Canon 70-200 F4 IS & extender advice

RustyL

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Hi.

I am not a pro shooter. I have a Canon 5D Mark 2, which I mainly use for landscape photos, but I have started to capture wildlife & flora. I have a range of L series lenses in the wide to standard focal length range. I am considering buying the 70-200 F4 IS USM lens. Notwithstanding IQ, I really don't want the extra weight that comes with the 70-200 F2.8 lens given I have to walk to some locations, and I am not into weddings & high-quality/pro portraits.

i am considering adding an extender to the above zoom lens. I have read (almost universally) that a 2x extender will give me all kinds of challenges (-2 f stops, auto focus issues), so I am starting to settle on the 1.4x TC. There seems to be a 1.4 II TC, and a 1.4 III TC. In looking at Canon's official blurb (which may not be up to date for the series II TC), neither of these TCs are specifically compatible with the IS version of the 70-200 F4 lens.

Can anyone give me some specific advice on using either the 1.4II or 1.4III TC with the 70-200 F4 IS lens on a 5D II body?

Also happy to take general advice on any other choices I am making here.

Thanks in advance. /R.
 
Well the III version of the 1.4X is simply the latest one available. It works quite well with the 70-200 F4 IS USM and will work nicely on your 5D II.

The 2x will not suit you well with that lens (it'll become an F8, and won't AF well).
 
Welcome to the forum.

Canon Teleconvertors do seem to be specifically designed to be compatible with a few select lenses. Part of that is because they know that it would disable the AF if the effective max aperture gets above F5.6. But another factor may be the rear protrusion of the lens, possibly interfering with the front element of the TC.

I haven't checked, but as far as I know...I don't think that Canon lists any of the F4 zoom lenses as being compatible with their TCs.

You could go with an off brand TC. I think that the ones I've seen, are designed to be universally compatible....but there is the risk of loosing AF.

I have a 2X teleconverter made by Tamron (or maybe Sigma, I can't remember)...and I can mount it onto any lens I have...but it will knock out AF if the camera can't get enough aperture/light. I can still manually focus though.
 
There is this compatibility chart for the 1.4X extender III:

Canon Extender EF 1.4x Compatibility Chart

It is most definitely compatible with the F4 70-200 lens (I used to use this lens myself before upgrading to the 2.8).

Image quality with the Canon is really quite good, and AF wasn't really affected too much.
 
Thank you both for your replies.

While I still have not found any literature specifically saying the 70-200 f4 IS lens is supported, there does seem to be a few posts around the traps from people who have tried it and say it works fine.

I'll keep looking, or else pursue Canon for a more definitive answer.

/R.
 
Thank you both for your replies.

While I still have not found any literature specifically saying the 70-200 f4 IS lens is supported, there does seem to be a few posts around the traps from people who have tried it and say it works fine.

I'll keep looking, or else pursue Canon for a more definitive answer.

/R.

I don't know what you mean, it's very much supported. It even states so in the specifications on the Canon website:

Note: This lens is only compatible with fixed focal length L-series lenses 135mm and over, as well as the EF 70-200/2.8L, EF 70-200/2.8L IS, EF 70-200/4L, and EF 100-400/4.5-5.6L.


 
Thank you both for your replies.

While I still have not found any literature specifically saying the 70-200 f4 IS lens is supported, there does seem to be a few posts around the traps from people who have tried it and say it works fine.

I'll keep looking, or else pursue Canon for a more definitive answer.

/R.

I don't know what you mean, it's very much supported. It even states so in the specifications on the Canon website:

Note: This lens is only compatible with fixed focal length L-series lenses 135mm and over, as well as the EF 70-200/2.8L, EF 70-200/2.8L IS, EF 70-200/4L, and EF 100-400/4.5-5.6L.



Yes, I did see that. I am looking at the IS version of the f4 lens. Hence my concern stems from the fact that they list both the IS and non-IS version of the f2.8 lens, but only the non-IS version of the f4 lens. Begs the question, why list both versions of the f2.8 lens and only one of the f4 lenses if both versions of the latter are supported.


Am i missing something? Happy to be told that I am being too detailed here - I guess the engineer in me wants to be careful when I read things like this.


Thank you again for the reply.


/R
 
They are absolutely compatible and I use both. The only thing I encounter is loss of image quality most notably when there is not sufficient light and when cropping.

The lens alone is great. With the TC 1.4 III it has been hit or miss with IQ, but no issues with compatibility or functionality.
 
Thank you both for your replies.

While I still have not found any literature specifically saying the 70-200 f4 IS lens is supported, there does seem to be a few posts around the traps from people who have tried it and say it works fine.

I'll keep looking, or else pursue Canon for a more definitive answer.

/R.

I don't know what you mean, it's very much supported. It even states so in the specifications on the Canon website:

Note: This lens is only compatible with fixed focal length L-series lenses 135mm and over, as well as the EF 70-200/2.8L, EF 70-200/2.8L IS, EF 70-200/4L, and EF 100-400/4.5-5.6L.



Yes, I did see that. I am looking at the IS version of the f4 lens. Hence my concern stems from the fact that they list both the IS and non-IS version of the f2.8 lens, but only the non-IS version of the f4 lens. Begs the question, why list both versions of the f2.8 lens and only one of the f4 lenses if both versions of the latter are supported.


Am i missing something? Happy to be told that I am being too detailed here - I guess the engineer in me wants to be careful when I read things like this.


Thank you again for the reply.


/R

The 70-300 f/4 IS USM is second from the bottom on the linked table. You might be missing that?

Fitch
 

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