A question about a specific lens for Canon

[PPhanatic]

My husband is looking to get a EF 70-300 IS
Here is the question... Will that work with a tele converter?

We have been told at a store, they will work together.
But we were also told by a photographer that you will lose F stops so much that the picture quality will be terrible.

Can anyone help us out here? We would hate to make a purchase like this if it isn't going to work.

Thanks.

 

[AaronA1]

You will lose a lot of f-stop capabilities. You will want to at least be able to use f/4 when zoomed in that close on something. When you use a teleconverter, it will bring the f-stop to about 8 on the low end.....which wont let images turn out as good as you would probably like.....

 

[gsgary]

The Canon converters will not work, but Kenko,Sigma,Tamron will your lens will go from a F5.6 at 300 to F6.3 with a 1.4x and to F8 with a 2x and you will lose auto focus with both unless you have a 1D and then it will only auto focus with a 1.4X, but i would not fit any converter to that lens

 

[Hardrock]

Seems like to me if it has to be used with a 1.4tc you need to be looking at the 300f4 or 400f5.6 lens(or one of the way more expensive L's). The 70-300 is an ok lens but not near good enough to use with a 1.4tc. So NO dont buy the lens to use with a 1.4tc.

 

[PPhanatic]

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate the help.

What would you recommend for birding photography?

 

[gsgary]

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate the help.

What would you recommend for birding photography?

500mmF4 or 600mmF4 you didn't mention budget 300mm is not long enough for birding

 

[Hardrock]

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate the help.

What would you recommend for birding photography?

500mmF4 or 600mmF4 you didn't mention budget 300mm is not long enough for birding

I have the 300 that I use with a 1.4tc and it CAN be used for birding but... You have to be a stealth ninja and be setup in a good location close to the bird. Granted the 500 and 600mm lens are a much better options if funds are there!

I chose the 300f4 over the 400f5.6 due to IS and the 300 with 1.4 makes it a 420f5.6 with IS.

 

[table1349]

TC's are designed to be used first on lenses with a focal length of 100mm or more. TC's are also designed to be used on prime lenses of high quality. They can be used on zoom lenses but they again need to be of high quality with focal lengths over 100mm. If you looked at these links;
Canon Extender EF 1.4x Compatibility Chart
Canon Extender EF 2x Compatibility Chart

you will see that Canon's TC's only fit selected L lenses both primes and zoom. You will also notice that there are no primes under 100mm and the only zoom under 100mm is the 70-200.

A 1.4/1.5 TC will cause a 1 full stop of light loss. A 2X TC will cause a 2 full stop of light loss.

TC's magnify the image of what ever lens it is on. Canon TC's will magnify either by 1.4X or 2X. When the TC magnifies the image that the lens sees it also magnifies the in problems that the lens has. If the lens is slightly soft, it will magnify that softness. So yes, it will degrade the image produced.

However, when a top quality TC is attached to a top quality lens you can get very usable image. I own both the Canon 1.4 and Canon 2X TC's and have no issues with using them. The only two lenses I use them on are my 300mm f2.8L and 400mm f2.8L. They are razor sharp lenses. The degradation the TC's may cause is very slight. Both the 1.4 and the 2X produce very usable images on both my 300mm and 400mm.

If you are interested in a TC I would offer a suggestion. Take you camera and the lenses you are interested in using it on to a good photography shop and take a few pictures with and without the TC you are interested in. Go home and take a look at the images they produce and decide if you are satisfied with the results.

The 1.4 works quite nicely on my 70-200 f2.8L. The 2X image quality on that lens is a bit less than I would want to use. Granted I rarely use this combination unless I happen to be in a situation where I don't have my 300 or 400 with my. My 70-200 goes about everywhere and my TC's are always in the bag as well.

Kenko's top of the line TC's are considered by many to be on par with the Canon TC's and will fit almost any Canon lens made. However, the same thing applies to the Kenko's as does the Canon's when it comes to light loss and image degradation. A top quality TC on a fair quality lens is still only going to produce fair to poor image results.

 

[thingsIsee]

Not sure where the others are getting their information, but I have and use this combination on a Canon SXI and 7D, and although you will lose 1 F stop and the effective IQ is degraded a little at full zoom (I have shot the full moon with a little PP they came out quit good) used it at Air show as well (lots of light and all was good)

So yes you can use the 70-300 IS USM with AF and a tele-converter (1.4X wouldn’t go 2X) with good (not great) results depending on how much light and how good you are at shooting.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens for Canon EOS SLR Cameras

Kenko 1.4X Teleplus - 4 Element DGX Auto Focus for Canon EOS Digital SLRs</SPAN>

 

[gsgary]

Not sure where the others are getting their information, but I have and use this combination on a Canon SXI and 7D, and although you will lose 1 F stop and the effective IQ is degraded a little at full zoom (I have shot the full moon with a little PP they came out quit good) used it at Air show as well (lots of light and all was good)

So yes you can use the 70-300 IS USM with AF and a tele-converter (1.4X wouldn’t go 2X) with good (not great) results depending on how much light and how good you are at shooting.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens for Canon EOS SLR Cameras

Kenko 1.4X Teleplus - 4 Element DGX Auto Focus for Canon EOS Digital SLRs</SPAN>

I don't settle for good results i want outstanding results all depends what you can put up with

 

[PPhanatic]

I appreciate all the responses here. Lots of useful information.
Thanks!

 

[forthewinwin]

You would lose some f-stop using a tele-converter with the 70-300, and of course have degraded image quality.

I would just save up for something perhaps like a 100-400L.

 

[JimCoventry]

My husband is looking to get a EF 70-300 IS
Here is the question... Will that work with a tele converter?

We have been told at a store, they will work together.
But we were also told by a photographer that you will lose F stops so much that the picture quality will be terrible.

Can anyone help us out here? We would hate to make a purchase like this if it isn't going to work.

Thanks.

I use a Canon 20D, 30D and 5D. TO any of them I attach my 70-200 f2.8 IS lens and I add a 2x tele converter. The f2.8 simply put, doubles to 5.6. No biggie except when you need 2.8.

 

[Antonio Carvalho]

A Canon teleconverter will not work. Third party teleconverters might work, but fast autofocus (which is essential for birds photography) will be very difficult or impossible to achieve. All Canon cameras (except 1D series) need at least f/5.6 to autofocus (they can focus with smaller appertures in live view, but it is very slow) and 1D series can autofocus with f/8. Canon teleconverters can only be mounted to some L series telephoto lenses, so everyone should check compatibility before buying a TC/.

[]'s
Antonio

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

The kenko 1.4x pro300 dgx works great with the canon 70-300 IS USM. Its not as good as an L lens or a.prime L lens, but on a budget it works good. You do need good light though ideally outdoors.2X converters degrade the image too much unless you have a very good lens to start with (prime L lens ) also canon pro or semi pro bodies turn the AF off if the minimum fstop on a lens reaches a point ( i think its f/8 but could be wrong )The rebels will not turn off AF but will still chase focus endlessly ( atleast the T1i did anyway )