Canon 400mm f/5.6 with 1.4 TC

Mad Badger

Mad Badger

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Steve
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Considering getting this lens as I'm not too happy with my Sigma 150-500.

In a vain attempt to get a lens over 500mm for under a grand lol! I'm thinking of trying to use a 1.4 TC with it. I know it won't auto focus with a 7D body, but has anyone tried this with the new MkIII Canon 1.4 TC??

Also which pins will I need to tape??
 
I too went through the same considered the Canon 400mm f/5.6 with 1.4 TC
But in the end went for the 300mm F4 IS lens with a 1.4 tc best thing I `ve done you get two lens 300m f4 or add the 1.4 tc and 420mm F5.6 and you get IS as well bonus and thats full frame on a cropped camera 480mm F4 / 760mm F5.6 (thats if I got my maths right )
 
@scottthehat: mainly due to frequent missed focus, seems very soft at the long end, where I'm almost always at (bird photography). Hoped my 7D would help with the focus issues but no.......I'm not gonna bin the Sigma, may even fork out for a service,

@RD400: sounds good, just worried I'll miss the added reach of 500mm, what's your experience?
 
I too have the 400mm lens, love it very sharp and quick to focus. I considered the same question as you. Managedvto borrow a friends canon 1.4 tc and had a play.

My conclusion was that image quality was generally better by sticking with the 400 and cropping final image than going for the TC.

Regards neil ps using canon 7 d
 
Never had any problems with the 400 + tcon.I found the quality to be more than acceptable.I've only used the Kenko 1.4 Pro and Canon 1.4 Mk2.I would imagine the Mk3 1.4x would only be better.
You could always try the Kenko DGX 1.4-I think that doesn't report the tcon so you would still have AF with the tcon attatched(someone else stepo in if I've got the model wrong).It wouldn't be brilliant but in decent light might work ok.
Here's one in really crap light with the 400 F5.6 and 1.4 Kenko.I have 100's more with that combo.
1D42764-XL.jpg


Gary
 
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I have a 400mm F5.6L and it's a brilliant lens, sharp and quick to focus. The thing is, it's not IS and you'd hardly expect it to be for the price.
I recently rented the 300 and used it with my Kenko 1.4X TC.
The AF is fractionally slower than the 400 and even at 100% crop it really is virtually as sharp with a TC, real world you'd hardly notice.

What swings it for me is the versatility the IS gives a shaky old git like me so last week I bought a s/hand 300.
My 400 will be going up in Classifieds soon.

If you're not shaky then the 400 is a real cracker and probably the best value for money L lens (IMHO).

I did try the tape pins trick but the AF was excruciatingly slow.
 
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Not used the 400 with the mkIII convertor, but aside from being manual focus and f8 it works well with the mkII
 
footman said:
Gary, cracking shot but at least you could AF on your 1D MkIV.
Click to expand...

Correct on that one Laurence.It was more the quality I was trying to show.

I think a lot depends on how much reach you actually want/need.I would rather have the bare 400 and the ability to put on a 1.4 tcon and still get decent quality.I prefer that over a 300 F4 with a 2x Tcon attatched.

One thing to remember with the ***-500mm zooms is that most of them aren't actually 500mm but fall around the 470mm mark.

Without having the big bucks to spend the search for quality and length is always a tricky one to get right.

Gary
 
Thanks guys for all the advice!

Think I'll go for the 400mm f/5.6 as it sounds a fine lens, will be using it for BIF or on a gimbal head & tripod so no IS doesn't bother me too much, looking forward to trying it with the MkIII 1.4 tc and liveview for focus.

Great picture of the plane Vulcan 2912.

:thumbs:
 
I had the 400mm F5.6 and both the Canon 1.4II and the Kenko 1.4DGX.

Using 7D AF was terrible with the pins taped on the Canon convertor - even in good light it would hunt a lot. The kenko was better - but not much.
 
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