100-400 mm telephoto zooms compared: many spotters’ standard lens

Look around at a busy spotter point and you’ll soon notice: an unusually large number of cameras carry a telephoto zoom from 100 to 400 mm. There is a simple reason. The range is long enough for approaches and distant taxiways, short enough for aircraft taxiing right past you, and most models stay light enough that you can handhold them all day. This comparison shows what distinguishes the 100-400 zooms of the big camera systems, how your sensor changes the reach and when you should still reach for a longer lens.

100-400 mm: the short answer

For many spotters, a 100-400 mm telephoto zoom is the best all-round lens at the airport, because it covers the typical distances of deck, hill and fence with a single lens. Almost every camera maker has such a zoom in its lineup. The models differ less in focal length than in weight, speed at the long end, minimum focus distance, stabilizer and teleconverter suitability. If you mostly stand far from the runway, on the other hand, you need more reach – then a converter or a 150-600 is the better solution.

Why 100 to 400 mm in particular?

At the airport, the distances to your subject change constantly. An Airbus on final approach is at first small and far away, then comes closer quickly and after landing may taxi past you at short range. At the same time, an aircraft you’re interested in is parked at the other end of the apron. With a prime lens you would have to choose one of these situations – with a zoom you simply turn the ring.

How long your lens needs to be for a particular spot, by the way, can be calculated quite precisely: distance, aircraft length and sensor width give the matching focal length. The derivation, with a table, is in the guide Which lens for plane spotting?. In practice the rule of thumb is: on observation decks and at fence spots near the taxiway, the 100 to 400 mm range is mostly enough; at hills and vantage points with distance from the runway, the long end sometimes gets tight.

There is also a practical advantage: most 100-400 zooms are considerably shorter and lighter than superzooms up to 600 mm. They fit in normal camera backpacks, can be used without a tripod and attract less attention at the fence. That last point is not entirely unimportant – why a big telephoto lens sometimes prompts questions is explained in the article Big telephoto, big suspicion.

The models at a glance

The following table summarizes the key manufacturer figures. Weights are without tripod collar where the manufacturer distinguishes; we deliberately leave out prices, because they fluctuate widely by retailer and time.

Lens	System / mount	Aperture	Weight approx.	Minimum focus distance	Stabilization
Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM	Canon RF (mirrorless)	f/5.6–8	635 g	n/a	optical
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM	Canon EF (DSLR, adaptable)	f/4.5–5.6	1,570 g	0.98 m	optical
Nikon Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S	Nikon Z	f/4.5–5.6	1,355 g	0.75–0.98 m	5.5 stops (CIPA)
Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS	Sony E	f/4.5–5.6	1,395 g	0.98 m	optical
Fujifilm XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR	Fujifilm X (APS-C)	f/4.5–5.6	just under 1.4 kg	n/a	5 stops (CIPA)
OM System M.Zuiko 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS II	Micro Four Thirds	f/5–6.3	1,125 g	1.3 m	up to 7 stops with Sync IS
Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary	Sony E, L-Mount, Fujifilm X	f/5–6.3	1,135–1,140 g	1.12–1.6 m	4 stops (CIPA)
Tamron 100-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD	Canon EF, Nikon F (DSLR)	f/4.5–6.3	n/a	1.5 m	4 stops (CIPA)

“n/a” means: we had no reliable manufacturer figure for this value. The table is no substitute for a look at the current data sheet – manufacturers occasionally revise their lenses, as the example of the OM System zoom in its second version shows.

The manufacturers’ zooms in detail

Canon: light or fast

Canon has two very different 100-400s. The RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM for the mirrorless EOS R cameras came out in 2021 and weighs only around 635 grams. For spotters it is thus one of the lightest ways to get to 400 mm – ideal as a travel lens or for getting started. The compromise is in the speed: f/8 at the long end is one stop darker than on the pro zooms. According to the manufacturer, Canon’s RF Extenders 1.4x and 2x can still be attached.

The EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM dates from 2014 and was long the standard lens of Canon spotters. At just under 1.6 kilograms it is the heaviest model in the comparison, but offers the brighter aperture, sturdy L construction and a minimum focus distance of under a meter. On mirrorless Canon cameras it can continue to be used via the in-house adapter, which makes it interesting on the used market. A third Canon option is the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L, which at around 1.37 kilograms already goes in the direction of a superzoom.

