Which Canon Extender to go with my 70-200 f4L?

Buck

Buck

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Adrian
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Hi

I recently bought the above lens and am looking to buy an extender in the future.

I know that a 1.4x will cost me one stop and the 2x will cost me two stops. what else changes once these are in use? :thinking:

Has anybody got any 'real world experiences' with either of these to see which one will suit better?

I'm predominantly going to be shooting landscapes with a smattering of wildlife/action and it's the latter that is raising the questions as landscapes won't be shot below f8.0 and will generally be manual focus whereas anything else I will likely need some element of AF and shooting at f5.6 or 8.0 might be pushing it.

Is there anything else i need to be aware of?

Thanks all
 
If you are using a 5DII, the x2 combo won't AF. The AF will slow with the x1.4 and the IQ will degrade slightly. I have used the x1.4 and 70-200 f4L combo before and it is perfectly workable. Just remember that 280mm is not actually that long, esp. on full frame! ;)
 
menthel said:
If you are using a 5DII, the x2 combo won't AF. The AF will slow with the x1.4 and the IQ will degrade slightly. I have used the x1.4 and 70-200 f4L combo before and it is perfectly workable. Just remember that 280mm is not actually that long, esp. on full frame! ;)
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markmullen said:
I use a 1.4exii with a 70-200 F4 IS on both 1.3 crop and full frame and it is a really good combo.
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Thanks!

I think my 'worry' is that the 1.4 won't be very long on my 5D - 100-280 or thereabouts. (I used to have a 55-250 on my 1.6 crop so this'll still feel short in comparison)

I've read a couple of posts saying that FF users still get good results because they have more pixels to play with when cropping so don't lose too much on the quality side from this?
 
Yes, you can crop quite hard on a 5D2. It's not a great idea (presumably you bought the camera with IQ high on the list) but if you crop down to same as your old camera you still have 8.2mp (similar to a 40D).

I have a 1.4x on my 70-200L 4 IS but TBH I hardly ever use it. It's a bit lazy, but you can just crop in and get much the same result, most of the time. 2x would be different, but that's just not a practical proposition (loss of IQ, no AF, f/8 max etc).

Have a look at the 100-400L ;)

Edit: you can load up and compare images of all the options on www.the-digital-picture.com Go to the ISO Crops section in the lens reviews.
 
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Thanks Richard - I'll take a look at that.

I did toy with the 100-400 but thought the 70-200 would be better all round due to size, practicality, IQ etc. etc.
 
Buck said:
Thanks Richard - I'll take a look at that.

I did toy with the 100-400 but thought the 70-200 would be better all round due to size, practicality, IQ etc. etc.
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One of the problems with Canon is that there's just too much choice around the medium tele-zoom range :eek:

There are several versions of the 70-200L for a start, some cheaper and smaller, some much bigger and more costly, with IS etc. Stick a 2x extender on a 70-200L Mk2 and you have a very serviceable 70-400 f/2.8-5.6 that is a match for the 100-400L.

Then there's the newer 70-300L which is very tempting, or 300L 4 and 400L 5.6 primes that are very sharp but less versatile. Not to mention the 70-300 non-L that is nice and light and cheap. It's not easy.

FWIW, I'm looking to swap my 70-200L 4 IS for the 2.8 Mk2 version (not available when I purchased) and a 2x extender Mk3. That seems to me to offer unrivalled range and versatility, while not being too unwieldy. It's a hefty lump if you only want to shoot f/8 at 100mm or so, but nothing's perfect!

Or is there a new 100-400L coming around the corner? :D :lol:
 
Or is there a new 100-400L coming around the corner?
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Maybe the long awaited 200-400mm with built in TC will actually show up one day

Back to the OP and I have a 1.4TC with a 70-200mm F/4 IS and it's really rather good, wanted to retain AF so 2X was a non runner
 
Well here are a few examples with the 70-200 F4L and the 1.4 Adrian.

IMG_0220_edit.jpg


IMG_8877_filtered.jpg



P4-3.jpg



Gull.jpg
 
Rich

They're great shots.

I think the 1.4 is for me with the f4. If I upgrade to the 2.8 in the future I can see the 2x being part of my kit.

Thanks guys - really helped me get my head around this.
 
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