f/2.8L IS III’s built-in image stabilizer compensates for five stops of camera shake, so that you can shoot in lower light at slower shutter speeds without worry. You get three image-stabilization modes: standard single-shot mode, a panning-optimized mode, and a mode that only activates the stabilizer during the exposure.

High-Quality Build. This lens boasts a weather-resistant build that protects against the elements so you can use it in adverse conditions. This lens is currently the lightest available 400mm f/2.8, weighing in at a mere 6.25 lbs. compared to its predecessor’s 8.5 lbs.
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I can’t tell you this is ‘sharper than any other 400mm f/2.8’. Let’s be honest, every 400mm f/2.8 is amazingly sharp and differentiating them is splitting hairs. What I can tell you is it’s exceedi…

I can’t tell you this is ‘sharper than any other 400mm f/2.8’. Let’s be honest, every 400mm f/2.8 is amazingly sharp and differentiating them is splitting hairs. What I can tell you is it’s exceedingly well built, and saying it’s lighter is the understatement of the century. Looking at the pounds it weighs doesn’t really show you how much lighter it handles. Previously, 400 f/2.8 lenses had most of their weight up towards the front of the lens. They were hard to handle and unwieldy. You needed a big, sturdy tripod with a heavy-duty head to handle it.

The weight now is back in the center of the lens, which makes it very well balanced. I’m a weak old man and even I can mount this to anything with ease, am very comfortable shooting it on a monopod, and can even hand-hold it for a few decent shots. A strong young man like yourself can probably toss this around like a point-and-shoot. For me, it truly takes a 400 f/2.8 from ‘no you take that, I’ll just borrow it for a few shots after you set it up’ to a lens I really don’t mind using. I’m not saying it’s a good backpacking lens, but it sure is a lot easier to move from the car to the sidelines or the blind.

January 2019