Which teleconverter? (1 Viewer)

[Tannin]

I have a Canon 20D and Canon 100-400 lens. I mostly hand-hold, but will get around to organising a plate to attach it to my didiscoping tripod & head before too long.

I'll eventually get a longer lens (500mm f4? Something in that sort of range, anyway) and a 2X teleconverter, but I'm planning to start off with a 1.4X.

I want:

* Best image quality
* Retain auto-focus on the F4-f5.6 100-400
* Don't really care about the price

Does the Canon actually have better optics than the others? Canon & taped contacts sounds like a possibility. The Tamron seems to get good reports. Maybe that is a better choice? Or Sigma? Tokina is, apparently, the same as the Tamron with a different badge.

Looking forward to any advice people can offer.

Thanks,

Tony

 

[normjackson]

Just done a scan over at dpreview. The two most likely options seem to be the cheap Tamron 1.4 which will enable you to autofocus on your 100-400 without taping or to get the Canon in readiness for the Canon prime.
Looks as though folks struggle to get a reasonable percentage of keepers with the 100-400 + converter unless conditions are very good : stationary subject & camera, lots of light and contrast etc etc. Perhaps the Tamron will yield a higher percentage of OOF shots while the Canon is more noticeably slooow.
A few threads :
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=12802550
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=8863820
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=8406803
And Brian Drip's tests :
http://www4.pbase.com/drip/lens_tests

 

[hollis_f]

Just done a scan over at dpreview. The two most likely options seem to be the cheap Tamron 1.4 which will enable you to autofocus on your 100-400 without taping

It will enable you to try to autofocus. The reason the Canon TC disables AF is because the image is half as bright with the TC attached - which is often enough to make it fail totally. With the Tamron TC you'll find that the AF will be a lot slower and will fail more often - especially in low light situations.

Having said that - it will work most of the time. And the Full-Time Manual focussing of the 100-400 means that you'll still be able to focus manually when AF fails without having to flick the switch on the lens back and forth.

 

[fc3s89]

From the reviews I have read on other the Canon Digital Photography forums. The Kenko Teleplus Pro 300 DG teleconverters are as good as the Canon ones in terms of image quality. The Pro 300 range is Kenko's best quility stuff. They have the advantage of being a dumb teleconverter so they will work with any lens unlike the Canon teleconverters, although this also means the EXIF won't register the proper information which can be downside for some people.

Definitely worth looking into.

 

[Roy C]

I have the Canon 1.4 tc which I use with a f4 lens (no need to tape pins as AF is maintained). The image quality when used with the 'L' lens is superb and you would be hard pushed to see any drop in quality because of the converter.
I also have a Teleplus 2x (mc7 so not the cheapest) tc but with this one image quality suffers a lot.
I have seen test reports where you can get better results by resizing (enlarging) the image in photoshop rather than by using a tc although I have not tried comparisions myself.

 

[tirc83]

I have a Canon 20D and Canon 100-400 lens. I mostly hand-hold, but will get around to organising a plate to attach it to my didiscoping tripod & head before too long.

* Best image quality
* Retain auto-focus on the F4-f5.6 100-400
* Don't really care about the price
Tony

I have a Tamron 1.4x and Kenko 2x that I use with my 20D and EF400 f/5.6L.

the 1.4x autofocuses ok but the 2x needs me to switch to manual focusing.

You lose 1 stop of light with the 1.4x and 2 stops with the 2x.

As long as the light is good, the quality is quite good.

The perceived wisdom is that the Canon is better than the 3rd party ones but then again they can be 3 times the cost! - so what would you say if you had paid 3x for a 1.4x ;-)

 

[compa]

OK ... first let me explain where I'm coming from on this issue:

I own and use the Canon 1.4x and the Kenko-Tokina Pro 300 2x & 3x teleconverters. I use them with various lenses, the 300mm f/4 - the 100-400mm f/5.6 - the 100mm macro. I use this fun stuff on a Canon 20D.

First a statement: The optical quality of the Kenko teleconverters IS NOT below that of the Canon teleconverters. There may be a difference on paper but in practical use, they are basically identical.

Now ... that said, the build quality of the Canon is definitely superior. But so is the price. Teleconverters are small. They don't get knocked about as much as a lens would (not that a lens is knocked about much). I really don't care that much about build quality on a teleconverter.

The biggest difference (after price and appearance) is the presence of a rubber protrusion on the lens side of the Canon models. Reportedly this is to help fight some sort of optical problems. In reality it limits the use of the Canon teleconverters to lenses that have a recessed back element. Because of this rubber thingy Canon teleconverters will not physically couple to many lenses. That means that I can't use my Canon teleconverter with my macro lens or my lesser telephotos. With these, I have to use the Kenko brand glass. And it works great.

In short - I prefer the Kenko teleconveters to those from Canon.

