I am thinking about buying this extender to turn my 70-200mm F4/L into a 140-400mm. Is it true that you can "tape the pins" to get the autofocus to work?
Sure...but, IMO, the IQ loss from adding a 2x to any of the 70-200mm zooms just isn't worth it. My 1.4x and 2x seem to work very well with my primes (200mm, 300mm, 500mm)...however, I avoid using either of them with my zoom.
The 1.4X looks like my better option. Will, that's a great shot with 2 - 1.4's stacked! I'll get the Canon 1.4 first, then I'll look into the Tamron 1.4.
Thanks Mark, that stacked combo makes it a highly portable 400 f8 IS that will AF pretty well
in good light. I like to "torture test" my lenses to see just what I can get away with. I
have the 400 f5.6 and of course it'd be my choice at this FL but if it's not with me it's
nice to know I've got this option available.
Stick to a 1.4x TC at most, especially on an f/4 lens. Yes you can use a 2x TC on the 70-200 f/4, but seriously you need to stop down a stop for best results which puts you at f/11. Ok in bright light, but useless in lower light. Also AF takes a big hit and that's on a 1 series; you need to do silly things with tape and pins on a consumer class camera to get AF, unless you use my preferred method of stacking 1.4x TCs and then you can get AF even on a 20D/30D/5D.
trenchmonkey wrote:
Thanks Mark, that stacked combo makes it a highly portable 400 f8 IS that will AF pretty well
in good light. I like to "torture test" my lenses to see just what I can get away with. I
have the 400 f5.6 and of course it'd be my choice at this FL but if it's not with me it's
nice to know I've got this option available.
Will, interesting how well this combo does. Which of brand TC's are you stacking?
I have the 70-200/4 IS and a EF 2x. Never used the combo though, but the lense is fantastic with the 1.4 (totally unbelievable its a zoom with an extender). I will try to take a few pics with the 2x within a few days. Anyone interested can pm me and remind me if I forget.
I've been reading lots of posts both here and on other boards, that stacking 2 1.4x TC's is better than one 2x TC. Will's example looks very good for an f/4 lens with an effective 1.96x TC. I'm going to have to pick up a Canon 1.4x to go along with my Kenko..
Jim Turner wrote:
In what order do you stack them or does it matter?
You canonly stack them one way. The Canon converter must attach to the lens due to its protruding front element and the Kenko to the camera. The only exception is if you stack a Canon 1.4x and 2x TC II; the 2x has to attach to the lens as it has a recessed rear element whereas the 1.4x doesn't.
Took the 70-200/4 IS with the EF2x converter out today after work. Just snapped a pic of my son. It was super soft evening light so it does maybe not tell that much, but I would say the result of rather good. Maybe even VERY good considering its a 2x converter on a slow f/f zoom. As a comparasion, I took a similar pic with the 300/2.8 coupled with the EF 1.4x, also f/8. ISO 400 1DII, No sharpening, only downsized raws. 100% crops below.