Nikon: the Z 100-400 VR S

Nikon’s Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S belongs to the S line, the highest quality tier of Z lenses. Nikon states the weight as around 1,355 grams without tripod collar and cites an image stabilizer with 5.5 stops under the CIPA standard. Handy for details on the fuselage: the minimum focus distance at the short end is 0.75 meters. With the Z teleconverters TC-1.4x and TC-2.0x it extends to 560 and 800 mm, respectively, according to Nikon, although autofocus may get slower depending on the situation.

Sony: the FE 100-400 GM

The Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS was introduced in 2017 and belongs to the G Master series. It weighs around 1,395 grams, focuses down to 0.98 meters and works with Sony’s 1.4x and 2x converters. That gets you to 560 and 800 mm, respectively. On a Sony with an APS-C sensor or in crop mode, the angle of view becomes correspondingly narrower.

Fujifilm: 100-400 on APS-C

The Fujinon XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR is a true long telephoto on Fujifilm’s APS-C cameras: according to Fujifilm, the angle of view corresponds to 152 to 609 mm in 35 mm terms. It weighs just under 1.4 kilograms, is sealed against splashes and has a five-stop stabilizer. With the 1.4x converter you get an angle of view like about 850 mm in 35 mm terms – enough even for small turboprops on distant runways.

OM System: 800 mm in a small format

Thanks to the crop factor of 2 on Micro Four Thirds, the M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS II becomes a lens with an angle of view like 200 to 800 mm in 35 mm terms – at a weight of around 1,125 grams. With matching OM System cameras, the manufacturer combines lens and sensor stabilization to up to seven stops. With the MC-20 converter you reach, per the manufacturer, an angle of view like 1,600 mm in 35 mm terms. The flip side of the small sensor: in low light the picture gets noisy sooner than on full frame.

Sigma and Tamron: the alternatives

The Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary is available for mirrorless cameras with Sony E, L and Fujifilm X mounts. Depending on the mount it weighs around 1.14 kilograms, has a stabilizer with its own panning mode and a focus limiter. Unusually, you can zoom it both with the zoom ring and by pushing the barrel. Sigma’s teleconverters, per the manufacturer, fit only the L-Mount version, however.

The Tamron 100-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD is a lens for DSLRs with Canon EF and Nikon F mounts. At its launch, Tamron advertised it as the lightest zoom in its class for full-frame DSLRs. Since it is built for DSLR mounts, it is interesting mainly used: for owners of older DSLRs it is a comparatively affordable way to get to 400 mm.

Sensor size: how 400 mm becomes more

Focal length is a property of the lens, but the angle of view depends on the sensor. A smaller sensor cuts a smaller section out of the image, so the aircraft fills more of the frame. That is the reason a 100-400 is so popular on APS-C and Micro Four Thirds cameras.

Sensor	Crop factor approx.	400 mm corresponds to approx.	Typical cameras
Full frame	1.0	400 mm	Canon EOS R, Nikon Z (FX), Sony Alpha 7/9/1
APS-C (Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm)	1.5	600 mm	Nikon Z (DX), Sony Alpha 6000 series, Fujifilm X
APS-C (Canon)	1.6	640 mm	Canon EOS R7, R10
Micro Four Thirds	2.0	800 mm	OM System, Panasonic Lumix G

Important: on full frame you can achieve the same effect by cropping afterward – but you lose pixels in doing so. A high-resolution full-frame camera with a 100-400 and an APS-C camera with the same lens therefore deliver a similar number of pixels at the same framing. How to crop cleanly without ruining the picture is explained in the guide on cropping aircraft photos. Which camera system suits you overall is compared in the article Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, OM System; tips on the right body are in The best camera for plane spotting.

With the following calculator you can check how much of the frame an aircraft fills widthwise at 400 mm (or another focal length).

Speed: what f/8 means compared with f/5.6

The zooms’ aperture figures look similar at first glance but differ noticeably in practice. Between f/5.6 and f/8 lies a whole stop: the lens lets through only half as much light. Between f/5.6 and f/6.3, by contrast, it is only a third of a stop.

In midday sunshine it hardly matters. To freeze aircraft sharply, shutter speeds around 1/1000 second are usually enough for jets, and there is enough light for that even at f/8 and low ISO. It looks different:

• at dusk and under heavy cloud, when you have to raise the ISO quickly,
• with propeller aircraft, where you deliberately choose longer speeds for motion blur in the propellers and stop down to counter overexposure – more on this in the article Photographing propellers,
• with a teleconverter, which makes every aperture one stop (1.4×) or two stops (2×) darker.

