1.4 Teleconverter trial
 

Took my 400mm f5.6 non IS lens with a Canon 1.4 tc attached out on Saturday to see how this combo faired handheld. The light was good but I bumped up the ISO to 800 to ensure fast shutter speeds. The attached shots had speeds of between 1/1000 and 1/3200 with the exception of the Sparrow which was 1/500 sec.
Remember this lens has not got IS and all shots are handheld - focal length of 560mm with a FOV of 896 mm. Must say I was fairly pleased with the results.

birds, sheep and blokes look good to me. I don't think it is the right approach to flowers or particularly successful and especially as they don't fly or run away you can get close anyhow and concentrate on the best DOF and lighting combo.

Thanks for the comments Chris - I would never use this combo to snap flowers normally (I find my 70-200 very good for this), nor am I in the habit of snapping the rear of cyclist - I was on a trial to see if I could hand hold the combo and was shooting anything in sight. What I hoped I have proved is that the Non IS 400mm f5.6 and 1.4 tc is handholdable and you can get sharp shots in good light.

I'd be well pleased..must admit, I'd looked at a converter being part of my kit at some future point but was worried whether it would be a workable item. I shall worry no more! Good thread.
Al.

I have had similar success with my Canon 400 mm f5.6. I normally use a mono pod which is not too much trouble to carry about. It is also quite useful for getting back on ones feet after kneeling down for a while.

John.

Hard to notice any side effect of TC.

I think you have found how good it can be with the converter Roy. The photos speak for themselves. I was amazed at the clarity without the expense of a 500mm prime. increasing the ISO gets you round a lot of the problems with the limitations of the cheaper alternative (noise). With todays technology of the better sensors who needs to spend thousands.

A teleconverter is high on my wish list but, like Al Tee, i wasn't sure that it would work well enough. Your tests are reassuring although I would be using mine with a 75-300 mm zoom.

Snowyowl, this was taken on my Canon 100/400 mm, with a Canon 1.4 x extender fitted and hand held with the aid of a mono pod. The crop occupies about 60% of the original picture area. 1/320 s @ f6.3 (8.9), IS on.

John

Just a word of caution Dan - A tc does not work well on all lens and in particular some zoom lenses (the 100-400 being an exception) Also a Canon tc will only fit a limited number of Canon lenses. So you need to do your homework before buying.

I agree Roy,they dont work well on all lenses but I have had some cracking pics with both my ef 75-300 and my sigma 135-400.The attached pics were taken with the sigma and the kenko pro 1.4x TC.The redstart is quite a heavy crop and needed some work in photoshop as it was overexposed by 1 stop (dont ask!) and was washed out.I have a few examples when using the 75-300 and the cheaper kenko 1.5x TC on my birdforum gallery.I would have downloaded some off there and attached them here but it is offline at the moment.

Thanks, guys. I'll be careful but if I could get shots like John's with a tc I'd be delighted.

Nice shots, Mike. I'll be in Ontario this summer and will be talking to the folks at Henry's (a leading Canadian camera shop). They have a good reputation and hopefully will steer me right. The toughest thing will be convincing my wife.

Managed to dig out the gull shot from my birdforum gallery.This was taken on my 300d with my ef 75-300mm and the cheaper kenko 1.5x converter.

I just ordered a Kenko 1.4 Pro 300 to use with my manual focus Nikkor 400 IFED AIS f5.6 lens. I will post some test results when I get it.

Don

This shot was taken today using a Canon1x4 with the 100-400.I had messed up the lens on my 400F5.6 trying to clean it,and made it very smeary,so had to use the 100-400 with the 1x4 attached,too windy to remove.Considering I was shooting directly into the sun,and not holding the cam very steady,not bad.Bird is a Meadow Pipit.

Nice one Christine - still plenty of detail in the bird. Hope you can clean your 400mm prime ok.

A lovely sharp photo Christine. I do hope its only a smear and can be cleaned off.

Well done Christine nicely exposed and good contrast for against the light. Sorry about your lens smear. I hope there is no permanent damage. I am not using my Canon 400 mm f5.6 as much as I expected to mainly because often, I unexpectedly need to shoot closer than 11.5 feet.

