Canon's new 200-400mm f/4 L IS lens

Well, Canon finally did it. They are bringing a 200-400mm f/4 lens to the market, supposedly before the end of 2011. This is excellent news for wildlife photographers! I have been waiting for a Canon lens like this for many years, and the main reason why I switched to Nikon 2 years ago. What makes this lens so unique is that the new lens has a 1.4x teleconverter built-in. What you say? Yes, there is a small, mechanical switch near the top of the rear of the lens that can move a 1.4x teleconverter into place when needed. This makes the lens a 280-560mm f/5.6. Very very cool and a nice feature.

So, the question of the day: will I move back to Canon? Possibly. I have enjoyed my time with Nikon, however most of my customers are Canon shooters. I do love my Nikon D3x camera, which is a better camera than the Canon 1DsMk3, however neither of these two cameras shoots video. My intention is to shoot more video, and Canon does rule the roost in this area right now. We shall see. What pains me is that Nikon doesn’t have an answer to Canon’s 100-400mm, which was a workhorse for me for many years. The Nikon 80-400mm is extremely slow when focusing, which makes it a non-starter for my own needs.