1.4x or 2x Converter? (1 Viewer)

Hirundapus · May 26, 2005

Hi,
I'm thinking of buying a Canon 2x Converter to go with my new 100-400 IS.
Does it produce "good enough" results, or should I just get the 1.4x ?
Opinions and advice most gratefully received!

hollis_f · May 27, 2005

Hirundapus said:
Hi,
I'm thinking of buying a Canon 2x Converter to go with my new 100-400 IS.
Does it produce "good enough" results, or should I just get the 1.4x ?
Opinions and advice most gratefully received!

A friend of mine has just got a 20D, 100-400 IS and a 2x converter. Last weekend I had a play with it and it worked better than I expected. But that was using the setup on a tripod looking at the birds in her garden.

PWG · May 27, 2005

I've just bought a 2x this week to go with my 100-400L hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to take it out for a play.

stevo · May 27, 2005

Hi Paul

Be sure to let us know how you get on with your 2x tc(pics etc)

Cheers Steve.

PWG · May 28, 2005

I took my new toy out for a spin and considering the conditions I was quite impressed. Although it was quite sunny for a lot of the day it was very windy and everything was moving about a lot.

All the attachments were taken with a Canon 20D, Canon 100-400L IS and Canon EFII 2x converter using manual focus.

I've included three photo's; the canada geese, the EXIF says 200 so I assume 400. The two shots of the flower were taken at minimum and maximum zoom. All were handheld so camera movement as well as the object moving in the wind will be working against the shot (so 800mm handheld). I thought if you are going to test something why give it an easy ride. I have done nothing with these apart from resize, they were shot as large smooth jpeg and are effectively straight from the camera. No point in showing how good photoshop is when you want to know about the lens. The only thing I can't say is how strong the wind was or how bad I am at focussing

christineredgate · May 28, 2005

Paul,thankyou for those shots,I am considering purchasing another converter(I sold the prev one),as I cannot manage a heavy lens.So will wait to see some more of your pics.Did you use any other settings,or just manual focus.Did you need to use a higher ISO?.

John N · May 29, 2005

Thanks for the pics Paul. They certainly look perfectly acceptable to me. I am wondering about a 1.4 or 2x converter and after seeing these Iam leaning towards a 2x.Look forward to seeing some more. John.

Gwynn · May 29, 2005

The pictures of a goldfinch, serin, tree sparrow and greenfinch in my gallery of were taken using a 100-400 and 2X converter.

PWG · May 29, 2005

christineredgate said:
Paul,thankyou for those shots,I am considering purchasing another converter(I sold the prev one),as I cannot manage a heavy lens.So will wait to see some more of your pics.Did you use any other settings,or just manual focus.Did you need to use a higher ISO?.

The camera was set to P, ISO 200, Pattern metering, I left everything else to the camera.

Canada Geese f13 1/400
minimum zoom f11 1/400
maximum zoom f11 1/250

PWG · May 29, 2005

I just re-checked the EXIF for the shots and they are actually showing the correct focal length so the Canada Geese were shot at 200mm as the maximum zoom shot shows 800mm.

stevo · May 30, 2005

Paul thanks for posting the pix I too am considering a 2x converter.

Cheers Steve.

Martin Thomas · May 30, 2005

Just worth mentioning the 2x drops you 2 stops where as the 1.4x only loses you 1.

pturton · Jun 1, 2005

Using a TC with a zoom lens causes more image degradation than when used with a prime. My Canon 1.4x works well with my 70-200 f/2.8 L IS but the Canon 2x creates dismally soft images. With my 300 f/4 L IS or 400 f/5.6 L primes, the Canon TC works reasonably well without too much softness or CA introduced. The samples shown above of the 100-400 + 2x TC are too soft for my liking.

Unless you plan on purchasing a prime telephoto lens, get the 1.4x TC for use with your 100-400 zoom.

Paul
http://www.iaw.com/~pturton/
[Most images on my site from May which show 400 as the focal length are actually 560mm since placing a 12mm extension tube between a 1.4xTC and the 400mm f/5.6 lens fails to report the actual FL to the camera and does not disable AF.]

Marise · Jun 1, 2005

Hi! I'm certainly not an expert but I have a 100-400mm lens and both converters. I bought the 2x first and found that the extra length with manual focus a bit too much for me + the image thr the viewfinder was considerbly darker which again does not help with manual focus. So I bought a 1.4x from e-bay one of the 'Shipped direct from Hong Kong at £160.00 + £30pp' it arrived in 2 days by TNT. had to pay £20.00 tax. Personally I find it much easier to manage - the image is lighter to focus and you only lose I stop. With the 100 - 400 not being the fastest in the world this is fairly relevant. I suppose it also depends on whether you would always use a tripod. Marise

PWG · Jun 2, 2005

pturton said:
Using a TC with a zoom lens causes more image degradation than when used with a prime. My Canon 1.4x works well with my 70-200 f/2.8 L IS but the Canon 2x creates dismally soft images. With my 300 f/4 L IS or 400 f/5.6 L primes, the Canon TC works reasonably well without too much softness or CA introduced. The samples shown above of the 100-400 + 2x TC are too soft for my liking.

