JGobeil
Nature Photographer
Hi Paul,
Well, the 400mm alone is better at short range than with the 1.4X TC but as you increase distance, the TC is a welcomed tool. I've read quite a bit on TCs and that's what experts say. Good quality 1.4X TCs allow good lenses to increase their useful range. They are useless on lower quality lenses.
A good example is the old v. I Canon 100-400mm L. Adding a 1.4X TC worked when the light was good but autofocus was still difficult and cropping gave better results. The 100-400 is a nice lens but it is not known to be very sharp. Put the same TC on the 400mm L: it works very well with much better results than cropping.
2X TCs are another story. Opinions are mixed. Some say they are useless and that cropping does a better job. Others say they work well on some lenses. My friend who loaned me his 2X TC is a good example: he uses it on a Canon 70-200mm L f#2.8 v. I with great results for birding; he keeps it on the lens 100% of the time, making it a 140-400mm.
My tests seem to indicate that the 2X that it is not as effective as the 1.4X with the 400/MB. For example, at 50 meters, it resolves 4.6 while the 1.4X does 5.1. So, cropping a 1.4X image would give slightly better results. This is on a static perfectly flat black & white unprocessed image. I'm not sure it would be that obvious on a real bird photo in a birding environment. I will try to test that tomorrow if WX permits.
The Panasonic 100-300mm is a nice lens but I have not used it with Panasonic cameras. Is is light and small, cheap in price and has a nice zoom range. It is also quite sharp once you get used to it. To improve sharpness, it helps to close the aperture a bit and to lower the zoom to about 275mm. It is also important to pre-focus, to press the shutter very smoothly and not to move the lens immediately after you pressed the shutter.
The big drawback of the 100-300mm for birding is its limited range. Its performance degrades very quickly past 10-15 meters. Up to that range, it supports reasonable cropping quite well. This is one of the reasons I am looking at the 400mm with the 1.4X TC which seems to be able to extend the useful range quite a bit.
I also would like to use the 400mm to replace the SW80ED scope because it is too big and heavy, it is manual focus only and it does not work well with the EM-1 IBIS. With the 1.4X TC, it becomes 560mm, which is about the same as the SW80ED but without its weaknesses. However, it is not as sharp but, since my ability at manual focus is limited, it may very well perform better in real life. Of course, it would be nice to be able to make it a 800mm lens with the 2X TC but I am not sure it will do the job IQ wise. More tests are needed.
For the type or bird photography I like to do, I need tools that can extend my range to about 100 meters. The 100-300mm and the SW80ED with a 1.5X TN were able to do that. However, carrying the big and heavy equipment at all times is a NO CAN DO !
Carrying the 400mm with a TC or 2 and a tripod when I think I will need it is possible but I would still need the 100-300mm because IMO the 400mm lens is too much for close range photography.
The other option is to wait for the Olympus 300mm + 1.4X TC or the Panasonic 100-400mm. However, neither of these will allow as much range as the 400mm + TC. On the other hand, they will probably be lighter and will focus extremely quickly. Will their IQ be better than the 400mm + TC ? Probably but by what margin ? How much more cropping would they allow ? With the 100-400mm, I could sell the 100-300mm and carry only one lens. Food for thaught... :smoke:
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