Teleconverter..? (1 Viewer)

BirdieGirl · Mar 22, 2007

Hi everyone, I have a question for you more experienced photographers. I currently have a Canon XTi with a 75-300mm lens and that's what I use to photograph birds. I am looking for a way to get closer to the birds - more zoom. I don't have the money for a whole new lens, so I was thinking about getting a teleconverter 1.4x or 2x. Does anyone have any advice for me about either of these or is there something else I should be using? Thanks!

GYRob · Mar 22, 2007

i think your lens is f5.6 at the long end so nither 1.4 or 2x will af on your camera also not many zooms take tc's very well L zooms have better sucsess .
Rob

IanF · Mar 22, 2007

With any zoom lens, adding a teleconverter leads to loss of light entering the camera and a loss of quality in the photo. With a 1.4x converter you lose 1 f-stop or halve the shutter speed - same effect. With a 2x converter you lose 2 f-stops.

With the XTi and adding a 1.4x converter to this lens you will have at most f8 aperture - the XTi will autofocus at this aperture but it's very slow. It's okay for birds perched up, but very difficult to take birds in flight. I wouldn't even consider trying a 2x converter.

If you want to go down that route then it's worth having a look at the Tamron 1.5x MC converter or the Tamron 1.4x or even the Kenko 1.4x.

Ageinghippie · Mar 22, 2007

IanF said:
With any zoom lens, adding a teleconverter leads to loss of light entering the camera and a loss of quality in the photo. With a 1.4x converter you lose 1 f-stop or halve the shutter speed - same effect. With a 2x converter you lose 2 f-stops.

With the XTi and adding a 1.4x converter to this lens you will have at most f8 aperture - the XTi will autofocus at this aperture but it's very slow. It's okay for birds perched up, but very difficult to take birds in flight. I wouldn't even consider trying a 2x converter.

If you want to go down that route then it's worth having a look at the Tamron 1.5x MC converter or the Tamron 1.4x or even the Kenko 1.4x.

Agree with the above, I have Kenko 1.4 300pro convertor, and will auto focus
with My Sigma 70-300 DG APO Macro, F4 to 5.6.
Also need good light

Les

canonshooter4life · Mar 22, 2007

I would never use a converter with that lens the quality would be too bad... the quality of the bare lens isnt good so adding a TC would only make it worse... this is from experience... I only just got rid of it...

Ageinghippie · Mar 22, 2007

canonshooter4life said:
I would never use a converter with that lens the quality would be too bad... the quality of the bare lens isnt good so adding a TC would only make it worse... this is from experience... I only just got rid of it...

Hello,

Each to his own I have had good results with the Sigma and Tcon attached,
see

All I was trying to inform was that a certain convertor would retain autofocus
with a certain lense. Having said that I found the 300 reach too short for me
and have recently purchased the Canon 100-400IS to which the Sigma cant
match.

Lets agree to disagree re Sigma

Les

postcardcv · Mar 23, 2007

IanF said:
With the XTi and adding a 1.4x converter to this lens you will have at most f8 aperture - the XTi will autofocus at this aperture but it's very slow. It's okay for birds perched up, but very difficult to take birds in flight. I wouldn't even consider trying a 2x converter.

If you want to go down that route then it's worth having a look at the Tamron 1.5x MC converter or the Tamron 1.4x or even the Kenko 1.4x.

The XTi is limited so it will only AF if the max aperture of the lens (or lens/tc combo) is f5.6 or wider... the only way to get it to AF with a tc on an f5.6 lens is to either use a dumb tc or tape three of the pins so the camera doesn't 'see' the tc. This can often make AF very slow or can leave the lens hunting.

Personally I wouldn't recommend using a tc with this lens as it will show up any problems with the lens. If you do decide to try one definitely go for a 1.4x, 2x only work really well on the top end lenses. I'd avoid the Kenko 1.5x tc, when I tested one it was clearly a lower quality than the 1.4x pro. I think the Kenko 1.4x pro woudl be your best bet, but I still wouldn't recommend using one with your lens.

Ageinghippie · Mar 23, 2007

postcardcv said:
The XTi is limited so it will only AF if the max aperture of the lens (or lens/tc combo) is f5.6 or wider... the only way to get it to AF with a tc on an f5.6 lens is to either use a dumb tc or tape three of the pins so the camera doesn't 'see' the tc. This can often make AF very slow or can leave the lens hunting.

Personally I wouldn't recommend using a tc with this lens as it will show up any problems with the lens. If you do decide to try one definitely go for a 1.4x, 2x only work really well on the top end lenses. I'd avoid the Kenko 1.5x tc, when I tested one it was clearly a lower quality than the 1.4x pro. I think the Kenko 1.4x pro woudl be your best bet, but I still wouldn't recommend using one with your lens.

