• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Canon Teleconverters (1 Viewer)

MarkCaunt

MarkCaunt

Well-known member
Hi all.
Im thinking of getting a teleconverter for my Canon 30d and 100-400 IS lens.
Ive heard rightly or wrongly that with this lens the autofocus does not work with the canon 1.4x and 2x teleconverters. IS this right?
If so can you still tape to override this?
Does anyone have a link to a recent article or thread dealing with taping converters?

Thanks so much for your advice. All the best Mark
 
Hi Mark, when using a 1.4x tc with a f5.6 lens you will lose 1 stop of light which means you will be shooting at f8. With the 2x you lose 2 stops which is f11.
Non 1 series Canon cameras will only AF up to f5.6. This means that if you add a tc you will be outside of the AF range for the Camera.
To overcome this you can fool the camera into not knowing a tc is present, there are two methods to do this:
1) Use a non reporting Converter (such as the Kenko 1.5)
2) Tape three of the pins on a reporting converter to make it non reporting. Attached is how to do this.
Apparently this works fairly well on the 30D and 100-400 but I belive many users prefer the Kenko Pro 1.4 as opposed to the Canon 1.4 for this purpose.
Hope this helps

EDIT: a 2x tc is not recommended as the IQ will take a big hit.
 

Attachments

  • tapemod.jpg
    tapemod.jpg
    36 KB · Views: 112
Mark,

I have a 20D and a 100-400 IS lens. I often use the 1.4X Canon TC and it works great. I have taped the contacts and AF works very well in good light. In so-so light, I switch to manual focus. I have very good results as long as I use a tripod and a remote shutter accessory. The IS is always on on my lens even if Canon doesn't recommend it. It takes some time to get used to using it with good results. Be patient !

I have also tried the 2X TC but it is very soft with the 100-400. I got rid of it.
 
I have been looking for information on 'what pins to tape' on the 1.4 tc. I like it, but trying to keep up with hummingbirds using MF is hard to say the least! Possibly this is a 'silly' question, but what tape should I use?
 
I've used Scotch Tape (Sellotape in the UK) and electrician's masking tape to equally good effect.

Honestly though, I think most anything will do as long as it doesn't leave a residue.
 
Thanks everyone for your help and taping tips.
I do already own a Kenko 1.4 but with my lens it dosnt AF.
And Manual can be hard to do at times with fast moving birds like hummingbirds!
So Roy and all, am I doing something wrong with my Kenko for it not to be auto focusing?
Cheers again
 
MarkCaunt said:
Thanks everyone for your help and taping tips.
I do already own a Kenko 1.4 but with my lens it dosnt AF.
And Manual can be hard to do at times with fast moving birds like hummingbirds!
So Roy and all, am I doing something wrong with my Kenko for it not to be auto focusing?
Cheers again
Click to expand...
Hi Mark, are you using the Kenko Pro 1.4 or the Kenko 1.5?

If you are using the Kenko Pro then you will need to tape the pins on the tc to get AF.

If you are using the Cheaper Kenko 1.5 tc then it should AF as this is a non reporting tc.

My guess is that you have the Kenko Pro in which case you must tape the pins to acheive AF.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 16 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

O
Canon EOS 80D always slightly "fuzzy"
Replies
14
Views
2K
nikitasius
N
A
Using Canon R6 in full frame versus cropped mode?
Replies
3
Views
5K
Aliks
A
E
Best Lenses for Busy City Bird Photography?
Replies
3
Views
1K
Rolosama
Rolosama
T
Camera choice for birding around 3000 Euros with lens?
Replies
3
Views
1K
Tsvetan
T
N
Could it handle an extender?
Replies
2
Views
726
gerald762
gerald762

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top