Thankyou for the comments and concern,have not had time to check the lens,I spit on the cleaning cloth to remove a stubborn smudge and the heat of the sun dried everything too quickly,so I am trying to think how to clean it properly.Maybe some sensor cleaning fluid may work-----but,I cannot be too bad,'cos I took this shot this afternoon outside my back door,and apart from removing the dust spots.no other editing needed.but I will have a try tommorrow,as it is very smeary.

It just goes to show that sometimes we worry too much!

John

Well I'm mightly impressed with the Canon 2x extender especially when connected to the Canon70-200 f/2.8L.

I have what I think are some super shots with this combo.

However the quality of this lens combo was brough home to me a few days ago. I saw this high flying airliner Lufthansa 747 over flying us at 35,000-40,000 ft. I liked the way the sun was illuminating this airplane so i fired of a couple of shots.

Harry

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1.../HighFlier.jpg

The next is just a crop of the first

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...fthansa747.jpg

Harry those shots are superb.Very good.I do have the 2x but only use for something special if I do not have my digiscoping stuff with me.I do not take a tripod with me unless I am using the scope,and it is virtually impossible to hold the lens steady whils't trying to use MF .At least the 1x4 uses AF,providing the pins are taped,makes things so much easier.

Thanks Christine, yes I can well image the dificulty trying to manually focus, especially if you are referring to the 100-400mm.

I considered the 100-400, but in the end went for the 70-200 f/2.8 + 2 x extender, so that I would retain auto focus. There are a few times when I wished I had the 100-400 + extender, but on the whole I'm very happy with my choice.

To be quite honest I was amazed when I saw the vapour swirling of the wing tips on the cropped version, especially when you consider the aircraft was approx 7 miles away.

Harry

Love the aircraft shot.
Anybody have any experience of comparing the old Kenko 1.4 Pro with the new ''digital'' one which has coatings on the rear element to reduce reflections off the sensor. Is there any discernable difference in the real world?

Further to my test with the 400mm f.6 and 1.4 tc I tried some shots today with an old teleplus 2x converter. This gave me a focal length of 800mm at f11. Used a tripod and manual focus. Must say I was pleasantly suprised at the IQ. Never tried it before with this combo as I had always read that 2x tc are a no go.

I think I would be over the moon with the results you have obtained

Excellent Roy, I haven't tried the 2x, I may give it a go and see what the results are like.

Roy,those shots are great.I guess I will have a go with the eiders out in our bay,difficult to digiscope,esp with the wind,also the light from the sea,but using a tripod,may manage a reasonable shot.Did you use any other settings other than manual focus.Just set to F11,and MF.That means using the AV mode,I think.Which ISO setting did you use,Roy?. I usually pick 400 ,hoping it may compensate for loss of light stops(I think that is correct).

Thanks for the comments Christine - the tc that I used was a non reporting one (only had 8 pins) therefore the camera did not know it was there so I used my normal AV mode with the lens wide open (f5.6). I used ISO 800 which is the same as I use for hand holding this lens with a 1.4 tc (hardly any noise at all on the 30D).

A friend let me use her Tamron 1.4 converter yesterday. I put it on my 70-300 lens and was pleased with the results.

The Tamron SP 1.4x convertor is an excellent piece of glass. i have the earlier Adaptall one, way better than the SP 2x convertor.
I have to admit tho, that the High spec 1.5x DOI branded convertor is quicker to use in may case as I don't need to take the cameras adaptall mount off first...This is nearly as good as Tamron's unit.
2x is a different matter...DOI's 2x is a complete waste....which is why I took the elements out and used it as an extension tube! The Tamron SP 2x is the only one I use if a f5.6 max aperture doesn't matter (ie in bright light)

ive got a canon 350d, and a sigma 70-300dg macro lens, would i be able to get a 1.4 tele converter to join the two? and who"d be the best place to order from in the uk?

A good question. I ordered a Canon 1.4TC and was disappointed to discover that it would not fit my Sigma 150mm macro lens. I have since discovered that I can get it to fit by putting an extention tube between them. Sorry I cannot answer your question directly but this may be of some help.

Dave