Canon Extender Compat with EFS Lens?

MarkTodd · September 25, 2007

Does anyone know if the Canon extenders are compatible with EFS lens? I picked up a Kenko extender last night because I was told it would be. It most definitely is not. So I'm wondering if Canon's is. Thanks for your help!

Lovesong · September 25, 2007

Quote: " with fixed focal length lenses 135mm and longer (except the 135mm f/2.8 Softfocus lens), and the EF 70-200 f/2.8L, 70-200 f/2.8L IS, 70-200 f/4.0L, 70-200 f/4.0L IS USM, and 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS zoom lenses."

From here:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=154&modelid=7462

ziggy53 · September 25, 2007

MarkTodd wrote:

Does anyone know if the Canon extenders are compatible with EFS lens? I picked up a Kenko extender last night because I was told it would be. It most definitely is not. So I'm wondering if Canon's is. Thanks for your help!

As a rule, the Canon Tele-Converters have "less" compatibilty than third party converters, because of an extended front element.

I am not aware of any EF-S lenses that are compatible with any tele-converters.

You can check for the Canon 1.4x compatibility here:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/FrameWork/charts/canon1_4xExtender.html

As a curiosity, which EF-S lens are you considering?

MarkTodd · September 25, 2007

ziggy53 wrote:

As a rule, the Canon Tele-Converters have "less" compatibilty than third party converters, because of an extended front element.

I am not aware of any EF-S lenses that are compatible with any tele-converters.

You can check for the Canon 1.4x compatibility here:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/FrameWork/charts/canon1_4xExtender.html

As a curiosity, which EF-S lens are you considering?

Thanks for the link. Doesn't look like EFS is compatible with the extenders.

I currently have the EFS 17-85 f/4-5.6 which isn't terribly fast and would be even less so with the the extender. But I was thinking about getting the faster EFS 17-55 f/2.8. But given the extenders aren't compatible I'll need to rethink that. Which brings up a whole new question...

What is the advantage of an EFS lens? The disadvantage seems to be they are only compatible with the XT/XTi bodies. My XTi is my first SLR. I don't want to limit myself should I ever wish to move up to a higher level camera. Lenses are just too expensive to invest in something that won't be compatible!

Eric&Susan · September 25, 2007

MarkTodd wrote:

Thanks for the link. Doesn't look like EFS is compatible with the extenders.

I currently have the EFS 17-85 f/4-5.6 which isn't terribly fast and would be even less so with the the extender. But I was thinking about getting the faster EFS 17-55 f/2.8. But given the extenders aren't compatible I'll need to rethink that. Which brings up a whole new question...

What is the advantage of an EFS lens? The disadvantage seems to be they are only compatible with the XT/XTi bodies. My XTi is my first SLR. I don't want to limit myself should I ever wish to move up to a higher level camera. Lenses are just too expensive to invest in something that won't be compatible!

You can't use the extender on those small focal lengths. I belive it starts around 100mm for the shortest focal length.

If you read the first page of this thread:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=41922
It should tell you all you want to know about extenders.

Eric

ziggy53 · September 25, 2007

MarkTodd wrote:

...

I currently have the EFS 17-85 f/4-5.6 which isn't terribly fast and would be even less so with the the extender. But I was thinking about getting the faster EFS 17-55 f/2.8. But given the extenders aren't compatible I'll need to rethink that. Which brings up a whole new question...

What is the advantage of an EFS lens? The disadvantage seems to be they are only compatible with the XT/XTi bodies. My XTi is my first SLR. I don't want to limit myself should I ever wish to move up to a higher level camera. Lenses are just too expensive to invest in something that won't be compatible!

Tele-converters are generally used at 100mm and onward. Standard/normal and wide-angle lenses are not good candidates because of the way the light bends as it exits the final element of the lens. Tele-converters are designed to work with lenses long enough that the light bends at a relatively mild angle with respect to the central axis. You might get the center sharp using a shorter focal length lens, but the image edges would go bad very quickly.

EF-S lenses, and other so called "digital" lenses by other manufacturers, have a smaller image area to match the smaller imager in "crop" cameras. This usually makes the lens smaller and lighter, and it may be (usually not) less costly than full-frame lenses.

I don't recommend buying lenses based on what you "might do". I do recommend buying lenses based on your needs. If you need a particular lens to fill a particular need, there is nothing wrong with EF-S and similar offerings.

If you should decide to move into a full-frame body, your crop camera might still find use as a backup camera or, if you sell everything, there is a very active market for used equipment and you wouldn't loose all that much, plus you will have had the use of the equipment in the mean time.

Eric&Susan · September 25, 2007

Also EFS works on 20d 30d and 40d also.

Eric

MarkTodd · September 25, 2007

Wow, so much good information. I have too many questions! The whole reason I was looking at an extender is I went into the camera store asking about close-up filters to do some low-cost "macro" stuff. The employee there recommended using the extender instead. Was this bogus advice??

ziggy53 · September 25, 2007

MarkTodd wrote:

Wow, so much good information. I have too many questions! The whole reason I was looking at an extender is I went into the camera store asking about close-up filters to do some low-cost "macro" stuff. The employee there recommended using the extender instead. Was this bogus advice??

That question has a couple of different answers. In your case, with the lens that you have, it was not good advice.

A tele-extender/converter does effectively magnify the image, at the expense of reducing the available light transmitted to the image plane.

A close-focus lens (diopter that attaches "like" a filter) is a pretty good option for many longer lenses, especially primes. For the lenses you discussed, I'm not thinking they are really ever going to yield spectacular results.

For macro and close-focus, read this information:

http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=50752

gtc · September 25, 2007

MarkTodd wrote:

Wow, so much good information. I have too many questions! The whole reason I was looking at an extender is I went into the camera store asking about close-up filters to do some low-cost "macro" stuff. The employee there recommended using the extender instead. Was this bogus advice??

possibly mixed up terminology-for macro you would use extension tubes to enable closer focussing-these are different to teleconverters/extenders in that they don't have any glass,just air and contacts between lens and body to preserve metering.

MarkTodd · September 26, 2007

gtc wrote:

possibly mixed up terminology-for macro you would use extension tubes to enable closer focussing-these are different to teleconverters/extenders in that they don't have any glass,just air and contacts between lens and body to preserve metering.

Aha! You've got it! I googled "extension tube marcro" and came up with:

http://www.shutterfreaks.com/Tips/ExtensionTube.htm

Thank you very much! A trip to the camera store to exchange that extender is in my future!

claudermilk · September 26, 2007

gtc wrote:

possibly mixed up terminology-for macro you would use extension tubes to enable closer focussing-these are different to teleconverters/extenders in that they don't have any glass,just air and contacts between lens and body to preserve metering.

That was my thought. Extension tubes should be compatible with any lens since they are simply hollow tubes with no optics. So just remember, it's Extension tubes for hollow macro use, and teleconverters for extending the lenses' reach.

Canon Extender Compat with EFS Lens?

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