Canon 1.4x EF Extender II

redstriker · October 30, 2006

I have never posted and I'm enough of a novice to be wary of getting questions I can't answer but here goes.
I purchased a Canon 1.4x EF Extender II from B&H to use with my Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Lens on my Canon Rebel. I used it for the first time this weekend and frankly was disappointed. The reach didn't seem all that much enhanced and all the shots look soft. It was a bright sunny day so the was able to shoot between 4.0 and 5.6 for most of the game. The reviews of the extender rarely mention a substanial loss of sharpness. Is that because these folks are shooting with higher grade camera bodies than the Canon Rebel?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Samples of the photos with extender are posted in my gallery - http://shaffer-hotshots.smugmug.com/gallery/2067700. Thanks very much.

ziggy53 · October 30, 2006

I only looked at a couple of the images at full res, but they seem fine to me.

Understand that some loss of contrast and sharpness is to be expected, especially on a zoom lens. Understand too that motion blur is exagerated and DOF "appears" shallower than normal, but these are normal attributes of any telextender. Focus speed is also slightly less because of the loss of aperture (1 stop).

There is not a magnitude of difference between using the telextender and not, but the compromise is generally considered acceptable if you need/want the extra effective focal length, and is generally better than software-crop-and-zoom (interpolation.)

Compared to the telextenders I used back in the 60s and 70s, the current crop of quality extenders, like the Canon and Nikon 1.4x, is fine indeed.

ziggy53

marlinspike · October 30, 2006

I use a 1.4x canon tc on my 70-200 2.8. Yes it degrades the image some, but at f/5 and 5.6 it should be pretty good. It definitley ads a lot of reach, just put it on, set the lens to ~143mm and then zoom all the way to 200 while looking in your view finder (143x1.4 = 200.2)

I too looked at a few of those shots and they seem fine to me.

Antonio Correia · October 30, 2006

I shot these pictures with the same equipment (70 200 IS + 1.4 II + 20 D) and I think it's good.
I looked at your photos and they look OK...
Aren't you expecting too much ?

Here I post the same picture and a crop. It's very good isn't it ?

From JPG ! Not from RAW !

Manfr3d · October 30, 2006

On a side note, I found a comparison of a few Extenders
(Canon 1.4x, Kenko 1.4x and 1.5x, Solinger 1.7x) here:

http://www.traumflieger.de/desktop/telekonverter/konvertertest2.php
and here
http://www.traumflieger.de/objektivtest/telekonverter/telekonverter_check.php

I was realy surprised to see that the Kenko 1.4x Pro300
outperformed the Canon 1.4x, yet it passes the correct
EXIF (focal length, fstop) to the camera and with 180EUR
being alot cheaper than the canon counterpart. The page
is in german, but you can see 100% crop pictures there
(click on "GO" near the bottom).

Antonio Correia · October 30, 2006

Manfr3d wrote:

On a side note, I found a comparison of a few Extenders
(Canon 1.4x, Kenko 1.4x and 1.5x, Solinger 1.7x) here:

http://www.traumflieger.de/desktop/telekonverter/konvertertest2.php
and here
http://www.traumflieger.de/objektivtest/telekonverter/telekonverter_check.php

I was realy surprised to see that the Kenko 1.4x Pro300
outperformed the Canon 1.4x, yet it passes the correct
EXIF (focal length, fstop) to the camera and with 180EUR
being alot cheaper than the canon counterpart. The page
is in german, but you can see 100% crop pictures there
(click on "GO" near the bottom).

Too late.
Got mine some 45/60 days ago...
:bash

Jeffro · October 30, 2006

redstriker wrote:

I have never posted and I'm enough of a novice to be wary of getting questions I can't answer but here goes.
I purchased a Canon 1.4x EF Extender II from B&H to use with my Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Lens on my Canon Rebel. I used it for the first time this weekend and frankly was disappointed. The reach didn't seem all that much enhanced and all the shots look soft. It was a bright sunny day so the was able to shoot between 4.0 and 5.6 for most of the game. The reviews of the extender rarely mention a substanial loss of sharpness. Is that because these folks are shooting with higher grade camera bodies than the Canon Rebel?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Samples of the photos with extender are posted in my gallery - http://shaffer-hotshots.smugmug.com/gallery/2067700. Thanks very much.

