Canon teleconverters

[swamp_rattler]

Hello all,

I have a Canon 40D and a Canon 500mm f/4.5 (non-IS). I just purchased a Canon 1.4x II teleconverter to go along with the 500, but was curious how good the 2x would be? Neither would give me autofocus, since my max. aperture is 4.5.

That brings me to question number two: if I taped any pins on the 1.4x, could I achieve autofocus on the 500/4.5??

Last, if I decide I need more reach, should I get a Canon 2x II or another 1.4 or 1.5x to stack?

[Martin Thomas]

It's my understanding that the taped pins fix only works on the non-Canon converters.

Another 1.4x or 1.5x will mean sacrificing another f stop or a 2x a further 2 stops. That said I occasionally use 2 Kenko 1.4x converters (taped) on my Canon40D with a 100-400 L IS and in good light the results have been very good - certainly better than cropping from a smaller image when the subject would have been a dot in the distance.

Another consideration may be how much it would cost to upgrade your camera from your 40D to a 50D to gain more pixels and therefore, a bigger crop factor?

[Roy C]

It's my understanding that the taped pins fix only works on the non-Canon converters.

Nope, it works on Canon as well as others.

[Roy C]

Hello all,

I have a Canon 40D and a Canon 500mm f/4.5 (non-IS). I just purchased a Canon 1.4x II teleconverter to go along with the 500, but was curious how good the 2x would be? Neither would give me autofocus, since my max. aperture is 4.5.

That brings me to question number two: if I taped any pins on the 1.4x, could I achieve autofocus on the 500/4.5??

Last, if I decide I need more reach, should I get a Canon 2x II or another 1.4 or 1.5x to stack?
I would stick to the 1.4 for now to see out it pans out. Not sure about the tape pin trick with the 500/4.5 but see no reason why it should not work reasonably well as it is normally done with f5.6 lenses.

[postcardcv]

I would stick to the 1.4 for now to see out it pans out. Not sure about the tape pin trick with the 500/4.5 but see no reason why it should not work reasonably well as it is normally done with f5.6 lenses.

it worked very well on my Sigma 500 f4.5, but it does seem that success with a taped tc can be very variable.

[Martin Thomas]

My mistake - thanks for the info Roy.

[JohnZ]

I saw a gentleman with exactly that set up at Bough Beech. The down side of it was that he apparently could not get a shot of a Heron that was no more than 50 metres away. Don`t know why.

[GYRob]

the problem with the 2x is IF you use it to try to bring a distant bird close you lose detail BUT if the bird is close to start with and you use it to just fill the frame more then its fine.
i took this today ff and aprox 100% CROP on my 40d and 500f4isL 1/640 F8 ISO 200 to me its just a record shot as the detail has gone the bird was aprox 35yds away.
Rob.

[christineredgate]

i met a BF member in Haverigg today,and he was using a 30D,with the Canon 400DO IS,plus a 1x4,I had a look through the viewfinder and took a couple of shots of the Mergansers,it was super sharp,ie the view through the viewfinder.Hope he posts some shots on the gallery.

[mark f]

so not wishing to flog a dead horse does the AF work with the 500 IS L when using a converter with the 40D?

Am i right in thinking it would because its F4? And you wouldnt have to tape the pins??

[Roy C]

so not wishing to flog a dead horse does the AF work with the 500 IS L when using a converter with the 40D?

Am i right in thinking it would because its F4? And you wouldnt have to tape the pins??
If it is the 500/4 then you would not have to tape any pins with a 1.4tc because that would only take you up to f5.6 so no problem with AF on any Canon body.

[Robert_Scanlon]

... curious how good the 2x would be?

It's OK, but you lose a lot of image quality. I've seen tests which showed that using one gives more detail on distant subjects than the 1.4 though, so it depends what you want. If you want record shots of rarities its worth getting...if you want to print your photos or sell them, maybe not.

I have a 1.4 and a 2x, and to be honest the 2x never gets used much at all, whilst the 1.4 is nearly always on for bird photography.

[Chrysophylax]

I will second that, I have had better results with stacked TCs than just the 2x. For record shots I use a Canon 40D 400mmf/5.6 with a canon 1.4TC and a Kenko 1.5TC stacked. If the conditions are on your side you can achieve very good results.

[avwh]

Hello all,

I have a Canon 40D and a Canon 500mm f/4.5 (non-IS). I just purchased a Canon 1.4x II teleconverter to go along with the 500, but was curious how good the 2x would be? Neither would give me autofocus, since my max. aperture is 4.5.

That brings me to question number two: if I taped any pins on the 1.4x, could I achieve autofocus on the 500/4.5??

Last, if I decide I need more reach, should I get a Canon 2x II or another 1.4 or 1.5x to stack?

I have the same 500L lens; I use a Tamron 1.4x that's non-reporting, so I maintain AF, and don't have to tape any pins. I use the Canon 1.4x with my 300L f4 IS, so it reports in the exif, but I still have AF, as well.

[swamp_rattler]

Thanks everyone!

Okay, so what is the best non-reporting teleconverter then? Tamron, Kenko, Sigma? I'm going to see how the Canon 1.4x II works out first, and I doubt I'll ever tape the pins. The 500/4.5 is difficult/expensive to fix and I'd rather not risk ruining it via taped pins, however slight the chance.

[avwh]

these were all taken with the 500L + 1.4x Tamron, with varying light conditions (the BE shot was under very cloudy conditions, the hummingbird in late afternoon light, the egret closeup in bright light, for example)...

[QuantumTiger]

I've not seen any direct comparison tests between TCs. But I do have both the Canon and the Tamron. I haven't tried the two side by side in a long while - but my initial impressions were that IQ with the Tamron was slightly poorer than with the Canon but not by as much as I had expected and only when you looked for it. I've used the Tamron extensively since and have generally been very impressed with the results I got with it. The one thing I have noticed is an increase in harder grain noise on shots where I use the TC. Not entirely sure why that should be.

I got the Tamron for smiliar reasons to you. Wanted a non-reporting TC to use with my EF 400mm f/5.6L and 20D. One thing to be aware of. I believe that there is a newer Tamron 1.4x which does report so if you go for the Tamron worth checking you get the right one. Mine is the MC4. I waited on ebay for about four months for one to come up.

[swamp_rattler]

Are there any other TC's that are non-reporting that would allow autofocus with the 500/4.5 lens? I see the Tamron MC4 is quite difficult to find, and I'm thinking the Kenko's aren't consistent. What type of Tamron are you using, avwh?

[stevo]

Basically the Tamron & the Kenko are the same TC I believe Kenko makes the tc for tamron its just badged differently.


Steve.