Which shutter speeds, ISO values and autofocus modes have proven themselves for takeoffs, landings and taxi shots is in the guide to camera settings for plane spotting.

Weight, handling and stabilizer

At the spot, more counts than the data sheet. Anyone who waits for hours with the camera raised for a particular approach feels every extra gram. A 600-gram zoom on a light camera is an entirely different tool from a 1.5-kilogram telephoto on a big body.

The image stabilizer compensates for your hand movement, not the movement of the aircraft. Against a shaky picture at 400 mm it helps enormously; against motion blur of a departing jet only a short shutter speed helps. For panning, many lenses offer a dedicated mode that corrects only the vertical movement – on the Sigma, for example, it can be selected with a switch on the lens.

A focus limiter is also useful at the airport: if you set it to longer distances, autofocus no longer hunts in the near range, such as on the fence in front of you. How to get fence wires out of the picture entirely is shown in the article Photographing through the fence. If you prefer to support a heavy zoom, you’ll find suitable solutions in the piece Tripod or monopod for plane spotting?, and for transport take a look at Camera backpacks for long telephoto lenses.

Which 100-400 suits you?

100-400 or a 150-600 after all?

The obvious alternative is a superzoom up to 600 mm. It brings 50 percent more focal length at the long end but is usually heavier, longer and less flexible at the short end. The direct comparison of the superzooms is in the article 150-600 mm lenses compared.

Criterion	100-400 mm	150-600 mm
Close subjects (taxiway, deck)	very good, 100 mm at the short end	limited, from 150 mm
Distant runways, small aircraft	sometimes tight	clearly better
Weight and size	mostly handier	mostly bigger and heavier
Handheld all day	quite doable	more tiring
Extension	teleconverter on many models	converters rarely sensible

A third option is a teleconverter on a fast 100-400. It turns the zoom into a 140-560 or 200-800 but costs light and, depending on the combination, a bit of autofocus speed. Which combinations have proven themselves is explained in the guide 1.4x and 2x teleconverters.

The 100-400 at typical spots

How well a 100-400 works only shows on site. A few examples from our spot profiles:

• At the Munich Airport visitors’ hill at Munich Airport, closer subjects alternate with more distant runway action. For the close scenes a 100-400 is a good tool; at long distances it gets tight on full frame sooner.
• At the Affenfelsen in Hamburg at Hamburg Airport, the distance to the aircraft depends strongly on the runway direction in use – exactly the situation in which a zoom plays to its strengths.
• On observation decks such as at Düsseldorf Airport (Düsseldorf Airport observation deck), you often work more at the short end with aircraft at the stands. There a zoom that starts at 100 mm pays off.

How far away the aircraft actually are at a specific spot is best revealed by the profiles and the photos of other spotters. There are detailed spot guides for Munich, Hamburg and Düsseldorf, for example.

On top comes a factor no lens solves: heat shimmer. At long focal lengths over hot asphalt, even the best zooms lose sharpness. Why that is and how to get around it is explained in the article Avoiding heat shimmer.

What to look for when buying

• Mount first: A 100-400 is tied to your camera system. Check whether it exists natively for your mount or only works via an adapter – adapted DSLR lenses focus at different speeds depending on the combination.
• Judge speed honestly: If you shoot almost only during the day, f/8 is enough. If you are often out at the edges of the day, the brighter aperture pays off.
• Test weight in everyday use: Hold the lens in the shop or at an acquaintance’s for a quarter of an hour in shooting position. Afterward you know more than from any data sheet.
• Check converter suitability: If you want more reach later, look before buying at which converters the manufacturer officially approves.
• Consider used: Telephoto zooms last a long time. What to watch for with used optics is in the guide Buying a used camera and lenses.
• Keep an eye on the budget: If you’re just starting out, the article Beginner gear under €1,000 has combinations that won’t empty your account right away.

Conclusion

The 100-400 mm telephoto zoom is the standard lens of many spotters for good reason: it covers the changing distances at the airport with one lens and stays portable. Within the class you decide mainly between light and fast – between models like the Canon RF 100-400 with f/8 and around 635 grams on one side and the f/4.5-5.6 zooms from Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm at 1.3 to 1.6 kilograms on the other. Your sensor extends the reach further, and a teleconverter or a 150-600 steps in when your spots are far from the runway.