Last week, I got a chance to try out the new Canon EF 2x II Teleconvertor on top on Canon 100-400 on a non-pro Canon EOS 450D (Rebel XSi) body. It was not a ‘test’ of sorts. I just chanced on an Egyptian Vulture and shot from the car. As it was too far for a good frame filling shot on 400mm lens, I put the 2x extender to check what I can make of this. I did not use a tripod, but used support of car window.
On non-professional Canon bodies such as EOS 450D (Rebel series), 40D, and 7D, Auto-focus doesn’t work at aperture f/8 and higher. So, I had to use manual focus. The results were very impressive. Here’s for you to see:
Captured with 100-400 @ 400mm without TC. Full Frame Image. Click on image for full resolution (900 X 600)
Captured on 100-400 + 2X extender (teleconverter) @ 800mm. Full Frame Image. Click on image for full resolution (900 X 600)
EXIF:
First image – Canon 100-400mm @ 400mm, Canon EOS 450D, Auto-focus, ISO-200, f/5.6, 1/1600s.
Second image – Canon 100-400mm + Canon EF 2x II Extender @ 800mm, Canon EOS 450D, Manual-focus, ISO-200, f/11, 1/400s.
I don’t believe in tests under controlled conditions where you use a sturdy tripod and test pattern. What matters to me is what I get in the field. And I am impressed with the Image Quality, Sharpness and Contrast produced on the new 2X extender and Canon 100-400mm combination. Many a times I have heard that zooms don’t perform well when used with a teleconverter, but this trial has proved it otherwise. If I can get this kind of sharpness and Image Quality, I love the flexibility of a zoom lens.
Here is a 50% crop of the image captured with a 2X TC.
50% crop of 800mm view (full resolution – 700×467)
I did not put up a 100% crop because, the image was not as very sharp as you can get on a frame filling 100% image on 400mm lens. I didn’t want do excessive sharpening to give an appealing image. Also, I felt it is not fair to put a 100% crop when the conditions used to capture the image were far from ideal – hand holding with support of a car window to manual focus at 800mm and 1/400 shutter speed. If you use a sturdy tripod, I definitely think the results would be much better. I also stopped down to f/13 and captured few more frames, and it has come out even sharper.
Bokeh or Depth of field – Shooting at f/11 takes away the advantage of the bokeh you expect to get on a 800mm lens. It is almost same as what you get on 400mm at f/5.6 (obviously so?).
The catch of course is where can you get the luxury of shooting at 1/400s shutter speed at f/11 aperture at ISO-200. Definitely not in 80% of the situations I shoot in. It is best suited to open grasslands, lakes, coasts, and similar spots with good lighting. Also, not suitable for birds that are very agile. Most raptors maintain their distance and don’t move much. So, ideally suited for photographing such birds.
It is best to have a longer lens if you want to shoot far away subjects, but for those who want to try a longer reach without shelling out a lot of money, this works decently. Though I haven’t tried out the older Canon 2X extender, I have heard it is not very good. But the version II of the 2x extender definitely is worth a look.
P.S.: I have not done excessive post-processing to give a impressive image. As I always follow, only the very basic post-processing steps of levels, saturation, and USM have been used.
Teleconverters are a good compromise. I shot the Aero show with my Canon 1.4x TC coupled with 70-200mm F2.8.
i was not very happy with the sharpness i got using 2x – in comparison to the prime. not sure if it gives any better results than cropping. also given the fact that the aperture is too thin (i felt f/11 gives too much diffraction) and auto-focus is not available i almost stopped using it. except when i have a tripod and shooting a very still subject (say, sun or moon)
btw … DoF of 400mm f/5.6 is not same as 800mm f/11. DoF is same for a given frame and ‘f’ value irrespective of focal length. the focusing distance (distance from subject to lens) affects DoF, but if u use the same frame for reference, the focusing distance will be lesser for smaller focal length. what u said still makes sense, because u were trying to shoot the bird from the same distance. effectively, a pictures using a 2X TC is similar to a 1:2 crop of the picture! in terms of DoF, sharpness, frame … etc it gives the same results. the negative is with 2X TC u need a lot more light due to a higher effective focal length and lower aperture. isnt it better to do cropping afterwards in ur comp?
again, i believe, auto focusing at f/8 is available only for pro bodies. my 400D can auto focus only with a max aperture of f/5.6. even on my 180mm f/3.5 + 2X TC () effective max aperture of f/7.1) it cannot auto focus. otherwise, 300mm f/4 IS and 2X TC may have been a good combo :)
I can’t remember having a problem with auto-focus with 1.4X TC!! I shot at f/8 280mm a lot and didn’t have any issue.
Sharpness does suffer a bit, no question. And of course you have sacrifice a few stops, but if its bright daylight, not much of an issue. But with a 2X like you said, needs more light with its higher effective focal length.
Your blogposts are awesome! I have a Canon 7D and have been contemplating getting a 100-400mm for sometime now and your photographs tempts me to buy it soon!
hi i just bought the cannon 2x-III and use it on a 100-400 cannon with a eos500d. And the auto focus doesnt work. So on which body does it work?
Yes, auto focus doesn’t work when the aperture is f/8 on non-pro bodies such as 500D, 40D/50D/60D, and 7D. It works only on 1D series such as 1D Mark III, 1D Mark IV.
You can use AF in this combination. But You have to use the AF in the Live View mode. It is much slower, but it works.
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