Has anyone use this combination extensively? It seems the IQ of the new 300 II + 2x III is really, really good. Given the lens is only 5lbs and it has 4 stops of IS it seems like a great walking around combo when you're not sure if you are going to run into anything. (i.e. you don't feel like dragging around a tripod + 600L just in case).
However, I used a 1D MKII with the verison 1 of this lens and the 2x II. It wasn't terrible, but the AF speed/lock left me a bit frustrated, especially on Servo. I'd imagine a body with cross-AF sensors @ f5.6 would improve the situation and the new extender and new AF CPU/motor in the lens would also help.
Alternatives aren't that great to me. The 400 DO isn't very sharp it seems with the 1.4x and any other 400mm lens won't AF with the extender except on the 1D cameras and then it's only center point and at f8.
Thanks for your time and experience,
Chris
EDIT: This thread has some info... <slapping head> use search. Anyway, anything new would be great.
I have been using 300 f2.8 IS V1 + 2x III for the past week or so on 5DIII. I am new to BIF and birding in general so the technique may be a bit off, but you can find many of my samples here
EXIF is intact. If you click on a photo, selection actions from top left menu and download photo, you will be able to see the 1-1 pixels as many are heavy crops. AF used be an issue with 5D II but with 5DIII, I am really liking this combo. It is my only super tele (besides 300 F4) thus I cannot compare it with other longer glass.
Has anyone use this combination extensively? It seems the IQ of the new 300 II + 2x III is really, really good. Given the lens is only 5lbs and it has 4 stops of IS it seems like a great walking around combo when you're not sure if you are going to run into anything. (i.e. you don't feel like dragging around a tripod + 600L just in case).
However, I used a 1D MKII with the verison 1 of this lens and the 2x II. It wasn't terrible, but the AF speed/lock left me a bit frustrated, especially on Servo. I'd imagine a body with cross-AF sensors @ f5.6 would improve the situation and the new extender and new AF CPU/motor in the lens would also help.
Alternatives aren't that great to me. The 400 DO isn't very sharp it seems with the 1.4x and any other 400mm lens won't AF with the extender except on the 1D cameras and then it's only center point and at f8.
Thanks for your time and experience,
Chris
EDIT: This thread has some info... <slapping head> use search. Anyway, anything new would be great.
i've started using the 300 2.8 IS Mark Original + 2x TC III + 7D, a little bit soft, but still brings in more total detail than upscaling bare lens or lens with 1.4x TC III
Not quite the requested combo but 300 2.8 IS + 2.0x TC III + 7D:
Here is full frame, resized (note how even with APS-C and 600mm and being close, a small bird still comes out small! which also shows why they desperately need to add a 1.6x 1920x1080p cropped video mode to the 5D3, imagine how much dead space and little detail for video at FF, it's only just there for 1.6x crop and this is with 600mm lens and probably only like 15' away): http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-hG64Tv9/0/X3/i-hG64Tv9-X3.jpg
Thank you both. Photon, how is the AF with that combo? Did you happen to ever use the 300 2.8 IS + 2x II? I'd be very interested to hear the comparison.
I have used both 2x III and 2x II on my 300 2.8 is. There is no real difference in sharpness in the direct center of the image. Overall the 2x III is sharper with better contrast and a bit faster af.
I think the 300 2.8 IS + 2x TC III had image quality perhaps very roughly like a bare 70-300 IS non L or tamron 70-300 VC at 300mm wide open. With 1.4x TC III it was better than that and bare it was way better than that and noticeably better than even the 70-300 IS L which itself was noticeably better than those other two zooms (tamron and canon non-L) at 300mm. That is just a very rough guesstimate though.
Thanks skibum5. I think the IQ is probably good enough. My biggest concern is AF speed. I'd assume, because of the cross-points and improves in the II and III version of the lens and TC respectively, that the AF would better than I experienced but that is what I am curious about.
Schlotkins wrote:
Thanks skibum5. I think the IQ is probably good enough. My biggest concern is AF speed. I'd assume, because of the cross-points and improves in the II and III version of the lens and TC respectively, that the AF would better than I experienced but that is what I am curious about.
Chris
yeah I can;t answer that other than Canon claims that coupled with a Mark II super-tele they are supposed to have more precise focusing, some of what they said hinted at better speed in that case too, but then contradictory info came out and back and forth and I never did get the final word
The mkIi TCs are definitely better with the AF than the earlier series converters.
I was shooting the last two nights plus several others over the last two months with the new 400/2.8 and the difference is very noticeable.
I've never seen anything published which states the new converters are when coupled with a series two tele not faster..everything I have read and from first hand experience shows they are faster..
When combined with the Mk3 they are noticeably more accurate than with my 7D which my wife now uses.
This is something that C. Westfall had written a year or so ago (the link....go to the last page):
As with previous EF Extenders, usage of Series III EF Extenders lowers AF drive speed to improve AF performance. When Extender EF 1.4X III is used, AF drive speed is reduced by 50%. When Extender EF 2X III is used, AF drive speed is reduced by 75%. This may seem like a drawback, but in reality subject tracking performance remains quite high when Series III Extenders are used with IS II lenses. This is due to improvements in AF precision made possible by the new microcomputer in the extenders.
