EF 400mm f5.6L at 400mm, 560mm, and 1120mm!!

[dougdarter]

Hi,

I said a while back that I'd post some comparison pics made this great lens, with samples at 400mm, 560mm with a Canon EF x1.4 extender II, and 1120mm with the x1.4 and Kenko DG 300 Pro x2 extender piggybacked.

The camera used was a 1D MkIIn set on AE mode @ f8, which is the minimum aperture of the 400/x1.4 combo. The Kenko does not signal it's prescence to the body, so the aperture was nominally f8 with all 3 together. The captures were all made in AF mode, and the 1D handled AF and exposure perfectly, even with the Kenko extender!! The Tripod was a Gitzo 2228Mk2 CF with an Arca Swiss B1 ballhead.

I deliberately chose a high contrast subject to test the exposure with all 3 lenses attached.

All 3 images are straight from the camera, uncropped and unadjusted.

The subject is exactly 3/4 mile from the tripod.

400mm:

560mm with EF 1.4:

1120mm with Ef 1.4 and Kenko 2X fitted:

This last picture is a crop from the 1120mm image at 400%, the equivalent of 4480mm!!

Givent the difficult light conditions, I think this combination performed excellently, and consider the result at 1120mm exceptional!

 

[Jonnyreb]

Thanks for that Doug - that kenco performs much better than i had imagined.........

 

[CT]

That's some serious reach you got going on there Doug.

 

[Woodsy]

Blimey! For such a focal length, that is very sharp indeed!

Nice

 

[busterboy]

Nice one Doug, I was thinking about doing a similar test with the 500 f.4 but never found the time yet..

 

[oldgit]

Impressive ... and much less costly than a 2nd car

 

[Venomator]

Very good test Doug ... ... and excellent results from the lens and the converters ...

What sort of shutter speeds were you giving it each time ... :shrug:

 

[dougdarter]

Hi Ven,

The exif data from the shots was as follows:

All used evaluative metering, and centre focus spot only was available, because of the max aperture set at f8.

400mm:

ASA 400 1/400th at f8.

560mm:

ASA 400 1/400th at f8.

1120mm:

ASA 400 1/125th at f8.

The exif data shows focal length still at 560mm despite the Kenko 2X being fitted.

The lack of contacts to the body sensors for aperture and focal length really are an advantage, as the 1D series meters at the widest aperture of the Canon combination. This allows full AF and metering functionality.

I have to admit to being very, very surprised at the quality of the images captured using the Kenko at such extreme focal length, especially given the fact that it was a dark, cloudy day.

Just for interests sake, here is a crop from the 400mm image, to compare with the original crop from the 1120mm image. It shows, without any doubt, that a teleconverter, at least at this range, is far superior to 'digital' enlargement! If you were to enlarge the 400mm image any further, it would be unuseable, at least at ASA 400, though even given the low noise from the Canon sensor, I doubt it would be percievably better at this range.

 

[Venomator]

Thanx for the update Doug ...

Impressive stuff indeed ... ... might need to check out my Kenco x1.4 piggy'd with a x2 (that I don't yet have ... )