Canon extender/convertor or another brand?
Discussion
Bit of a long shot this 
What's the consensus for a 2x convertor? I'm looking to try some wildlife shots and some longer motoring shots too. A convertor seems the cheapest way forward at the moment but which one? I've got a nice 100-400L so it makes sense to stick with quality but is the Canon item necessarily the best to go for?
Andy
What's the consensus for a 2x convertor? I'm looking to try some wildlife shots and some longer motoring shots too. A convertor seems the cheapest way forward at the moment but which one? I've got a nice 100-400L so it makes sense to stick with quality but is the Canon item necessarily the best to go for?Andy
TheStoat said:
Bit of a long shot this What's the consensus for a 2x convertor? I'm looking to try some wildlife shots and some longer motoring shots too. A convertor seems the cheapest way forward at the moment but which one? I've got a nice 100-400L so it makes sense to stick with quality but is the Canon item necessarily the best to go for?
Andy
The 2x converter on the 100-400L would stop the AF working and degrade the image quality significantly. The 1.4x converters should be better for AF / image quality. What's the consensus for a 2x convertor? I'm looking to try some wildlife shots and some longer motoring shots too. A convertor seems the cheapest way forward at the moment but which one? I've got a nice 100-400L so it makes sense to stick with quality but is the Canon item necessarily the best to go for?Andy
I've not used them, but i read that Kenko converters are good. Only drawback is that they dont work on EF-S lenses.
I have a Kenko Pro 300 2x teleconverter but Nikon fit (use it with the 80-200 F2.8). Whilst it's okay with this lens it does slow the AF considerably, and hunts a lot in dim light (it's an old lens though). And that's at an effective F5.6.
Unless the canons can focus at less than F8/F11 it won't AF in anything but the brightnest light. That may / may not be an issue to you.
The Kenko pro range get good reviews, many saying they are as good as the OE equivilent. That said I do notice some softness with mine, and the build quality is fairly poor, at least in Nikon fit. Whilst it's solid enough the plastic caps that come with it fall off constantly (both on the TC and if used on other lenses), and even geniune Nikon body/lens caps don't seem to stay on the TC. There's something wierd about the mount that means it won't keep the caps on. Whilst it works okay on the camera, the ball bearings used to make the electrical couplings run make a load of noise when you put it on.
Just little things, but doesn't inspire confidence. If got a load of other third-party lenses and don't have any of these problems. It's sitll a useful additon to the camera bag IMO, but if I was off on an Africa safari I be getting a longer lens...
That said it may not be the case with the EOS mount, or could be they've manufactured it to be so backward compatitable in the Nikon mount it's suffered somewhat.
Unless the canons can focus at less than F8/F11 it won't AF in anything but the brightnest light. That may / may not be an issue to you.
The Kenko pro range get good reviews, many saying they are as good as the OE equivilent. That said I do notice some softness with mine, and the build quality is fairly poor, at least in Nikon fit. Whilst it's solid enough the plastic caps that come with it fall off constantly (both on the TC and if used on other lenses), and even geniune Nikon body/lens caps don't seem to stay on the TC. There's something wierd about the mount that means it won't keep the caps on. Whilst it works okay on the camera, the ball bearings used to make the electrical couplings run make a load of noise when you put it on.
Just little things, but doesn't inspire confidence. If got a load of other third-party lenses and don't have any of these problems. It's sitll a useful additon to the camera bag IMO, but if I was off on an Africa safari I be getting a longer lens...
That said it may not be the case with the EOS mount, or could be they've manufactured it to be so backward compatitable in the Nikon mount it's suffered somewhat.
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