Decided to treat myself to a full set of high end telephoto lenses before my end stage cancer killed me. I won't have enough time left to give these lenses a thorough work out so I'll leave that to my wife.

The EF 500mm f/4L IS II is the sweet spot of Canon's L series supertelephoto line up. It offers great reach, fast AF and the same quality build and features as its heavier, more expensive stablemates.

This lens is truly fantastic and well worth the time it took to save up for it. Note: I would not recommend ordering this item from Amazon/Adorama.

I've only had this lens for a few days and I really like it. I've had a little bit of a learning curve. Some shots I've taken were out of focus but I'm sure that is operator error and not the lens. My most recent shots of Bald Eagles are really sharp.

Bought this for birding and absolutely love it. I generally use this with the 1.4 extender and it is tack sharp with very fast focus. Definately a lens worth considering if you are doing bird or nature photography.

Overall as good as I could have hoped for. It's a heavy lens but I knew that ahead of time. Extremely sharp photos. Excellent, fast autofocus. Highly recommended.

This is an expensive lens but worth the investment. For wildlife photography its invaluable. my biggest worry was its weight but i have been able to hand hold this lens all be it for short periods but its got me some really great photos.

Have wanted this lens (earlier version) for about 10 years. Finally got it. Very pleased.

Fast / accurate auto-focus

"I have been using this lens for bird photography for about 4 months. Previously, I had been using the 300mm f/4.6. In terms of the optics and electronics, this lens is a quantum leap forward in every respect.

I shoot daily as an amateur. I own the 300 II and the 500 II lens for birding now. Before that the 300 IS and the 500 IS. There is no comparison in the two lenses the new II series blows away the older IS period IMO. I have shot daily with it for about 1.5 years now and it is outstanding.

Finest lens I have ever used bar none

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