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So prompted by two major things:

1.) My 100-400 Mk1, which I bought used, is not doing so well;
2.) An acquaintance is retiring from Canon, and letting me use her discount;

I've decided to purchase the 100-400 Mark II.

I still want a new camera. But I really don't need one. I think the lens is a better and more practical purchase at this point.

Aside from presumably better image quality, several things have me excited about the upgrade:

1.) Back to ring zoom, instead of push-pull. Push-pull was absolutely great for manual focusing, but since I do very little of that, I think a ring zoom is better.
2.) Better and quicker focusing.
3.) Better IS. I don't think the IS on the 100-400 Mk1 was all that great. And it's been really not working well for a few months now. Also interested to try out IS Mode 3, which the new lens has.
4.) Much reduced close-focusing distance. Max magnification is listed at 0.31x for the Mark 2. That's fantastic - even better than my old 300 F4L IS. Time for more pseudo-macro shots!
5.) Moisture sealing - the Mark 2 has moisture sealing at the mount. The Mark 1 didn't....and given how much I took that lens out into the rain, I anticipate doing so even more with the Mark 2.

But Vik, you ask, what are you doing with your old 100-400??? Oh, you didn't ask? Fine then.

Thus concludes Chapter 4 of Why Vik Has No Money.

You'll not be disappointed. Sharp throughout the range. I only just recently tried IS mode 3 myself and it works very well. Easier to follow aircraft with as you are not working against the stabilisation and it saves on battery life quite a bit as the IS only kicks in as soon as you hit the shutter button.

Can't wait to see what you can pull off with this, Vik!

It is an awsome lens. Had mine for a while now and have been very impressed with the results

vikkyvik wrote:4.) Max magnification is listed at 0.31x for the Mark 2. That's fantastic - even better than my old 300 F4L IS. Time for more pseudo-macro shots!

This is what I love with the MkII too, I'd want more range that I currently have with my 70-200, the 70-300 would be great but both are 0.21x. I was also looking at the 400mm f/5.6L but it has only 0.12x magnification and no IS Of course the 70-300 would be the cheapest option as I could sell my problem child 70-200 to fund it. Option 2 is to buy that damn 100-400 and fly less for a while, but that's not really an option...

vikkyvik wrote:Thus concludes Chapter 4 of Why Vik and Jeff Have No Money.