I was at a birtday party the other day and there was a small lagoon right there, so I decided to go for a look and see what birds were around. I was only expecting mallards, geese, ibis etc. Much to my surprise I came across a huge nest with 4 large anhinga melanogaster (darter) fledglings and the parents. Luckily I had my camera in the car.
I returned with my 20D, 100-400L, 1.4x TC and monopod. I used the 100-400L with the 1.4x TC and used manual focus. Boy is it tough using that little viewfinder when you have 560mm of FL on a 1.6x crop camera and the birds are 25-30m (80-100ft) away and the LCD is useless for judging sharpness. Anyhow I had some good success I found when I got home. The 100-400L did much better than I thought it would, although I wish I had my 400 f/5.6L or 300 f/2.8L IS with me.
Here's the shots of the Anhingas
Fledglings, there are two more babies out of shot. I didn't have much scope for different view points as there was only a couple of vantage points and the birds were most of the time hidden by the foliage
Here are 100% crops from various shots, all unprocessed other than
to convert RAW to jpg. As I said earlier considering these are
manual focus and it was hard to critically assess focus on the 20D,
I'm quite happy with the results.
Thanks Ryan. I noticed on the map there was a small lagoon nearby and thought I should have a camera just in case. I was actually hoping to see dragon flies.
Look I'm not making claims about how good this combo is and a 600 f/4L IS would have done much better IMO, but I think it shows that this combo can do a fine job with good technique, and one should not hesitate to try these things for themselves and not just listen to what some say. I certainly have a good copy of the 100-400 and was more than happy to try the TC. Why not experiment, that's the great thing about digital. I also took shots without the TC and the results aren't any better in this case looking at 100% crops.
I wouldn't say the quality is unacceptable, but the 100% crops are soft. Still, for posting on the web, and after post processing the shots look great. Very rarely are 100% crops posted in galleries. The final output that you achieved is certainly very good for web display.
The 100% crops are softish, but using focal blade they sharpen up nicely and certainly make a good A3+ print.
I must say some softness is probably my manual focus error as well as limitations of the combo; I could not see reliably if I had nailed focus on the 20D, but I hoped DOF would help me out. I have no doubt my 400 f/5.6L + 1.4x TC or 300 f/2.8L IS + stacked 1.4x TC would do better of course.
Nice shots. I agree they are soft when looking at the 100% crops. Would not get a big print, but good enough for the web. Now if they are *completely* unsharpened (I mean none at all in camera or conversion) it would be interesting to see them sharpened up a bit.
Big Hands wrote:
PCMIIAW, but I think you can half-press while manually focusing and the focal point will light up red and beep when focus is attained.
Nice shots BTW.
Regards,
Jeff
Not in this case as the lens combo is f/8 wide open, so no AF confrimation on a 20D
Gene they are unsharpened crops, I'll put up a sharpened version a bit later, pics are on another computer.
Whayne good job. This is not a prime, it is a zoom and 4x one with a 1.4 TC and no auto focus. F8 in the 20D view finder is dim. 400mm is the outer edge of performance for this lens. Thanks for reminding me to throw thae camera bag in the car more often, just in case.
Thanks Rusty. I missed some potentially wonderful shots by leaving the camera at home, even though I hate going anywhere without one. The worst case was the most AMAZING jellyfish you'll ever see and I have never seen one like it before or since and of course I had said it's only a short walk; not likely to see anything of interest.
Rocketball, I used the Canon 1.4x TC II for this work.
I now have a 40D and the VF is much better plus for these shots live view would have been invaluable, but in general if I use a 1.4x on the 100-400L I'll use the 1D II and still have AF.
First shot is excellent. Looks like the 100-400 held its own even with the TC. 
. I wouldn't hesistate to put a 1.4X TC on my 100-400 in a pinch either.
