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400mm f5.6 with 1.4x tc (1 Viewer)

I had exactly the same problem - and again thought the lens was faulty - couldn't get a really sharp image, then I took it off and hey presto!
 
This is an example I was getting with my 70-200 2.8, note the diagonal lines, also it's not sharp.
As soon as I removed the Hoya UV (N) filter all was revealed!
 

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Thanks Ian, Terry and Roy. The 400mm knocks all kinds of spots off of my Sigma 170-500, the Sigma is out competed in every field - image quality, handling, build...
 
You will not regret buying this lens VB. I know I don`t and it has saved me more times than I care to mention.
 
You will not regret buying this lens VB. I know I don`t and it has saved me more times than I care to mention.

I have to admit that the past couple of nights I have woken up at 2am and thought 'God, what have I done, spending all that money on a lens??!!' but no, in the cold light of day I don't regret it one bit and I'm looking forward to getting out and about with it. One thing's for sure, I have got it insured!
 
I am so glad I made the decision to buy the 400mm f5.6 over the 150-500 Sigma and in
deed over the 100-400mm once you get used to follow that bird you don't need the zoom
and of cause if I need a bit more reach I will put the 1.4 kenko in....

Thanks to all that lead me astray to buy it, if there's anyone else dithering take a look at my Gannet
 

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I believe that is the shot that I commented on when you stuck it on the "Birding Day" section. I am extremely envious Terry. Still to see, at close quarters, one of these birds and don`t live anywhere near Bempton !
 
I believe that is the shot that I commented on when you stuck it on the "Birding Day" section. I am extremely envious Terry. Still to see, at close quarters, one of these birds and don`t live anywhere near Bempton !

It took me 3 hours early morning to get there from Peterborough, arrived at 7 am had the place
to myself for a couple of hours. They are still sitting on young so they will be
there for while yet, but next year my visit will be timed for May/June best for
all the seabirds they told me. It was a great Day out..............
 
Sorry to re-re-ressurect this thread, but I have been pondering a 1.4x TC for months and cannot make a decision for the life of me, so have a couple of questions that I would like to ask:

Terry, which Kenco did you buy in the end? Was it the White DG 300 plus that Bristol cameras sell for circa £140?

IanF, the Kenco 1.5x non-reporting that you use. When you say it is non-reporting, does that mean you cannot change the aperture setting?

Thanks, Confused of herts!
 
Terry, which Kenco did you buy in the end? Was it the White DG 300 plus that Bristol cameras sell for circa £140?


Thanks, Confused of herts!

This is the one I bought Kenko Teleplus PRO 300 DG Teleconverter 1.4x for Canon fit from hkbins for £70 delivered from Hong Kong.

BTW mine is Black I think the white one is a earlier model ?
 
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Sorry to re-re-ressurect this thread, but I have been pondering a 1.4x TC for months and cannot make a decision for the life of me, so have a couple of questions that I would like to ask:

Terry, which Kenco did you buy in the end? Was it the White DG 300 plus that Bristol cameras sell for circa £140?

IanF, the Kenco 1.5x non-reporting that you use. When you say it is non-reporting, does that mean you cannot change the aperture setting?

Thanks, Confused of herts!
The White Kenko 1.4 is the older model I believe.
When Ian talks about the non reporting Kenko 1.5 it means that the converter has not got the necessary electronic pins in it to let the camera know that a converter is present. This can be a good thing because Canon non 1 series camera will not AF above f5.6 so if you have a f5.6 lens and you add a 1.4 converter then you will not get AF unless you:
a) Tape the pins on the tc to fool the camera into not knowing it is there.
b) Use a tc that does not have these pins in the first place (non reporting).

Using either type of converter, the ability to AF with a f5.6 lens can vary according to which camera and lens you have. For instance I have a Canon 400mm f5.6 lens and have used a taped tc with it on three different Cameras:

350D Which did not AF very well at all with a taped tc (gave up in the end)

30D The AF with a taped tc is very good with this combo

40D Not very good when using the centre focus point and a taped tc.

Theoretically the Kenko 1.5 non reporting tc is not so good a quality glass as say the Canon 1.4 or the Kenko Pro 1.4 But some user like Ian F get good results and from what I have read AF is better with the non reporting tc than with a taped one.

Whatever you use it must be remembered that AF will be far from perfect and will be slower to AF than the bare lens. Also with a lot of lenses image quality could suffer a lot when adding a tc.
 
.................
IanF, the Kenco 1.5x non-reporting that you use. When you say it is non-reporting, does that mean you cannot change the aperture setting?

.......

The Teleconverter is fully compatible. As Roy says it's just it's presence that isn't reported from to the camera - aperture and focus are controlable.

Here's a link to the Kenko specifications - Kenko Teleplus MC1.5DG - not that it tells you much.
 
Thanks for the replies all. Primarily I want it to go with my Canon 300mm f4, but I also would like to use it without AF on my Sigma 500mm f7.2. I want to maintain as much image quality as I can with the Canon though, so what works best with this lens is the most important factor. I'm not overly keen on buying from HK so may have to go with the Canon extender and gamble it will work on the AV setting with the Sigma. If not I could add the Kenco 1.5 at a later date.

Thanks again, Paul
 
Thanks for the replies all. Primarily I want it to go with my Canon 300mm f4, but I also would like to use it without AF on my Sigma 500mm f7.2. I want to maintain as much image quality as I can with the Canon though, so what works best with this lens is the most important factor. I'm not overly keen on buying from HK so may have to go with the Canon extender and gamble it will work on the AV setting with the Sigma. If not I could add the Kenco 1.5 at a later date.

Thanks again, Paul
Paul, you need to be aware that the Canon converter has a protrusion that stops it fitting on a lot of lenses (even Canon ones). It will certainly fit the 300 f4 but not to sure about the Sigma - chances are it will not even fit.
I have both the Canon 1.4tc and the Kenko pro 300 1.4 and IMO there is nothing in it as far as IQ goes - the advantages with the Kenko are that it is considerable cheaper than the Canon and also it will fit almost any lens.

As an example, I have the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens and very often use the Kenko Pro 1.4 tc with it - the Canon tc will not even fit.
 
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Ah, now that seems to reduce the options then! Any ideas where to buy the Kenco DG pro from then? I had assumed that it was the version being sold by Bristol Cameras, but Terry says not.

Nothing is ever as simple as it should be! :(

Thanks Roy
 
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