I have a zoom lens

[Robin Usagani]

Only one zoom lens for now. Dust magnet. Not going to put it to work at weddings. All this time I focus my $ on equipment that will help me produce awesome wedding photos. Finally I bought a lens just to have a little fun.

 

[Overread19 7]

Zoom zoom!!

 

[usayit]

Good lens.. congrats. I had one for many years and never did notice dust getting sucked into it. Ive always wondered why they wont update the lens. It was one of,the earliest IS enabled L zooms.

 

[jaomul]

You could probably do your gig and the one in the next church from where you are with this

 

[Robin Usagani]

man... i just tried it.. not long enough.. What TC shall i buy? 1.4? How about non canon tc?

 

[usayit]

No don't do that.... not on that lens.

You need longer and on a budget... start thinking adaptation of fast legacy PRIME lenses.

 

[Robin Usagani]

explain?

No don't do that.... not on that lens.

You need longer and on a budget... start thinking adaptation.

 

[usayit]

* AF will not work with that lens on your camera (5d / 5d markII)
* Its going to be dark.... exposure and viewfinder
* I believe you will loose IS (not sure)
* Its all expectations but I would be disappointed.

As I said, you'll be happier with an older adapted lens; faster aperture, brighter viewfinder, better IQ for probably less than the cost of the 100-400L + TC 1.4.

Longer good quality focal lengths of current make/model with reasonably fast apertures are expensive.... hence why sports photography is one of the most expensive forms of photography.

 

[Robin Usagani]

OK.. give me suggestion what lens and how to adapt it. What would be your weapon of choice?

 

[Buckster]

man... i just tried it.. not long enough..

Not long enough for what?

ETA: While you will lose AF with 1.4X tele, you won't lose IS, FWIW.

 

[Overread19 7]

Everyone I know whose used the 100-400mm with a 1.4TC tends to say the same thing. Its 'ok' in a pinch but really not something they'd use that often. The problems are:

1) You lose auto focus on any camera body barring the 1D series. This is because the maximum aperture of the lens goes smaller than f5.6. Beyond that point AF shuts off; however newer bodies with liveview will still AF, but only in live view mode (with the much slower live-view AF sensors and with reduced light from the lens - thus not ideal)

2) Optical performance degrades - even though the 1.4TC is a weak degradation, the 100-400mm has already softened at the long end; softening it further pushes quality into a much more iffy zone - some are ok with it, most are not. Further you're starting at f8 now so stopping down again (ie one stop from the lenses wide open aperture blades) loses you yet more light - pushing you further from ideal settings for moving subjects.

3) Reduced light; as mentioned above you lose a stop of light with the 1.4TC which harms your chances for a fast shutter speed.

Note that you will retain IS; however as the lens is longer than the IS is set for it will reduce in performance.

As for other options, excluding older lenses you are pretty much left considering the big primes. 300mm f2.8 + 2*TC; 400mm f2.8 + 1.4TC; 500mm f4; Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 OS + 2*TC and other options
Note the 50-500mm and 150-500mm are often noted at being closer to around 450mm when measured at commonly used focusing distances.

 

[Buckster]

Everyone I know whose used the 100-400mm with a 1.4TC tends to say the same thing. Its 'ok' in a pinch but really not something they'd use that often. The problems are:

1) You lose auto focus on any camera body barring the 1D series. This is because the maximum aperture of the lens goes smaller than f5.6. Beyond that point AF shuts off; however newer bodies with liveview will still AF, but only in live view mode (with the much slower live-view AF sensors and with reduced light from the lens - thus not ideal)

2) Optical performance degrades - even though the 1.4TC is a weak degradation, the 100-400mm has already softened at the long end; softening it further pushes quality into a much more iffy zone - some are ok with it, most are not. Further you're starting at f8 now so stopping down again (ie one stop from the lenses wide open aperture blades) loses you yet more light - pushing you further from ideal settings for moving subjects.

3) Reduced light; as mentioned above you lose a stop of light with the 1.4TC which harms your chances for a fast shutter speed.

Note that you will retain IS; however as the lens is longer than the IS is set for it will reduce in performance.

As for other options, excluding older lenses you are pretty much left considering the big primes. 300mm f2.8 + 2*TC; 400mm f2.8 + 1.4TC; 500mm f4; Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 OS + 2*TC and other options
Note the 50-500mm and 150-500mm are often noted at being closer to around 450mm when measured at commonly used focusing distances.

With about 9 years and counting working with the 100-400, 1.4x and 2x teles, I 100% concur. I never use the teles on that lens, for all the reasons stated above. I'm better off simply cropping if I need the extra "reach", or putting it on a crop sensor body like my 7D or 40D, and maybe even cropping from there. The teles just aren't worth if for that particular lens.

 

[Overread19 7]

I could see justification for using the TCs in very very strong lighting - ie a situation where the shutter speeds were well into the 1/2000+ zones (although in that light you'll get other problems); Since all tests/reviews I've seen show that using teleconverters gives increased resolution of detail over cropping to the same angle of view. In some limited cases it might work for you - however its not really ideal.


(Plus I have a feeling some of the newer sensors might well be reversing or lessening the difference between resolution from cropping and resolution from using the TC).

 

[usayit]

The only time I used a TC and liked it was on the 300mm f/2.8L with 2x TC which I rented. I even had a 1.4x and the 70-200mm f/2.8 but always just defaulted to the 100-400L. The 1.4x was my least used purchase. I think the teleconverters (I've even seen people stacking them) really only work well on fast primes to begin with. The 100-400L is really versatile zoom; small for its range. In this case, I believe what you want is beyond what it is intended for.

What are you shooting anyways???


I can't comment on adaptation of lenses on the Canon 5d ... never did it on that system. I do so quite often on another system which is better suited. I am a fan of Pentax/Takumar as well as some Tamron Adaptalls. Zooms from those times don't real work well... but prime lenses can really surprise you at times.



PS> Have you considered renting?

 

[Tony S]

Image quality drops a bit with the 1.4TC like others have said, but it's still very usable. What will hurt you the most is auto focus depending on what you are shooting.

... but if you do use a 2xTC it becomes a very nice soft focus lens.