Agree with the above, I have Kenko 1.4 300pro convertor, and will auto focus
with My Sigma 70-300 DG APO Macro, F4 to 5.6.without taping the pins
Also need good light, not sure if it will auto focus, with another 70-300 lens

Les

mike from ebbw · Mar 23, 2007

canonshooter4life said:
I would never use a converter with that lens the quality would be too bad... the quality of the bare lens isnt good so adding a TC would only make it worse... this is from experience... I only just got rid of it...

I find this lens really good.OK it isnt up there with the L series lenses but for the money you cant go wrong.It all depends on why you are taking photos.For your own pleasure or commercial reasons.I also have a Sigma 400mm 5.6 lens and I have to say since going digital my choice of lens has nearly always been the little 75-300.Its great for flight shots as it is so light.The pics below was taken with this lens along with my 300d and I am more than happy.

whomes · Mar 23, 2007

mike from ebbw said:
I find this lens really good.OK it isnt up there with the L series lenses but for the money you cant go wrong.It all depends on why you are taking photos.For your own pleasure or commercial reasons.I also have a Sigma 400mm 5.6 lens and I have to say since going digital my choice of lens has nearly always been the little 75-300.Its great for flight shots as it is so light.The pics below was taken with this lens along with my 300d and I am more than happy.

Sorry Mike , just to clarify for the hard of thinking like me, these great shots were taken with or without a t/c?

mike from ebbw · Mar 23, 2007

Oh,I forgot to add that I also mate this lens up with the cheaper Kenko 1.5x TC.I have just trawled through my gallery for some examples.Both shots below were taken with the 75-300 the kenko 1.5x on my 300d.I may be biased but I cant see much wrong with them.

pe'rigin · Mar 23, 2007

Mike,

Can't see anything wrong with them.

Ageinghippie · Mar 23, 2007

mike from ebbw said:
Oh,I forgot to add that I also mate this lens up with the cheaper Kenko 1.5x TC.I have just trawled through my gallery for some examples.Both shots below were taken with the 75-300 the kenko 1.5x on my 300d.I may be biased but I cant see much wrong with them.

Mike,

I agree with you the Sigma 70-300 DG APO is a great lens for the money and have no complaints with it, My main problem was keeping the camera still
so I went for the 100-400 IS thinking would solve my problems, but
you still need good camera holding technique, with the Canon.
I am still keeping the Sigma as you say its lighter and more managable for in flight shots. the one below with 1.4 tcon and Sigma

Les

mike from ebbw · Mar 23, 2007

Hi Les.The shots I posted were with the Canon ef 75-300.All but the Nuthatch were handheld.I would also like to add that both the gull and the dunnock autofocussed perfectly but it is good light.The dunnock was A1 autofocus and the gull was A1 servo.

Ageinghippie · Mar 23, 2007

mike from ebbw said:
Hi Les.The shots I posted were with the Canon ef 75-300.All but the Nuthatch were handheld.I would also like to add that both the gull and the dunnock autofocussed perfectly but it is good light.The dunnock was A1 autofocus and the gull was A1 servo.

OOPs sorry Mike, got mixed up in this tread,thought replies where
re Sigma.70-300 misread the first post
However it seems the original question re tcons and 75-300 lens
has been cleared up.
Excellent photo's by the way
Ps Thumbnail taken with 100-400 hand held

Cheers

Les

BirdieGirl · Mar 24, 2007

Wow, lots of opinions

Thanks everybody! Yea my lens is a Canon, I've had pretty good results with it, but I far too frequently wish I didn't have to use my computer to zoom in the picture so much. I might try the Kenko 1.4 or 1.5. I'll look into those a little further. I was just out taking bird photos today and I was having the same problem trying to photograph little warblers that wouldn't let me get very close. Skiddish little ones...

Oh, as to the reason I'm taking the pictures, I do it for fun - for myself. But I did recently have one of my photos I took at an aviary on campus on the front page of a local paper. So I take them for me, but if there was some commercial purpose as well that works too. I want to get the best quality image I can.. with the money I have.

GYRob · Mar 24, 2007

mike from ebbw said:
Oh,I forgot to add that I also mate this lens up with the cheaper Kenko 1.5x TC.I have just trawled through my gallery for some examples.Both shots below were taken with the 75-300 the kenko 1.5x on my 300d.I may be biased but I cant see much wrong with them.

tell you this Mike that Dunak matche's shots from my 500f4 and to be honest i would not have though you could get IQ from your kit to match that lens so full marks from me :clap:
Rob.

mike from ebbw · Mar 24, 2007

Cheers Rob.As you can see it was taken in good light though.IQ does suffer a bit in diffused light but I then just take the TC off.

Teleconverter..? (1 Viewer)

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