Now, on the subject of the use of teleconverters ... a 400mm lens on a 20D is the 35mm equivilent of a 640mm lens. Add in a 1.4x teleconverter and you have a 896mm telephoto lens. THAT'S HUGE and it requires real skill in its use. A very steady tripod, a remote shutter release and mirror lockup, perhaps a monopod bracing the front of the lens. High shutter speeds help a lot but, with the darker image caused by the teleconverter, are hard to come by.

A telephoto lens with a teleconverter is not simply the same lens with more reach. It is a totally new lens with new rules for its use.

 

[Bill Atwood]

For the best optical and operatiopnal results get the Canon TC. I don't want to hear any crying in if your 3rd party TC doesn't perform well.

I'll never understand why folks are willing to spend top dollar for big name SLRs and lenses, yet try to cut corners on teleconverters that are only 1/4 the price.

BTW , it seems that most people are not happy with the results from a 1.4x on a 100-400mm.

 

[Roy C]

I recently bought the canon 1.4 x tc for less than £160 (inc £35 rebate) so the cost need not be that much more than say a kenko pro.

 

[adrianf]

A cautionary tale. I saw a Sigma X1.4 being sold on Ebay the other day because the owner said that it wouldn't fit the lens he was using. I've heard this somewhere before as well. Moral: check lens/converter compatibility first....

 

[Chris Oates]

A cautionary tale. I saw a Sigma X1.4 being sold on Ebay the other day because the owner said that it wouldn't fit the lens he was using. I've heard this somewhere before as well. Moral: check lens/converter compatibility first....

Indeed - here is their compatability chart

Sigma converters

 

[Adrian D]

I have just purchased the Canon 100-400 + Canon 1.4x converter, although I haven't had much chance to use it yet! Being able to retain AF with the converter would be an added bonus if it can be made possible.

I have heard about the tape on the pins trick to retain AF and it would be very useful to know how you find out which pins to cover. Is it just a case of trial & error?

 

[stevo]

Adrian I think this has already been discussed on BF do a search on TC`s.

Steve.

 

[postcardcv]

The Kenko Teleplus Pro 300 DG teleconverters are as good as the Canon ones in terms of image quality. The Pro 300 range is Kenko's best quility stuff. They have the advantage of being a dumb teleconverter so they will work with any lens unlike the Canon teleconverters, although this also means the EXIF won't register the proper information which can be downside for some people.

This isn't always the case - I got given a Kenko Pro 300 DG for Christmas and have used it with both my Sigma 500 f4.5 and 100-300 f4 and it has seemed anything but dumb... most annoying really as it means I've had to tape the pins to use it with the 500.

I am however very happy with the image quality - the recent swan photos in my gallery were all taken using this tc with the pins taped.

 

[postcardcv]

I have heard about the tape on the pins trick to retain AF and it would be very useful to know how you find out which pins to cover. Is it just a case of trial & error?

This came up only yesterday...

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=49771

 

[Adrian D]

Found it with a search, thanks Steve.

Thanks also for the other link Postcard.

 

[SMC2002]

Butting in a bit late, but I use the "cheap" Tamron (used to be $80usd, is now $110usd). Lots of birders get really good results with this TC. No taping required and it fits on ANY lens. Unlike the Canon and Sigma TCs.

I have seen all the "comparisons" on DPR and the Tamron is softer in the corners. But, my birds are usually center frame, so it doesn't bother me a bit. As someone above mentioned, I use this TC on the 400mm F5.6L with the 20D. So it gives me a FOV of 896mms. Yes, you better know what you are doing and yes you need high shutter speeds or a mono/tri pod. But, I have no trouble nailing birds in flight with this set up. Yes, the TC does slow the AF, but the 400mm is a very fast focuser w/o the TC and with it, it doesn't slow the AF down all that much.

Here are some examples from this morning and last Friday, taken with this combo.

here

here

and here

Steve

 

[Keith Reeder]

You make the point very well Steve - they're great..!

 

[Jeremy]

This isn't always the case - I got given a Kenko Pro 300 DG for Christmas and have used it with both my Sigma 500 f4.5 and 100-300 f4 and it has seemed anything but dumb... most annoying really as it means I've had to tape the pins to use it with the 500.

I am however very happy with the image quality - the recent swan photos in my gallery were all taken using this tc with the pins taped.

Hi,
I have a Sigma 500mm f/4.5, and can`t get it to autofocus with any converter. I have tried taping pins on my Kenko Pro 300 1.4x, and still it doesn`t work. Which pins do you tape?

 

[fc3s89]

I just bought a Kenko Pro 300 DG and what I have found is if you mount it to the camera first, then to the lens it will auto focus, if you mount it to the lens first, then the camera like you are supposed to it doesn't auto focus. I don't understand why this would be the case but I have tried it a whole bunch of times and the result is consistent.