I am pretty sure I am going to be getting one of these as my next telephoto lens but I am mildly concerned about the minimum focus distance.
Can anybody comment on how the focussing is affected by a 12mm extension tube? I am interested in the new min and max focus distance.
(also if anybody can comment on any other extension tube length it would be useful too - I have the kenko set so have up to ~70mm of extension available).
Edited by Allan Bruce on Dec 07, 2007 at 09:02 AM GMT
you should be fine with your extension tubes. I have added 25mm + 12mm tubes and it brings in the focusing much closer. I have used it to focus on flowers & butterfly with that setup.
There was just a thread on the nature and wildlife forum about using a 400 5.6 w/tubes for close up work 3 days ago. Might be worth checking out if you haven't seen it----looked like it worked pretty well!
I just had a look at that thread but its not quite what I am after. I would like to know the approximate focal distances with extension tubes attached. The main reason that I visit a lot of local bird hides and the birds often get quite close ~1.5m away. I would like to add an extention tube to focus on these but when doing so I would like to know how far I still focus for further birds. I dont want to have to be adding/removing the extention tube every 2 minutes - I doubt the birds would sit still long enough for that anyway!
EF400mm f/5.6L USM with 12mm extender:
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magnification: 0.16~0.03 x
Focusing Distances: 2.893 - 13.449 meter
Working Distances: 2.583 - 13.138 meter
EF400mm f/5.6L USM with 25mm extender:
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magnification: 0.21~0.07 x
Focusing Distances: 2.460 - 6.610 meter
Working Distances: 2.145 - 6.295 meter
It seems to me that with your set of extension tubes you can get any working distance you would like to have.
My first lens was the 400 f5.6. When I started using tubes I ran into the very problem you describe. I bought a 300 f4 & problem solved. The only time I need tubes with this setup is shooting very small dragon flies. I have a 1.4 extender glued to the 300 when shooting birds & bugs.
I find the 100-400 works great for close up work. Even without extenders you can get nice and close. I haven't tried using the extenders yet, But might get a set soon to get even closer!
Out of curiosity I took my Kenko 25mm tube and attached my canon 1.4 TC on my 400 5.6. One thing I noticed is you will really need some really good light. This shot was taken outdoors overcast handheld ISO 6400 and the shutter speed was only 1/250 f8. Live view is really nice for close up focus, just set you lens at min focus distance and move it in and out. Focus distance was about 5-6 feet. http://upload.pbase.com/image/90004972/original.jpg
