lens size and effective shooting distance

[love2photo]

As many people I own a canon 100-400l lens. The reason mostly being who in the world can afford 10k for a 800! I love my 100-400 for the most part but one thing bothers me. The distance at which I can shoot is (argue if you must) im sorry to say pathetic. For right around two grand you dont get alot of distance and I dont know about others but I cant always get 25yrds from subjects.The whole things got me thinking how far you can shoot with the ten grand super 600 are 800? Anyways I know canon makes teloconverters for my lens and Im wondering if it would help me at all? I would love to get 2x more focal length if is effective. Its a real bummer to miss shots because you just cant reach out that far particularly when your talking about only 60yrds.

[bob_r]

The 100-400 can be used with teleconverters, but you'll have to manually focus unless you're using a 1 series camera. The advantage of the 500mm f/4 and 600mm f/4 lenses, is that they retain AF when using a 1.4x TC and a crop camera body. Many of the outdoor photographers that I'm familiar with use the 500mm with a 1.4x on a crop body, because the 600mm is too heavy. The TC bumps it up to a 700mm and then adding in the crop factor it results in a 1120mm.

I use a 30D and have used TC's with my 100-400 when the 400mm wasn't powerful enough. Here are a few of the results (all manually focused).

This shot was taken with a 30D, 100-400 and a 1.4x TC.


This shot was taken with the same setup and a 2x TC


and this was with stacked TCs - 2-2x TCs and 1 1.4x TC


Hope this helps.

[love2photo]

The photos you gave are very nice I notice that the sharpness is good considering people say the converter diminishes quality. Were they all taken with a tripod? I love to shoot freehand as it just makes me more mobil. I have also read freehand shooting is out when the converter is on?

[bob_r]

The photos you gave are very nice I notice that the sharpness is good considering people say the converter diminishes quality. Were they all taken with a tripod? I love to shoot freehand as it just makes me more mobil. I have also read freehand shooting is out when the converter is on?

Yes, these were all shot with a tripod. I'd have to agree with your last sentence.

[dculp]

I also use the same lens but on a Canon Xsi so I still have the crop factor. I took this photo using the 2x multiplier and was hand holding so obviously I was having to manually focus. The image was also cropped as it was taken from over 100 yds away.



When handholding, I tend to focus on the subject and take multiple images while making minor adjustments to the focus. This usually gets me a few images tack sharp.

Good luck.

[Bonish Photo]

Great shot Dculp!! Handholding with a extender on it...WOW

Another option is to spend a bit more money and move to a faster lens like any of the f/2.8 models. They will allow you to retain the autofocus with extenders on and because they start with such a low f/stop, even when they're doubled you still have a usuable aperature

I've shot our 400 f/2.8 with both a 1.4x and a 2x stacked and gotten some crisp images. Granted it was on a tripod and a Wimberley head, which makes all the difference in the world, but even with both etenders on the lens, I was still able to retain the autofocus


Canon 30D with the 400 f/2.8 with a Sigma 1.4x extender on it...Handheld


Canon 30D with the 500 f/4 with a Sigma 1.4x extender on it...on a Wimberley Head


Canon 5D with the 400 f/2.8 with a Sigma 1.4x extender on it...on a Wimberley Head

And just so you know, even if you had the 600mm or the 800mm, you'll still want to get closer...LOL

[bob_r]

I've shot our 400 f/2.8 with both a 1.4x and a 2x stacked and gotten some crisp images. Granted it was on a tripod and a Wimberley head, which makes all the difference in the world, but even with both etenders on the lens, I was still able to retain the autofocus

Pat,

Were you shooting with a 1 series camera? 400 f/2.8 with a 2x becomes 800 f/5.6 and f/5.6 will autofocus with teleconverters and all EOS cameras. When you add the 1.4x to the 2X, you lose another stop and your apperture becomes f/8. I was under the impression that only the 1 series cameras would AF at this setting when using a TC (unless you tape the pins).

[Bonish Photo]

Nope, my 1 series Canon is just a heavy paperweight ever since it went for a salt water bath

It still will focus with the 5D and I think it will with the 30D too. I'll have to stack them up and see on the 30D.

Only issue is if you're trying to follow something that is moving fast, the lens tends to hunt for a few seconds when they're stacked. As long as the animal is somewhat stationary, then it grabs ahold of it fast.

Hold on...Cindy just reminded me that I was cussing the combo after a long day of shooting when I was saying I didnt think my images were sharp enough.

So I'm not recommending them stacked. You know what this means dont you? I'll have to go out this week and try it again to see if I cant come home with a usuable image with the combo stacked. I'll also know if the 30D will autofocus with them stacked

[bob_r]

Pat,

I shoot with a 30D and mine will not autofocus once I go past f/5.6 with a TC.

[Bonish Photo]

But are you starting with a f/2.8 lens to begin with? That's what makes the difference

Any of our lenses that arent f/2.8's wont focus when having extenders attached, but the 70-200 f/2.8 and the 400 f/2.8 will. That might be where the confusion lies

[bob_r]

Yes, I've also shot using extenders and an f/2.8 lens, but it doesn't matter. Once I go past f/5.6 with extenders, my 30D will not autofocus.

[dculp]

Great conversation and some good shots to boot. I just came across another alternative that I thought I would mention.

Recently, I was fortuante enough to be able to purchase a 5D Mark II. While going through the manual, (yes, I actually had to read the manual), I discovered that there are two options for focusing. The first is the normal lens focusing but their is an alternative when using the liveview function that allows you to automatically focus using the pixels of the video display. This function works on the 100 - 400 even with the 2x extender installed.

It is no where near as fast as the lens focusing and does not work well in low light, but it is still sharper than I get by manually focusing using the eye piece. I'm not sure if other models offer this or not, but it was new to me.

When using a tripod, I still tend to manually focus most of the time using the liveview function while zoomed in even on my Xsi, but in a pinch, this is an interesting alternative.

[Bonish Photo]

You read the manual?!?! Just Kidding