1.7x Extender (1 Viewer)

davethebird

Well-known member

• May 10, 2012

• #1

I've just picked up a Soligor 1.7x extender and have done a quick trial attached to my Canon 300 F4 on a 7D. This gives a 510mm F6.8 combination.

The autofocus of this set-up works well - it seems as good as the 300 F4 and Canon MkII 1.4x extender. The image quality was OK but the shots were taken through a window.

The biggest downside is the non-reporting of the teleconvertor so that a correction factor of about -1.3 stops has to be applied to stop over-exposure and I used Tv to force a shutter speed of 1/500.

Does anyone have experience of using this 1.7x in the field. I only expect to use it occasionally when the extra reach will be an advantage.

How much chance is there of a Canon or more modern independent version of a 1.7x convertor.

 

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Roy C

Occasional bird snapper

• May 10, 2012

• #2

That pic looks good Dave, especially taken through the window.
I do not know anything about the Soligor extender nor have I ever heard of any other 1.7x tc for Canon. I do find it strange that you have to apply special EV comp to get the exposure correct because with TTL(Through-the-lens) metering the camera should set the exposure according to what it sees through the lens, it does not need to know that the extender is there to do this. I have used a taped Canon tc before and the Camera does not see the extender nor does the EXIF show the correct focal length or aperture but metering has always been OK.
I also have a very old (22 years) teleplus 2x tc that will not AF even on a f2.8 lens but the metering is always correct without any special considerations when I use manually or via Live view AF. Having said that I have heard of people having this problem with some of the Kenko converters as well, guess it must be something to do with the electronics in the converter.

 

Last edited: May 10, 2012

E

eastwood

Well-known member

• May 10, 2012

• #3

Interesting piece of equipment. I have not heard of it, BTW where did you get it from? I presume it is not a new one as Soligor has been quiet for some time.
The pic looks very OK.
I have used a Kenko DGX MC7 (not the pro version) on my 7d with 300f4 L IS. It does AF, but the same EV compensation has to apply. Qualitywise, it is only fair.

 

K

kurakura

Well-known member

• May 11, 2012

• #4

Hey,

Take a look at this site....

http://www.naturfoto-erras.de/sigma500.html

 

iveljay

Well-known member

• May 11, 2012

• #5

Not birds but..

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/783390/0

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?34329-Soligor-Tele-Converter-How-good-is-it

Comments on lack of compatability with EF-S lenses, but looks good.

 

davethebird

Well-known member

• May 11, 2012

• #6

eastwood said:

Interesting piece of equipment. I have not heard of it, BTW where did you get it from? I presume it is not a new one as Soligor has been quiet for some time.
The pic looks very OK.
I have used a Kenko DGX MC7 (not the pro version) on my 7d with 300f4 L IS. It does AF, but the same EV compensation has to apply. Qualitywise, it is only fair.

Click to expand...

I read something about it when I first bought the 7D in January 2011so I set up an alert on E-bay and this was the first to come up in all that time.

Thanks for the other links, the Soligor has found a place in my bag - it's not very heavy anyway.

 

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eastwood

Well-known member

• May 12, 2012

• #7

Excellent site, congrats.

 

davethebird

Well-known member

• Jun 17, 2012

• #8

More trial shots

I had another go with the Soligor 1.7x converter and had some mixed results. These resulted from a degree of forward focus on my 300 F4 lens that was magnified with the longer focal length. I corrected for this in the 7D menus and now am getting better shots with all 300mm lens / converter combinations. :t:

Here are a couple of handheld shots taken with the 7D / Canon 300 F4 / Soligor 1.7x combination. The shots were auto-focused, handheld and exposure was set at -1. They were taken as RAW files and the exposure was slightly tweaked - other than that they are full frame straight from the camera with an inset of the focus point to give an idea of the detail.

I'm happy that the combination can deliver some usable results.

 

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Last edited: Jun 17, 2012

Hor Kee

Penang birder

• Jun 17, 2012

• #9

Good shots! Is this a non-reporting TC? Will using it at f/8 help restore some lost detail?

 

davethebird

Well-known member

• Jun 17, 2012

• #10

Hor Kee said:

Good shots! Is this a non-reporting TC? Will using it at f/8 help restore some lost detail?

Click to expand...

Yes it is non-reporting so the exposure would be about +1 1/3 stops without compensation. I've just noticed that these shots were taken at f5.6 so that may have helped with the detail.