YES! I finally have 70-300L + 1.4x TC combo with perfectly working AF!
For whatever reason, even WITHOUT the new 5D3 f/8 AF firmware and even though it reports f/8!, it actually focuses seemingly perfectly!
When I used the Canon 1.4x TC III it doesn't really work at all. It's a disaster. Whether using the old or new firmware, the AF just does horrible oscillations and it sounds like it will quickly break the AF and only settles in accurately maybe half the time. With some of the Kenko Pro level TC I hear they tend to crash out the 5D3 and not deliver good AF with the 70-300L anyway.
But man this Kenko 1.4x TELEPLUS MC4 DGX for Canon EOS EF 4961607601266 works wonders! The AF has no problem at all! And it even reports the correct aperture. And you don't even need the f/8 AF firmware either (which is really weird considering that it reports f/8).
Man this 70-300L is really a beast now. You get quality along the lines of the 70-200 f/4 IS for serious landscape or whatever work plus an extra 100mm built-in. Plus you now now pop on a couple ounces (honestly this Kenko TC is so light I swore they must've sent me an extension tube by accident I kept having to look to convince myself it actually had glass in it, it feels like a penny and looks pretty shoddy, and yet it has some sort of special AF magic in) Kenko TC and you now have 420mm so it's like a super-compact but really slow 100-400 IS (that can turn into a better quality 100-300mm plus give the important 70-99mm range). Granted f/8 (and I wouldn't surprised if you need f/9 for sharpness) shooting at 420mm is slow but hey.
I guess the real test now is to compare it to upscaling from 300mm and see if the Kenko DGX is sharp enough.
And I may as well compare it to the 1.4x TC III too (on 300 2.8 IS also).
Yup, even the quickest test reveals that 70-300L+Kenko MC4 DGX definitely does better than upscaling the bare lens from 300mm on a 5D3 (I don't know what the story would be on a super high-density sensor like a 7D).
Side note: extension tubes are NOT the way to go with the 70-300L, they work fine with the 70-200 f/4 IS but not with the 70-300L, with the 70-300L you want the 500D I think.
Interesting, last month at the Indy track shooting Grand AM activity I brought along the original Kenko Pro 300 1.4 TC (Canon white version) to try on my 70-300 L. This was the first lens my Kenko TC has not worked we'll on. AF was pretty wonky, anything but stable and consistent. Maybe it's the old Kenko version vs the newer one you have.
schlotz wrote:
Interesting, last month at the Indy track shooting Grand AM activity I brought along the original Kenko Pro 300 1.4 TC (Canon white version) to try on my 70-300 L. This was the first lens my Kenko TC has not worked we'll on. AF was pretty wonky, anything but stable and consistent. Maybe it's the old Kenko version vs the newer one you have.
Matt
I didn't try AI Servo yet though. I mean it works, but I don't know if it tracks well or not although jumping it around among static objects it appears to be fine.
I have this TC and use it on the 28-300L. I can confirm it works fine on a 1D Mark III. AF is slow of course but the 28-300 is not fast to begin with anyway. I don't use it much but it's good to know I have more reach when I need it.
Glad to hear it's working well for you skibum...others here at FM suggested it to me.
I was shooting some humming birds with that combo last weekend just to try it out and servo AF was returning lots of sharply focused shots...didn't notice any bad/odd AF behavior at all (5D3 without the F/8 firmware update and mostly center point shooting).
I'm tempted to get one of these now, but I'm still waiting for Canon to release the F/8 autofocusing for the 6D. Might even see how well it works with the 70-300 non-L; the lens is decent out to 200mm, might be better at 200mm + 1.4x than at 300mm, so long as I baby the AF.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Congrats! We all know how much you wanted this to work.
Hah, thanks!
It's pretty that weird that it works though. Again I am not using using the f/8 AF firmware, the TC reports f/8, and yet it still handles AF fine. I figured that you'd at least need the new f/8 AF firmware.
If I put on even just the smallest Keno extension tube the AF goes to pieces whether using old or new firwmare.
The Canon TCs don't spoof f/8 and don't provide even remotely usable AF with either either the new or old firmware.
But using this spoofing Kenko 1.4x TC, for some reason the AF just works.
It's pretty that weird that it works though. Again I am not using using the f/8 AF firmware, the TC reports f/8, and yet it still handles AF fine. I figured that you'd at least need the new f/8 AF firmware.
If I put on even just the smallest Keno extension tube the AF goes to pieces whether using old or new firwmare.
The Canon TCs don't spoof f/8 and don't provide even remotely usable AF with either either the new or old firmware.
But using this spoofing Kenko 1.4x TC, for some reason the AF just works.
I have a Kenko C-AF 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300 DGX that I bought just after I acquired the 70-300L, and I've been pretty pleased with its performance; after I read this thread I took it out to the flower bed this morning to try it out. I believe it is a different extender than the one you have, and I bought it new about a year ago; Kenko has so many extender models and designs (not to mention all the confusing coded letter designations) that I have no idea how it relates to yours...still, maybe this might add to the general knowledge base...
It worked much like your example, skibum, before I updated the firmware for my 5DIII - that is, focussed accurately and quickly, with no jittering (in good light), and reported the aperture accurately. I did update the firmware when it became available, so I can say that it also works fine with version 1.2.1.
These butterflies pics were handheld, at or near minimum focus distance, under mostly cloudy skies with occasional sunny moments...processed in Lightroom with more or less my usual sharpening, i.e., sharpening at 43, radius 0.8, detail 36...
F/8 is quite sharp, but it gets even better when I stopped down to f/11 during sunny moments...
skibum5 wrote:
Hah, I don't know. Probably not .
No, but honestly I have no idea. I didn't try that yet.
I can confirm that it works with the latest firmware as well. It also reports the corret aperture.
IQ is good at the center of the frame at 420mm f/8.
AF is surprisingly fast even in low light.
Fred
Fred Miranda wrote:
I can confirm that it works with the latest firmware as well. It also reports the corret aperture.
IQ is good at the center of the frame at 420mm f/8.
AF is surprisingly fast even in low light.
Fred
Fred, which version of the Kenko 1.4 have you confirmed here, the MC4 or the Pro300?
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