Recommended teleconverter for Canon
- This topic has 8 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated Dec 11, 2009 at 7:28 am by
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My dad is looking at 2x teleconverters for his Canon.
Would steer you toward the canon and away from a 2X all together (unless he’s going to use it on a prime lens).
I’m with Kurt – the 1.4 by Canon by all accounts I’ve heard is sharper.
It’s what I use, which might bias my opinion some.
Tim it depends on what he’s hoping for.
If he doesnt care at all about the end product and IQ he could use a 2x but he should know that unless he’s using a great lens to begin with hit to IQ could be heavy. With regards to IQ and TCs the more stringent you are with regards to IQ the better your lens and tc need to be. Even the best of the best suffer some degradation. I can use a 1.4 or 2x with my 500mm f4L. I wouldnt use either with the 100-400 L. My unacceptables (deletes) could and would likekly be just fine for most people who just shoot for themselves. To each his own. Long way of saying if he doesnt really care about the quality of the end product and is more interested in getting more reach for “records” than go for it. Better a shot thats not “tack sharp” than no shot at all
2x TCs reduce light by two stops, this could and likely will negate autofocus if the min aperture exceeds f5.6 ( entry and pro sumer DSLRs) or f8.0 on 1D bodies.
Meaning if he’s using a lens that is f5.6 at the widest and mounts any TC (either a 1.4 or 2.0) his body wont autofocus unless its a 1D
If the lens is f4.0 and he mounts a 1.4 TC ( 1 stop) his min aperature setting is then f5.6 which is fine for all of Canon’s DSLRs. Using the same lens and a 2X TC only the 1D series will retain auto focus.
In short, if keeping auto focus is critical and someone wants to use a 2X TC they need to be using fast glass (f2.8 or better) if their body is anything but one of the Pro 1D bodies. Which means big $$ for longer lenses (200mm +). There are workarounds (taping pins or using non reporting) but thats best left for another discussion…
With regards to TC manufactorers. Personally Id stick with name brand (Canon) but if I wanted to save some coin Kenko next, then Tamron
I’ve shot Canon in the past and would echo everything said here.
A teleconverter isn’t a magic accessory that will transform a consumer-grade lens into poor man’s L glass.
IMO, TCs simply don’t produce satisfactory results unless they’re on a pro lens of f/4 or faster already.
Yep, what they all said.
I’ve tested my 200 F2 with both the 1.4 and the 2x (canon) and the image quality suffered too much with the 2x, while with the 1.4 it was very near to just the lens.
That said, with some of the sharpening and other digital trickery available now, you could get images out of a 2x that would be useable.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Dave should get a golf swing and a life before he gets any new gadgets….
Kb
Such a ball breaker…
Don’t worry about Dave…he’s about to start collecting government checks, and might be sleeping on your couch sooner than you think.
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