Did you have any kind of a filter on the lens? That too can add to some image loss, even if it's just a UV filter. I have noticed such, especially in very bright conditions.

marlinspike · October 30, 2006

Manfr3d wrote:

On a side note, I found a comparison of a few Extenders
(Canon 1.4x, Kenko 1.4x and 1.5x, Solinger 1.7x) here:

http://www.traumflieger.de/desktop/telekonverter/konvertertest2.php
and here
http://www.traumflieger.de/objektivtest/telekonverter/telekonverter_check.php

I was realy surprised to see that the Kenko 1.4x Pro300
outperformed the Canon 1.4x, yet it passes the correct
EXIF (focal length, fstop) to the camera and with 180EUR
being alot cheaper than the canon counterpart. The page
is in german, but you can see 100% crop pictures there
(click on "GO" near the bottom).

That must be an anomally. I've handlled Sigma Canon and Kenko, and I'd rank them Sigma almost the same as Canon (canon has better color) and Kenko is way back.

Antonio Correia · October 30, 2006

marlinspike wrote:

That must be an anomally. I've handlled Sigma Canon and Kenko, and I'd rank them Sigma almost the same as Canon (canon has better color) and Kenko is way back.

Uff ! ... What a relief ...

gluwater · October 30, 2006

marlinspike wrote:

That must be an anomally. I've handlled Sigma Canon and Kenko, and I'd rank them Sigma almost the same as Canon (canon has better color) and Kenko is way back.

I've seen other examples of the Kenko Pro being higher quality than the Canon. Maybe your copies were the anomolly

marlinspike · October 30, 2006

gluwater wrote:

I've seen other examples of the Kenko Pro being higher quality than the Canon. Maybe your copies were the anomolly

Maybe, though considering what I've seen from 2x Kenkos (though I haven't personally handled those), I feel like the canon is more likely to be better.

Maybe send me yours for comparison?

deal

gluwater · October 31, 2006

marlinspike wrote:

Maybe, though considering what I've seen from 2x Kenkos (though I haven't personally handled those), I feel like the canon is more likely to be better.

Maybe send me yours for comparison? deal

You can't compare a 2X TC with any brand of 1.4 TC, since 1.4TC's are what is being discussed in this thread. They are completely different. Why do you "feel" the canon is more likely to be better? Just because it is Canon?

marlinspike · October 31, 2006

gluwater wrote:

Why do you "feel" the canon is more likely to be better? Just because it is Canon?

Because it has been my personal experience and the experience of several with 2x tc's

redstriker · October 31, 2006

Extender
Thank you Ziggy. Your observations were very useful.

uote=ziggy53]I only looked at a couple of the images at full res, but they seem fine to me.

Understand that some loss of contrast and sharpness is to be expected, especially on a zoom lens. Understand too that motion blur is exagerated and DOF "appears" shallower than normal, but these are normal attributes of any telextender. Focus speed is also slightly less because of the loss of aperture (1 stop).

There is not a magnitude of difference between using the telextender and not, but the compromise is generally considered acceptable if you need/want the extra effective focal length, and is generally better than software-crop-and-zoom (interpolation.)

Compared to the telextenders I used back in the 60s and 70s, the current crop of quality extenders, like the Canon and Nikon 1.4x, is fine indeed.

ziggy53[/quote]

redstriker · October 31, 2006

Thanks Marlinspike.

marlinspike wrote:

I use a 1.4x canon tc on my 70-200 2.8. Yes it degrades the image some, but at f/5 and 5.6 it should be pretty good. It definitley ads a lot of reach, just put it on, set the lens to ~143mm and then zoom all the way to 200 while looking in your view finder (143x1.4 = 200.2)

I too looked at a few of those shots and they seem fine to me.

I'll put your advice to work. I appreciate the time you took to answer my concerns.

Canon 1.4x EF Extender II

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