Canon EF 1.4x II Extender or Canon EF 2x II Extender ?

Hi
I'm buying a Canon 30D with Canon EF 100-400mm (IS) lens this week. Also I'm planning to go for a tele converter.
I've heard that 1.4x works better with the 100-400mm than the 2x in terms of speed of auto focus. Is that true?

Has anyone tried 2x convereter with Canon 30D & 100-400mm & found satisfactory results?

Do let me know

Gautham
Bangalore, INDIA

Hi Gautham,
none of them will AF with the 100-400, unless you use an 1 series camera. The only way to get AF with the 30D and 100-400 + 1.4x is with the trick of taped pins : http://www.fredmiranda.com/TipsPage/

Moreover, the 100-400 is not a super sharp lens, in particular at 400mm - I've tried it many times and in my opinion the image quality is good as bare lens, just acceptable with the 1.4x and not really useable with the 2.0x. If you need the maximum reach, I'd recommend the 400 f/5.6 L, that is quite sharper and gives good image quality even with the 1.4x.

Thanx a lot Juza.

Although there is a big difference in sharpness between the 300/2.8 (which I normally use) and the 100-400...I do think it is an awesome piece of equipment. It's lightweight...has IS, and is very versitile. I've used it a couple of times and when you stop down there is nothing wrong with this lens. I agree it is a bit soft wide-open, but there are not many lenses that are sharp as tack like this. Krijn Trimbos has one, using it with the 30D and I've seen his RAW files and I don't think they could be any sharper than that....so if you're looking for a versitile lens in that pricerange I don't think there is a better alternative. I agree with Juza about the usage with the extenders. It is time Canon will launch something similiar to the Nikon 200-400/4.0 which is a brilliant piece of equipment!

I use a 100-400(with a 10D) almost exclusively. Oftentimes @ 400 and if my technique is on, the images are plenty sharp in my book. I also have a 1.4 with the pins taped for autofocus. The results with this combo have been mixed. At times, I can't get anything sharp at all, while other times I've been really pleased. Unreliable at best. Hope this helps.

A friend of mine took his 30D, 100-400mm, and 2x on an 2 week Alaska trip this summer.
He deleted all the shots made with that combo. He didn't appreciate how much light that combo required to be used effectively. He also didn't want to be bothered with a tripod.

Here's a shot with that terrible combo of the 100/400L with a 1.4TC (taped). Shot wide open at 400mm handheld.

http://www.meckstein.com/post/rbgull.jpg

Hi NPN team
Thanx a lot for wonderful replies!! Learnings that I've from your experience has been awesome!

Cheers
Gautham

I know that I may be late in this discussion, but I have had great luck with my 100-400 plus the extenders. I am not sure what the referances are to tapeing the pins is about but my lens extender combo auto focuses just fine. It may be that my extender is the EF 1.4x

A bit of softness at max focal length wide open is common among zooms, even L zooms, and particularly zooms that span 300mm in focal length or more. You gain in flexibility, and lose a bit in sharpness. How much do you lose? In bench tests, the 100-400L IS is plenty sharp, though not as sharp as any L prime. It is, however, wide open at max focal length and with good technique, easily capable of producing images with very nice sharpness, images that are completely marketable, which is what a pro needs. Stop it down one stop and it's tack sharp if you know what you're doing. I use this lens extensively. If you can take images sharp enough to sell to 300 dpi glossy mags with high standards, then the lens is good enough, yes? All this being said, I don't use it with extenders, because I hate image degradation unless I'm trying for it. And, well, it is quite SLOW compared with the fastest (make that most expensive) L prime telephotos. What you gain in monetary savings you give up in speed.