My 1.4X III arrived the AM after the new firmware, so of course I loaded it all on the 5DIII, micro-adjusted (to +7), and assessed the imaging results. The lens focuses at f/8, as promised -- no surprise there. Alas, the results wide open are just ok -- noticeably not super-sharp. Things sharpen up at f/16. I guess this'll have to be a sunny weather system.
kevinsullivan wrote:
My 1.4X III arrived the AM after the new firmware, so of course I loaded it all on the 5DIII, micro-adjusted (to +7), and assessed the imaging results. The lens focuses at f/8, as promised -- no surprise there. Alas, the results wide open are just ok -- noticeably not super-sharp. Things sharpen up at f/16. I guess this'll have to be a sunny weather system.
On my 1D X and 1D IV/III the is combo is/was very good wide open, so I'm surprised it doesn't do well on the 5D III. I tend to use in it better light, but with the 1D X you can use some very high ISO and still get excellent results, so the combo is not bad in late afternoon light bordering on twilight if you are stuck for reach.
I am exciting to try out the 400 f/5.6 with my 1.4x III on the 5D3 now... I was waiting to get the 400 until this firmware came out, so I just placed my order for one. Should have Monday next week along with my new 135L as well (both replacing my 70-200 II).
I think we may be expecting too much from the 100-400L. It is not as sharp as a 70-200L. When I go back looking at my telephoto shots and divide them into sharp at 100% and a little soft at 100% they fall neatly into taken with the 70-200 2.8 and taken with the 100-400L respectively. Attach any teleconverter and this is bound to be similar.
I'm not criticising the 100-400, but the 70-200 is always going to be better.
I find I can get a sharper image just cropping the 100-400L than by adding a 1.4x. A 50% crop from mine still looks good, with my 1.4X not so.
I have seen here examples of sharp images from a 100-400 with a 1.4X, but I'm not able to do this.
Maybe the 70-300L plus 1.4X is a better proposition.
Good to see that the AF works well at f8.
May 01, 2013 at 11:56 PM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Pixel Perfect wrote:
On my 1D X and 1D IV/III the is combo is/was very good wide open, so I'm surprised it doesn't do well on the 5D III. I tend to use in it better light, but with the 1D X you can use some very high ISO and still get excellent results, so the combo is not bad in late afternoon light bordering on twilight if you are stuck for reach.
I'm going to have to post some images tonight to show what this combo is capable of. If you have a 100-400L that is sharp wide open you should be fine with either the mk II or mk III 1.4x TC, even wide open, with just a little improvement stopped down to f/9.
I'm not displeased. In the past there has been much sample variation discussion over the 100-400L, particularly with those made prior to 2006, so multiply any sample variation by 1.4 and those sample variations will become more pronounced.
F/8 is a good light aperture in my experience, and generally f/8 - f/11 has been considered the 100-400L sweet spot, so if a 100-400L isn't performing well within these parameters, user error excepted, it probably needs looking at.
Funnily enough, I haven't needed to MA any of my ten or so lenses on the 5D3, and actually have had MA disabled since I got the body a year ago, so I also wonder a bit if MA fever may open a can of worms.
Those are crisp, Pixel-P. I'm not sure my 100-400 will be able to do that, at least not wide open. But I haven't had a chance to put it through its paces yet. It seems to me that it peaks around f/7.1 without the TC, but that's based on learning the lens with an older camera. With proper microadjust on the 5D3, maybe it'll do a little better wide open.
When I get the chance, I'll certainly give it a good test run!
Just a note re the LL Link. Those tests are from many years ago & I think it's fair to say the lens QC has improved since then. I can't find a date for the article but it's done using a 1Ds AND says it's from about 3 years after comparing the 100-400 to the 400 f5.6 and that test was done in 2002.
My 100-400L as sharp at f/5.6 my 400 f/5.6L or near enough it wasn't worth worrying about, so I sold the prime. I only stop down for DoF and much to my surprise this is also the case with a 1.4x TC attached.
Whayne -- Great shots! One point: your cameras are all similar in these shots to mine (except the 1DX), 1D3, 1D4 mostly. Do you think there is something about the 5D3 that could be affecting these, or is that just no AF at f/8?
My 100-400 is from 2008, my 1.4X is from 2003, and seem extremely compatible. Perhaps it is as you say, having a sharp lens is paramount.
Would like to see examples from others with a 5diii+1.4 as I am considering this camera. It would have to fill both the studio($) and the bif slots(fun).
Whayne Nice shots. That rabbit really shows off the detail still left even with the 1.4. Is the 2nd to last a HOSP?
Gunzorro wrote:
Whayne -- Great shots! One point: your cameras are all similar in these shots to mine (except the 1DX), 1D3, 1D4 mostly. Do you think there is something about the 5D3 that could be affecting these, or is that just no AF at f/8?
My 100-400 is from 2008, my 1.4X is from 2003, and seem extremely compatible. Perhaps it is as you say, having a sharp lens is paramount.
Thanks.
I haven't tried the 5D III with FW 1.2.1 yet, with this lens combo yet and I'll be disappointed if it doesn't perform as well as these other cameras for IQ and AF.
My 100-400L is a 2005 IIRC, UT and is very impressive; I don't whether it's better than average, but plenty of people have reported that they have very sharp copies too especially those after 2006. But It can make an enormous difference if you are using TC's and they will just magnify any flaws.
Maybe you could show us some wide open shots with the bare 100-400L from the 5D III @ 400mm to assess .
I recall a test shot I did several years ago with the 20D + 100-400L. There was a huge crane on a construction site that was about 50m tall and about 80m away, and I took a shot of the cabin. When I zoomed in I could clearly make out some pressure gauges and the needle on the dial, all at f/5.6, handheld.
