50d or 1.4 TC?

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tlr

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I dabble in a bit of bird and wildlife photography, and currently use a 40d with a 100-400 (permanently at the 400 end of course).

I was wondering what the most worthwhile upgrade would be, realistic options being the 50d (to allow more cropping) or a 1.4 TC on the 100-400.

So which do you wise folks think would give me better/closer pictures?

As I understand it with the 1.4 I get to keep auto focus etc (hence not going for the 2x TC).

Obviously a 7d and a 500mm would be the best option, but that would be rather a lot of money for an amateur!

Thanks

Tim
 
I think you will loose autofocus with the 1.4 teleconverter. CT would be the best person to ask about this I think.
 
yes, you would, as that lens is f/4.5-f/5.6, meaning the 1.4x multiplier takes the f stop past f/5.6 at all focal lengths. Only a 1 series body will autofocus up to f/8, and even then it's only centre point.

Heavy cropping isn't ideal either as any imperfections just becomes magnified.
 
Yes, I think you will loose the AF when using the converter, maybe thats not a problem for you? and I agree over cropping is probably not the way to go
 
I see you have a 40D. I went from a 40D to a 50D for the cropping potential on the back of a thread CT posted.

It did help, but I had to be far more accurate with my focus technique to get acceptable images.
With a 1.4x converter you will definily loose dedicated AF - although you can fool the camera into thinking the convertor is not there by taping some pins. This is only worth doing if you have really good light otherwise AF won't work proprely anyway and cause a lot of hunting from the lens.
 
I currently use a 40D, but I've tried a 50D, and I think you would be disappointed to spend money on an upgrade.

The only advantages I could see are:
Af microadjustment
Higher res screen (aesthetically nicer to look at, but you still really need to zoom in to properly check sharpness)
More megapixels

To me, those weren't worth paying the extra to get it over a 40D, and I certainly wouldn't consider them enough to spend £600+ on an upgrade!

You can't really go past 400mm without spending a lot of money.
 
Okay, interesting. I didn't realise that the auto focus was aperture dependant. I have always used auto focus so far, I'll have a play with manual focus and see how I get on.

I'm not talking about ultra heavy cropping, just that they 50d should allow slightly more cropping than the 40d - I was very roughly equating it with a 1.4 TC.

Maybe I'd best start saving for that 800mm prime....
 
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