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Thread: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

  1. #1

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    Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Hello, I'm wondering if anyone could give me some feedback on using a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS with a Canon Extender 1.4 II (My camera is a first version Canon 7D).

    I only tried the extender a handful of times but was disappointed in the the image quality.

    Thinking its...
    - the equipment combination
    - poor technique (I shoot mostly stationary birds from my car with a bean bag for support)
    - something wrong with the extender
    - or I'm expecting too much...

    The 500mm without the extender is amazingly sharp. Cropped images without the extender look better to me (sorry, I didn't save any examples for comparison).

    This image was taken without the extender: https://flic.kr/p/sp5DH2

    Thanks!

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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Welcome to CiC. If you do not mind filling up your profile at the top of this page, then we will know what to call you when people respond to your post. Also, while you are there, also fill up your location....like most of us here do (see mine). We are quite a friendly and informal group here and most will be willing to help...

    I am sorry I cannot help you with your request for help because I am a Nikon user. Someone here will be able to help as there are some members here who uses a Canon...

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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Your image was taken in New Jersey...you have a superior repair center around there.
    Call Customer Service @ 1-800-OKCANNON and ship to them the body/lens/extender for a
    check-up rather than us trying to second guess your concerns. It'll be cheap peace of mind.

  4. #4

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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    I had that combo and was very happy with the results. I believe the 7D allows for micro adjustments which is what you need to do. You can send it to Canon and have them do it for you $$$. Or you can buy some gear to help you get things to the right place. Lens Align is the more manual and least cost method. Or there is a software program, Focal, which tests your equipment at various adjustments to arrive at the best one. It's more expensive but I believe it's worth it.
    Another matter to consider, which is much more basic, is your shutter speed. With the TC on you need to increase your shutter speed by 40% to account for the increased focal length.

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    William W's Avatar
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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Welcome to CiC.


    Quote Originally Posted by redforester View Post
    Hello, I'm wondering if anyone could give me some feedback on using a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS with a Canon Extender 1.4 II (My camera is a first version Canon 7D).
    Yes I can. It is sensational.

    ***

    I only tried the extender a handful of times but was disappointed in the image quality. The 500mm without the extender is amazingly sharp. Cropped images without the extender look better to me (sorry, I didn't save any examples for comparison).
    One has to be very careful, making A/B comparisons of that type. I would not to that test with birds (moving Subjects - they might appear to be stationary – but mostly always there is movement) and bean bags (inadequate support).

    If you want to make an A/B comparison between cropping and using the x1.4MkII Extender EF, then I suggest that you need to begin something like this (note this is only a small example of the whole) test. And for testing the 500/4 I'd use a counter-weighted Tripod; Mirror Up Technique; and a Remote Release.


    WW

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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Quote Originally Posted by redforester View Post
    Hello, I'm wondering if anyone could give me some feedback on using a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS with a Canon Extender 1.4 II (My camera is a first version Canon 7D).

    I only tried the extender a handful of times but was disappointed in the the image quality....
    I fear you may continue to be disappointed unless you get a different color lens

  7. #7

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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Thank you for the replies!

    Charlie I will take a look at Lens Align and the software you suggested.

    William, I haven't really tried any true A/B comparisons yet. I've only used the extender a handful of times and noticed when I got home almost all the shots were not nearly as sharp as ones taken with the 500mm alone. I don't have a tripod that's strong enough for the lens so am stuck with the bean bag for now. I also tend to have more success not scaring the birds away when using my car as a blind.

    Thank you again for the quick response.

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    William W's Avatar
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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Quote Originally Posted by redforester View Post
    . . . I haven't really tried any true A/B comparisons yet. I've only used the extender a handful of times and noticed when I got home almost all the shots were not nearly as sharp as ones taken with the 500mm alone. I don't have a tripod that's strong enough for the lens so am stuck with the bean bag for now. I also tend to have more success not scaring the birds away when using my car as a blind. . .
    You don't need a tripod for testing - just bed the lens and the camera down into a solid base and secure some sandbags or similar on top of it. Use Mirror up technique and don't use birds, or any moving subject as a test area. The point is, if you want to test the IQ of the 500 and an Extender, then you need to remove the variables which can bias the results.

    WW

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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Bill beat me to it though I would dispense with the sandbags for fear of sand getting into the camera works ....
    But look at the underside of the camera and you will find a quarter inch whitworth thread there and any [ almost] 1/4 inch bolt will fit it to secure the camera to something solid and firm.
    I think that you will also find that the lens has a similar screw fitting[ judging from my reading at Dpreview] and the approach then is to firmly mount the lens and 'hang' the lighter camera body behind.
    Next when you make the exposures of stationary subject[s] you not only lift the nirror but also usee the 10 second release and having pressed the trigger leave the rig untouched [ one hopes that there is no machinery nearby causing the ground to vibrate

    Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    This is my suggestion which I have yet to get around to building for myself as I have given away the bridge camera largely for MFT. But it shows my large and heavy tele adaptor with the collar and 1/4" thread for mounting on tripod/monopod. But I suggest worth considering for your rig when you have resolved your problem.