Unless you plan on purchasing a prime telephoto lens, get the 1.4x TC for use with your 100-400 zoom.

Paul
http://www.iaw.com/~pturton/
[Most images on my site from May which show 400 as the focal length are actually 560mm since placing a 12mm extension tube between a 1.4xTC and the 400mm f/5.6 lens fails to report the actual FL to the camera and does not disable AF.]

Hi, welcome to BF.

I agree my shots are soft but that is probably more to do with being handheld in a strong breeze, especially at 800mm.

I was intrigued by the comment at the bottom of your post about the 12mm extension tube not stopping AF. How fast does it focus?

Nice site by the way.

pturton · Jun 3, 2005

PWG said:
Hi, welcome to BF.

I agree my shots are soft but that is probably more to do with being handheld in a strong breeze, especially at 800mm.

I was intrigued by the comment at the bottom of your post about the 12mm extension tube not stopping AF. How fast does it focus?

Nice site by the way.

Good afternoon Paul,

Thank you for the warm welcome. I've been here for a while - since before the system crash - but just reading.

The auto-focus slows considerably but is more accurate than my feeble manual focus attempts. I would compare its speed to that of my 70-200 f/2.8 IS with a 2x TC attached - usable for stationary subjects but not good for tracking. If the focus has been previously set close to the subject distance, the AF can be almost instant even in shaded conditions. I find it much preferable to using MF for speed and accuracy.

Interesting find though, adding a 2x TC to my 300mm f/4 with pins taped or using the 12mm extension trick, AF refuses to work at all with this combination even though the aperture is f/8, the same aperture when using the 400mm f/5.6 + 1.4x TC.

"Handheld in a strong breeze"

Last evening I had my first attempt at photographing a dance recital and 66% of the shots looked like "handheld in a hurricane" - I do apologize for the critique of your samples.

Paul

PWG · Jun 4, 2005

pturton said:
Good afternoon Paul,
Thank you for the warm welcome. I've been here for a while - since before the system crash - but just reading.

Sorry, should have looked at the join date. I lost quite a few posts with the crash so ended up back in double figures

The auto-focus slows considerably but is more accurate than my feeble manual focus attempts. I would compare its speed to that of my 70-200 f/2.8 IS with a 2x TC attached - usable for stationary subjects but not good for tracking. If the focus has been previously set close to the subject distance, the AF can be almost instant even in shaded conditions. I find it much preferable to using MF for speed and accuracy.

I know the feeling, by the time I get the bird in focus it's either gone or most of it has. I have a growing collection of blue sky and parts of wings.

Interesting find though, adding a 2x TC to my 300mm f/4 with pins taped or using the 12mm extension trick, AF refuses to work at all with this combination even though the aperture is f/8, the same aperture when using the 400mm f/5.6 + 1.4x TC.

"Handheld in a strong breeze" Last evening I had my first attempt at photographing a dance recital and 66% of the shots looked like "handheld in a hurricane" - I do apologize for the critique of your samples.

Paul

No problem, the IS was certainly earning its money, shame it can't hold the subject still as well. What I do find with the 2x is it certainly increases the problems with stability and distant shots are a real problem with even a slight movement, specialy with the UK weather and sunny? summers.

I have found one major problem with MF after the dioptric adjustment got knocked, shots which looked in focus were out when I checked later. Always worth checking against auto focus to save a lot of pain later.

The attachment is a peregrine falcon and this was the only one close to being in focus when it came across.

That was at 740mm with the 2x.

strategistn · Jun 5, 2005

Just a comment from a different perspective. I am the proud owner of both 2x and 1.4 Eos converters, which I use with Eos 1n and Eos 100 (film cameras of course). However, I have recently had great success in using a Fuji S3000 digital camera, set at half its capacity zoom magnification (for fear of camera shake in the wind), and cropping the resulting shots dramatically on my PC. Provided the camera is set for high definition, the results have been great. Good luck to the rest of you with your converters though.

John In Ireland · Dec 8, 2008

Hmmm... new to this. The mind boggles! I have a Canon450D with 100-400is. Is it worth the extra money buying a 1.4x or 2x converter? Where are these pins that everyone is taping and do I use TV or AV?

John In Ireland · Dec 8, 2008

Ah..I have been reading a few forums and am now a little more educated!! Found the tapy pin things!! Now then you brain boxes out there. Will this work on my set up above. If so do I go ahead and buy a 1.4x or a 2x ?

1.4x or 2x Converter? (1 Viewer)

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