Canon 70-200 II F2.8L + 2x extender or Tamron 100-400 for Wildlife.

Jwar1976

Jwar1976

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John
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Hi all

I love both my Canon 70-200 II F2.8L & Tamron 100-400 mm F/4.5-6.3. However since Lockdown, I have found myself using the 70-200 F2.8 more than I ever did before, as have done a number of social distancing portraits & shots of friends dogs running in the park, I had no idea how great a lens this was, as have only used it a few times in the past on my 5D MKIII. Now I am thinking about going to Australia next year as haven’t been in over a decade, a time when I only used a mobile phone to take photos.

so now I am already thinking ahead on what to put in the kitbag & found myself looking at people images taken with the 70-200 / 2x combo & am amazed at the quality of the images. From what I understand the 2X converter will AF on the 5D MK III & 70-200 II, and that it would be at F5.6 wide open. I am really curious in hearing other people’s opinions on this as it would potentially save weight in the kitbag for The trip plus any other wildlife I photograph before & after then.

Many thanks
 
I did some testing with my 70-200 mk2 and 2x converter mk2 on a 5d3 a few years back comparing it with my Canon 100-400 L mk1. I thought image quality was slightly better on the 70-200 and 2x but it was marginal. AF was much slower with the 70-200 & 2x combo though. I sold the 100-400 mk1 and bought the Canon 100-400 mk2, a whole world away better lens than its predecessor.
 
hockeyboy150 said:
I did some testing with my 70-200 mk2 and 2x converter mk2 on a 5d3 a few years back comparing it with my Canon 100-400 L mk1. I thought image quality was slightly better on the 70-200 and 2x but it was marginal. AF was much slower with the 70-200 & 2x combo though. I sold the 100-400 mk1 and bought the Canon 100-400 mk2, a whole world away better lens than its predecessor.
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That is really useful to kno, thank you. Another alternative I was thinking of is getting the 1.4 TC for the 70-200, but using it on my 7D, looking at images from other users, it does give brilliant results even with the crop factor and with the 1.4, you only lose 1 stop, so I may hire a TC for a week and see how I get on with it on both bodies, before buying.
 
hockeyboy150 said:
There is barely no difference between the mk2 and mk3 1.4x teleconverters in image quality and performance. There is in price though. With a 1.4x on you shouldn't see hardly any difference in the speed of AF and image quality on your 70-200, and you will still have f/4.
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Thank you, I may well look out for a mk2 of the 1.4 as on the 7D, that would give a focal range of 448mm which would not only be great for wide open at F4, but also quite a bit lighter than something of a similar aperture & length.
 
@hockeyboy150 I was looking online and see what you mean about the pricing. Anyhow I found a used 1.4x Mark II for £158 from WEX, which just so happens to be only a couple miles away from me, so am really tempted.
 
Jwar1976 said:
@hockeyboy150 I was looking online and see what you mean about the pricing. Anyhow I found a used 1.4x Mark II for £158 from WEX, which just so happens to be only a couple miles away from me, so am really tempted.
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I'm glad I dont live that close to WEX, my missus would divorce me [emoji23]. Not a bad price for a mk2 from a dealer tbh, you could get one for around £115/£120 but for ease and peace of mind it's worth it. Why dont you take your gear in with you and try it out in the store before deciding to buy it.
 
hockeyboy150 said:
I'm glad I dont live that close to WEX, my missus would divorce me [emoji23]. Not a bad price for a mk2 from a dealer tbh, you could get one for around £115/£120 but for ease and peace of mind it's worth it. Why dont you take your gear in with you and try it out in the store before deciding to buy it.
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When I told my missus, she just shook her head in disbelief, yes I will definitely be doing that even if it means queuing due to social distancing. It is a shame that the extender isn’t fully compatible with my Tamron, as on a bright day, I could get F8 without a Extreme ISO but with a whopping 896mm on the 7D. Who knows if I get addicted and need more reach, then I may just treat the 100-400 to a Tamron 1.4x.
 
Jwar1976 said:
.....Who knows if I get addicted and need more reach, then I may just treat the 100-400 to a Tamron 1.4x.
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I suspect that your Tamron 100-400 with a 1.4x will not reflect the quality of the Canon 70-200 with a 1.4x even before the body is challenged to focus at f/9....you should research this carefully before parting with your money.
 
Canon Bob said:
I suspect that your Tamron 100-400 with a 1.4x will not reflect the quality of the Canon 70-200 with a 1.4x even before the body is challenged to focus at f/9....you should research this carefully before parting with your money.
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Completely agree with you there, I will be taking the 100-400 out next week, so will shoot at that aperture and see what kind of results I get without the teleconverter. I have been looking on Flickr and quite a few people are using the Tamron 1.4x with Canon L Glass with AF, so that is another route I can consider, having a half decent teleconverter which is compatible with both Canon & Tamron lenses.
 
Jwar1976 said:
Completely agree with you there, I will be taking the 100-400 out next week, so will shoot at that aperture and see what kind of results I get without the teleconverter. ......
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The focusing is always performed wide open, John, so shooting at f/9 with an f/6.3 max aperture lens will not be the same as focusing at f/9 when using that same lens with a 1.4x teleconverter.
 
Canon Bob said:
The focusing is always performed wide open, John, so shooting at f/9 with an f/6.3 max aperture lens will not be the same as focusing at f/9 when using that same lens with a 1.4x teleconverter.
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Thank you Canon Bob, will keep that in mind, have just been looking at the Kenko 1.4X PRO 300 DGX, which is very popular on Flickr, so am considering that as a starting point as is quite reasonably priced.
 
