Canon 100-400 L IS

[bonasman]

After much saving I have purchased a new 100-400 L IS for use with my Rebel XT. After my first shoot with the new lens I find I am overexposing, particularly in the strong North Carolina summer sun.

Can anyone comment on ideal settings for this camera/lens set up?

[pdeboer]

Congrats with your purchase! Not familiar with the Rebel, I have a Nikon D80, but have a similar 'problem'. It is quite common to do some exposure compensation (or EV) when shooting on daytime when the sun is shining eleborately. Try EV -0.3 or even 0.7.

cheers, Pamela

[MELflyer]

When i got my 100-400, it seemed to be darker than previous lenses, meaning i had to overexpose. This seems to be the case with all of my L lenses v non-L lenses.

[ollieholmes]

Have a play with the exposure compensation to get the ballance right. Im not a Canon user so i cannot comment on what settings to use.

[kukkudrill]

I have the same set-up but I have not had any exposure issues that have to do with the lens. However, any camera will struggle with brightly-lit white fuselages against deep blue skies. You just need to adjust the exposure compensation as others have said.

[RingwaySam]

I'm considering getting a 100-400 myself in the near future so if anyone has any opinions that'd be great.

As for the overexposure - I've had this aswell but with my Bigma. I asked a few photogs what settings they usually use and they said F8 / -0.3. When I use them they come out really really blown out. I've tried quite a few settings but i'm running out of ideas. Any ideas?

[Mark Ralph]

I have the same set-up but I have not had any exposure issues that have to do with the lens. However, any camera will struggle with brightly-lit white fuselages against deep blue skies. You just need to adjust the exposure compensation as others have said.

Same set up for me last year, I can only reiterate what Charles has written. I would like to add though, I found relying on reviewing the image on the screen to inaccurate, i ended up just looking at the histogram instead. The screen did not display a "True" representaion of the captured image.
On a side note the 100-400 is a very versatile bit of kit, for the sharp shots I have always had superb results at f7.1 around the 285-320mm range.

[Mark Ralph]

I'm considering getting a 100-400 myself in the near future so if anyone has any opinions that'd be great.

As for the overexposure - I've had this aswell but with my Bigma. I asked a few photogs what settings they usually use and they said F8 / -0.3. When I use them they come out really really blown out. I've tried quite a few settings but i'm running out of ideas. Any ideas?

Have you tried altering the metering mode?

[RingwaySam]

Have you tried altering the metering mode?

Hi Mark,

I've tried it once and it seemed to work. Looking at my settings it looks like i've reset all the settings by accident, causing it to change back to Pattern - Average worked ok. Not tried it in crappy weather though.

Thanks!

[bonasman]

Hi Mark,

I've tried it once and it seemed to work. Looking at my settings it looks like i've reset all the settings by accident, causing it to change back to Pattern - Average worked ok. Not tried it in crappy weather though.

Thanks!

Thanks for the help everyone. What improvements can be made by changing the metering mode, and can the changes help with white fuselages?

[bonasman]

I have the same set-up but I have not had any exposure issues that have to do with the lens. However, any camera will struggle with brightly-lit white fuselages against deep blue skies. You just need to adjust the exposure compensation as others have said.

Thanks for the help.

What is meant by exposure compensation, is this a setting that can be changed on the Canon also, or am I looking to deeply.

[pdeboer]

Thanks for the help.

What is meant by exposure compensation, is this a setting that can be changed on the Canon also, or am I looking to deeply.

If you go here: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...&modelid=11154

and type 'exposure compensation', you'll find out how to do that on the rebel xt

[bonasman]

If you go here: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...&modelid=11154

and type 'exposure compensation', you'll find out how to do that on the rebel xt

Thanks!

I am familiar with the operation of increasing and decreasing exposure by 1/3 stops, I had not heard it called "Exposure compensation" before.

Again, thanks to all for the help. I am going to the overlook at CLT this afternoon to make some experiments, hopefully I will have some shots good enough to upload soon.

LT

[B7772ADL]

I'm considering getting a 100-400 myself in the near future so if anyone has any opinions that'd be great.

You know my opinion on that heap of junk ..keep telling you 70-200 F4LIS and a 1.4x is the way forward...you won't need an F2.8 version so the F4 will be just fine.

[RingwaySam]

I know, I know! If I can save abit extra I may actually get the 2.8, not too sure yet. You know me though, I love the range of Bigma. I could get the 1.4x like you said but if I get the 2.8 i'll have to save abit longer, leaving me with just 200mm for a while