$1.629

I’ve been selling a bunch of things on eBay, and finally got up enough money to buy the long lens I’ve been wanting for a while: the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L!

Being L glass, this lens was touted as one of the best for airshows, birding, and other nature photography. Supposedly the IS (Image Stabilization) technology really made the lens nice to use, hand-held, even at the 400mm. I have to admit that I was skeptical that it could live up to all the claims.

I brought it home, and the first thing I noticed was that it was sharp — really sharp — through the viewfinder. And, as I shot more and more with it, I realized that what I had read was right. This was a great lens, and really delivered on the promise of high quality optics (L glass), fast, accurate focusing (USM) and the ability to keep the “wiggle” out of hand held photos (IS).

This is really a remarkable lens.

So what am I gonna do with it? Well, our vacation’s coming up in just a week, and I would really like to shoot all manner of flora and fauna with it. I’ve been practicing, and I think I’m getting better at using it, and figuring out how and when to use the IS, and how to focus manually when needed.