Jwar1976 said:
Thank you Canon Bob, will keep that in mind, have just been looking at the Kenko 1.4X PRO 300 DGX, which is very popular on Flickr, so am considering that as a starting point as is quite reasonably priced.
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I compared my Kenko 1.4x DG (not dgx) with my Canon 1.4 mk2 a few years back and found it very acceptable in terms of how it performed, speed of AF, sharpness. One difference I did notice was that the Canon mk2 tc had better colour and contrast than the kenko. This could however be corrected very easily in post production if you are a RAW shooter. The kenko doesn't have the front projecting out like on the canon 1.4 so fits most lenses. Still increases the max aperture by 1 stop though.
 
hockeyboy150 said:
I compared my Kenko 1.4x DG (not dgx) with my Canon 1.4 mk2 a few years back and found it very acceptable in terms of how it performed, speed of AF, sharpness. One difference I did notice was that the Canon mk2 tc had better colour and contrast than the kenko. This could however be corrected very easily in post production if you are a RAW shooter. The kenko doesn't have the front projecting out like on the canon 1.4 so fits most lenses. Still increases the max aperture by 1 stop though.
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The results of the Kenko look really good considering how cheap it is, and yes I do shoot in RAW. However unfortunately the Kenko doesn’t work with the Tamron 100-400, so back to the research board. So far it seems as tho the best compatibility is from the Tamron TC which will also work with the Canon. I have also looked at the Sigma 1.4x, and that is compatible with Canon lenses + the Tamron 150-600, but haven’t come across any information on the 100-400. Interestingly there are a few reports saying that while the F6.3 third party lenses become a F9. They are able to trick the TC & camera into thinking they are a F8 so they don’t lose autofocus.
 
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Jwar1976 said:
The results of the Kenko look really good considering how cheap it is, and yes I do shoot in RAW. However unfortunately the Kenko doesn’t work with the Tamron 100-400, so back to the research board. So far it seems as tho the best compatibility is from the Tamron TC which will also work with the Canon. I have also looked at the Sigma 1.4x, and that is compatible with Canon lenses + the Tamron 150-600, but haven’t come across any information on the 100-400. Interestingly there are a few reports saying that while the F6.3 third party lenses become a F9. They are able to trick the TC & camera into thinking they are a F8 so they don’t lose autofocus.
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My Sony 200-600 is at f/6.3 when fully extended and will AF at f/9 when I use my sony 1.4x converter so you are probably right. It probably depends on the camera body though. I know the Canon 7d will not AF over f/5.6 but the 7d2 will AF at f/8 using the centre focus point.
 
hockeyboy150 said:
My Sony 200-600 is at f/6.3 when fully extended and will AF at f/9 when I use my sony 1.4x converter so you are probably right. It probably depends on the camera body though. I know the Canon 7d will not AF over f/5.6 but the 7d2 will AF at f/8 using the centre focus point.
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I was just reading on the limitations of Teleconverters on 7D MK1, so now it looks like it will be the standalone Canon MKII converter which on the 70-200, would give me 280mm on the 5D & 488mm on the 7D. As for the Tamron 100-400, the teleconverter is really overpriced as I would only get 560mm on the 5D, but without the TC, I get 640mm on the 7D. As unfortunately as you rightly stated the 7D will not support AF with the TC on the 100-400, which is a shame as 896mm would had been quite nice on a bright day.
 
@hockeyboy150 I bit the bullet and popped to WEX & got the Canon 1.4x II. I wasn’t able to try it out due to rules as any tricky equipment touched by another person has to be quarantined for at least 2 weeks before they can show it to another customer, but was given warranty and 30 day no quibble return. As soon as he saw my details on the system, he saw that I had bought quite a bit from there over the years and insisted there wasn’t much difference between the MKII & MKIII and that i should save myself some money getting the cheaper one. He also said don’t believe everything you read in regards to lens compatibility as there are lenses that work on the 7D with AF that Canon won’t officially tell you.

Cannot wait to give it A good try, thanks again for your advice.
 
Just to echo what Mr Wex told you - earlier this year I was swithering between a 2x II & 2x III - was able to try them both out from the shop doorway of LCE in Newcastle - I certainly couldn't say the III performed 2x as good as the II so I went for the II too.
 
hunnymonster said:
Just to echo what Mr Wex told you - earlier this year I was swithering between a 2x II & 2x III - was able to try them both out from the shop doorway of LCE in Newcastle - I certainly couldn't say the III performed 2x as good as the II so I went for the II too.
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i hope it has served you well so far, cannot wait to see what I can do with it during the week. I also got an older Kenko 2x arriving next week, got It for 40 quid, checked it out online and the results are pretty good. While I probably wouldn’t stack them for the time being, it will be interesting to see what I can get from them both.
 
Heh - I have a Kenko Pro-300 1.4x and purely for LOLZ I've stacked them on the 70-200 f/2.8 - autofocus is just about possible but the focus is absurdly sensitive between "spot on" and "bathroom window"
 
hunnymonster said:
Heh - I have a Kenko Pro-300 1.4x and purely for LOLZ I've stacked them on the 70-200 f/2.8 - autofocus is just about possible but the focus is absurdly sensitive between "spot on" and "bathroom window"
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i may try it for a laugh, even if it is a disaster at least I know I have attempted it. I managed to give the extender a quick test today and these are my findings so far.

(1) On the 5D with the Tamron 100-400 you lose AF throughout and what is more, is that when you alter the zoom, it also alters the aperture to the extent that at it’s longest, it goes from F6.3 to F13.

(2) On the 5D with the 70-200, it focuses quickly & clearly.

(3) On the 7D MK1, it is pretty much fast Focusing and very clear, picture below as taken, only slight toning adjustments no cropping in LR 1/1000 at 280mm ISO 800. Not bad for a quick test shot

31509902-96AA-4532-BA87-820AAA509C4D.jpeg
 
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