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03/14/2010 01:05:16 PM · #1 |
For those interested here is a gallery of my first test images comparing two Canon telephoto lenses used with and without a Canon extender:
Canon Telephoto Lens Extender Test
Hardware details:
Canon EF 70-200f/4L IS USM
Canon EF 300mmf/4L IS USM
Canon Extender EF 2X II
So far it contains 4 uncropped images only resized for web output. Don't judge the lighting since light conditions changed during the shoot.
Assessment:
1-Images at 200mm, 300mm and 400mm(using the Extender on the 200mm) were tack sharp. I was very, very impressed with the 70-200 image quality with the extender attached.
2-The 600mm achieved with the 300mm and extender were soft so is a bit disappointing.
3-All images were better image quality and sharpness than the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens I tried out at a camera store.
Both my lenses are only f/4 so autofocus is deactivated when the extender is attached. I have to hand focus with the extender and may not have got the 600mm right.
I will do more testing with that to rule out that the 600mm sharpness quality was reduced because of... GASP!... "human error".
It is my understanding that you can reactivate autofocus by taping over two pins but I have not looked into trying that. Autofocus seems to have to work hard enough already with telephoto lenses so I don't expect that to work very well.
Message edited by author 2010-03-14 13:06:23.
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03/20/2010 01:44:46 PM · #2 |
UPDATE:
I conducted a second set of 2X extender tests a week later...
It was found that at 600mm the image softness is much, much less than I'd got previously. I must have either been off on my manual focus or still had image stabilization turned on when taking tripod mounted shots.
In the second more extensive set of tests I took each shot twice and took shots over a range of f/stop values for each lens combination.
I updated the results gallery linked to above with my new test results.
By far, camera shake will be your worst enemy in telephoto photography if you start with good optics.
I'm amazed at the image quality I get with the Canon Extender EF 2X. I recommend the extender for Canon owners as an inexpensive way to longer focal lengths.
Message edited by author 2010-03-20 13:45:49.
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03/20/2010 01:56:01 PM · #3 |
| When I owned the Nikon 70-200 F2.8 VR I used to use a 1.4x and 1.7x TC all the time and got great results. Like you say it requires starting with great optics. I tried them on a Tamron 200-500mm when I owned it and the results were less than desirable. |
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