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Author Topic: Canon 1.4 teleconverter on 100-400 L IS USM?  (Read 28558 times)

francois

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Canon 1.4 teleconverter on 100-400 L IS USM?
« Reply #20 on: January 08, 2010, 03:36:09 pm »

Quote from: digitaldog

The $300 I save, I can now spend on those nice new Bose noise canceling headphones I saw here at the Denver airport.…
You won't regret your $300 investment, believe me.
 
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Francois

digitaldog

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Canon 1.4 teleconverter on 100-400 L IS USM?
« Reply #21 on: January 08, 2010, 04:32:32 pm »

Quote from: francois
You won't regret your $300 investment, believe me.
 

I didn't (meaning I got the new Q15's). Nice but short flight (55 minutes) but they are worth every penny based on that one trip.
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francois

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Canon 1.4 teleconverter on 100-400 L IS USM?
« Reply #22 on: January 08, 2010, 04:47:51 pm »

Quote from: digitaldog
I didn't (meaning I got the new Q15's). Nice but short flight (55 minutes) but they are worth every penny based on that one trip.
For long transatlantic flights I find them invaluable.
Have fun in the Galapagos!
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Francois

Bill in WV

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Canon 1.4 teleconverter on 100-400 L IS USM?
« Reply #23 on: January 09, 2010, 05:47:32 pm »

Andrew,

I can't believe I'm offering advice to you, more than that I can't hardly bellieve you would ask here, being a princpal of Pixel Genius and knowing your skills; however, I'm seeing a bunch of nonsense with very few images to back up the claim of questionable performance. I am going to offer an address where I feel you can get the straight scoop.
http://www.stevenrotsch.com/Birds%20of%20P...0HTML/index.htm
Steve Rotsch is the governor's photographer here in WV and has a long history of scenic and nature photography in WV. I have attended three workshops with Steve as the instructor. I have seen his tests of shots he did of the WV capitol handheld with the 100-400 and with stacked Canon "L" extenders, the 1.4x and the 2.0x and I thought they were very very sharp. On the page I have directed you to, the bald eagles that appear there, I think I have the right shoot as he does this a lot, were shot at WV  Photoworkshop last year handheld with the stacked extencers from the deck of a pontoon boat. Most of the time he uses a monopod with this lens but I know he loves it!

I've never had the pleasure of using his lens, but I know I want one. Enjoy your trip. And if you want to contact Steve for his personal take on the lens combo, I'm most confident he will reply.

Bill in WV (we met very briefly at PSW in Boston and I took a couple of your classes, and no, I don't expect you to remember)
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Bill Evans
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digitaldog

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Canon 1.4 teleconverter on 100-400 L IS USM?
« Reply #24 on: January 09, 2010, 06:21:36 pm »

Thanks Bill. Steve’s site is quite nice. I see he’s really into birds and to be more forthcoming, I don’t know that on my trip I’ll be concentrating on birds or any specific wildlife. I just know that on the Amazon trip, I had the 80-300mm which was just OK and many of the students who knew better had the 100-400mm and after seeing their work each night, I wanted something longer (and with better contrast!). A buddy suggested I get the 1.4 tele. Its possible 400mm will be all I need. I might swing for the converter “just in case” it doesn’t take up a lot of space although its kind of expensive. I do need to travel light and will probably only take a 2nd body, the 24-105mm and the big guns (the 100-400).
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Ray

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Canon 1.4 teleconverter on 100-400 L IS USM?
« Reply #25 on: January 10, 2010, 07:22:12 am »

Quote from: Bill in WV
...however, I'm seeing a bunch of nonsense with very few images to back up the claim of questionable performance. I am going to offer an address where I feel you can get the straight scoop.
 I have seen his tests of shots he did of the WV capitol handheld with the 100-400 and with stacked Canon "L" extenders, the 1.4x and the 2.0x and I thought they were very very sharp.

Bill,
If one's copy of the 100-400 is very very sharp, (ie. you have succeeded in cherry picking an excellent, rare copy of the lens) then you would expect to get images when using an extender that are also sharp.

If you are able to use flawless technique, a tripod, MLU when shutter speeds are slow, then it's possible to get a noticeable improvement in clarity and detail by using an extender, even with my rather average copy.

With my lens, I find no benefit at all with a 1.4x extender at the maximum aperture of F8, even when shooting a static subject with tripod and MLU, for reasons I explained earlier, namely, that my lens is noticeably less sharp at F5.6 than at F8 and F11. I believe this level of performance may be typical for this lens.

However, at F11 and F16, with 1.4x extender, I see an improvement in sharpness and clarity at 100% on the screen which, bear in mind, is respresentative of a really huge print, like 5ft x 7 1/2ft.

The problem for me therefore, is that to stand a chance of capturing more detail using an extender, the maximum aperture I can use becomes F11, not F8.

Furthermore, to be certain of capturing that greater detail, one may have to use a faster shutter speed than one would use with the 400mm at F8. A tripod doesn't always solve the problem because any slight movement of subject is magnified as a result of the greater focal length.

The following 100% crops were taken in ideal conditions, tripod, MLU, and completely still subject. As you should be able to see, at both F11 and F16, the text in the 560mm crops are clearer than in the 400mm shots uprezzed. But the 560mm shot at F8 is no better, or hardly better.

In real world conditions when the subject is often moving and one struggles to get a sufficiently fast shutter speed even at F8, it doesn't seem practicable to use an extender, especially if one also loses autofocus.

[attachment=19329:Comparis...extender.jpg]
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stever

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Canon 1.4 teleconverter on 100-400 L IS USM?
« Reply #26 on: January 10, 2010, 10:40:54 am »

yes, if you can stopped down and are using a sturdy tripod and have good light so the lens will autofocus with pins taped (the lens is very hard to manual focus as the focus ring is so sensitive) you can get a benefit from the teleconvert

but for what you'll be shooting in the Galapagos i still think Ray is right

let me add a couple more points
- don't hesitiate to use ISO 1600 or even 3200 with the 5D2 if you need it to stop action - a little noise (particualrly for wildlife) is far better than unintended motion blur
- with the 100-400 the sharpness gained by going to f8 from f5.6 offsets the noise of higher ISO up to 1600
- use the center point focus for faster autofocus (and you'll generally be fine leaving it on AI Servo) as this camera lens combination doesn't autofocus all that fast
- program the * button for autofocus so you can focus and shoot independently
- if shuttler speed is marginal, take bursts of 3-5 images to improve your odds (leave continuous drive on unless you're using flash)
- i you would like to go the next step in quality use fill flash (-1 1/2) with a better beamer - really does improve color, particularly for birds against sky
- i have no problem making 13x19 wildlife prints from crops of 600-700 mm equivalent

you'll have a great time
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AnderlSp

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Canon 1.4 teleconverter on 100-400 L IS USM?
« Reply #27 on: January 23, 2010, 11:59:21 am »

Hi all,

I followed this thread and now I also about to buy a converter. I saw several tests and examples for 1.4 extender.
Anybody has experience with the 100-400 and the 2x extender?
I heard that the IQ drops dramatically, can you confirm this?
I could find many examples in the internet for the combination 5DMkII + Canon 2x + 100-400 L

The question ist, if the combination delivers a much better IQ than just copping the image taken with the 1.4 or even without extender.

Thanks...

BR,
Andreas
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