  10. #10
    William W's Avatar
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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Good point about the 10 second delay/release function, John.

    I keep forgetting that. I guess I forget because I do have a remote release (which I mentioned in Post #5): but John's point is that Anthony does not need to buy a remote release, if he doesn't already have one.

    WW

  11. #11
    William W's Avatar
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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Anthony, I've been thinking about this a bit more, I think that your disappointment with the Extender EF is probably a combination of issues, not the least of which is the ad hoc 'testing' that you've done. Certainly I'd endorse micro adjustment suggestion to fine tune for the 500/4 + EF Extender.

    Also I've been looking at several of your bird pictures, very nice, and it occurs to me that you use Av Priority quite often and that your Tv often drops to around 1/160s, with the Av at F/5.6 (sample image).

    So, when you get around to testing the rig with the 1.4 EF Extender, just be aware of both the Av and the Tv for the test shots - as already mentioned the extender will narrow the FoV and thus exacerbate any camera movement which is not corrected by the IS - also the x1.4 Extender EF will rob you one stop of Lens Speed . . . so I suggest, either make sure there is good light for the testing or increase the ISO so that you have a reasonable Tv and Av to perform a good A/B test.

    WW

  12. #12

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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Thanks again for the feedback. Obviously I need to some "real" tests.

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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Quote Originally Posted by William W View Post
    Good point about the 10 second delay/release function, John.

    I keep forgetting that. I guess I forget because I do have a remote release (which I mentioned in Post #5): but John's point is that Anthony does not need to buy a remote release, if he doesn't already have one.

    WW
    It was one of the things which I was told to do way back when I started in the studio with a wooden Thornton Pickard on a wooden tripod with column and table for camera. Told to wait 30-40 seconds with a black screen shielding the lens from the subject just a little way in front of the lens after pulling the DDS open for the exposure which also was often 30 seconds at f/64.

    These days I use a cable release [rarely] or 10 second when working with my 50yo tripod ... never a great pro one ever
    I used to talk about my 40yo tripod but time flies

  14. #14
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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    This is an Arthur Morris YouTube on teleconverters with Canon long lenses...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKz7busHsfQ

  15. #15
    William W's Avatar
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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    ^^^

    Thanks Richard.

    I appreciated this quote from the video which Richard posted:

    "There are some folk who say that it is impossible to make a sharp image with even the x1.4 Teleconverter and that is so out of space to me that it is even hard to comprehend . . . "

    ***

    He carries two MkIII Canon Extenders EF in is vest and he needs to use an extension tube as a spacer for them. Note that a spacer is not required if it is a pair of MkII Extenders or if it is a x1.4MkIII and a x2.0MkII.

    In other words, if you want to carry the two Extenders linked together, a Spacer is required only if you have a x2.0 MkIII as one partner of that pair: this is because of the design of the FEMALE end of the x2.0 MkIII Extender EF.

    ***

    This means that, (contrary to some information on the www), it is indeed possible to make images with a STACK of two Canon Extenders. For example a x1.4MkIII or MkII and a x2.0MkII, effectively making a x2.8 Extender with a loss of three Stops of Lens Speed. As another example using a stack of a x2.0MKII and a x2.0MkII or MkIII, effectively making a x4.0 Extender, with a loss of 4 Stops of Lens Speed.

    I nearly always carry two Extenders in my camera bag (and also I nearly always carry a set of three extension tubes): doing so, is kind of like having 'insurance' at very little expense, because I usually would always have a 50 (or 35) Prime - AND - a 135 Prime (or 70 to 200) lens in my bag, so for the extra minimal weight of two Extenders and three Tubes, my kit is always flexible enough for a macro and or a longer telephoto shot, without carrying those specialist lenses for those tasks.

    Though I have never used a stack of x2.0 + x2.0, I have once used a stack of a x1.4 and a x2.0 on my 135 to get me very close for a photo that just happened to be there, when I least expected it and I really appreciated having all that extra reach.

    Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    WW

    Image © AJ Group Pty Ltd Aust 1996~2015, WMW 1965~1996

  16. #16
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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Bill,

    If you are interested in combining multiple teleconverters, try Romy Ocon's website on Philippine bird photography...

    http://www.pbase.com/liquidstone

  17. #17
    William W's Avatar
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    Re: Any experience with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS and Canon Extender 1.4 II?

    Thank you.

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