1.4 or 2x extender

[Pune]

Hi Guys, and Gals,
Advice needed please, I have a Canon 50d and a Canon 5d mk11 and several 'L' lenses, one of which is the 100-400, I am considering getting a Canon 1.4x or 2x extender, so advice on whether they seem to work well with 'L' lenses and the above bodies, auto focus etc, basically, are they worth the money for the results gained, any drawbacks that are apparent having used one in anger etc..look forward to any info' forthcoming.
Cheers
Pune

[POL]

Pretty sure extenders only offer AF on L primes.

[Pune]

Thanks for that info' EGVP, really something to bare in mind, cheers.

[Mictheslik]

You should get AF with the 1.4 on the 100-400 on the 5D....but the quality and performance will probably be awful

Whether you get AF depends on the minimum available aperture. On most canon cameras they need at least to be able to be stopped down to f5.6 to let in enough light to focus well. On the 5D and 1D bodies this is raised to F8 IIRC.

.mic

[Pune]

Thanks Mitcheslik, this is all good info'..

[Skip]

I use the 1.4x III on my Canon 70-200 f2.8, 400mm f5.6 and 500mm f4 and there isn't any noticable loss of quality and the results are superb. I have also got a 2x III which I use regularly on the 500mm, It looks great on full frame but if any heavy cropping is required there is a loss of IQ although not huge.

[Skip]

Also just to add the mk3 extenders are tons better than the mk2 version

[GVLCN]

Does af work on the 400mm f5.6?

[apex]

I sometimes use a 1.4TC MK 2 with my 70-200 f4 L, on a 7D and a 40D.
When the auto focus gets locked on good to a far away moving subject, the IQ is as very good but it does have an annoying habit of almost getting the subject sharp, but not quite, whereas without the TC, the camera's auto focus locks sharp pretty much all the time.
With the big images produced by the 18 pixel sensor of the 7D, it could be argued that the extra reach of the TC, 280mm against 200mm without it, I may be better off doing more cropping a sharp image, than having a slightly fuller subject in the frame which is often not quite as sharp.

[MacksAviation]

I'd take a look here:

Compatibility

Those are for the MkIII extenders but I'm sure google will produce similar for the MkI & MkII examples.

[Supra]

As I understand it the advantages of the Mk III T/C are only seen on the latest versions of Canons' lens stock. Therefore you need the 'bluish white' lens & converter combination. I use a 'white' Mk II 1.4 X on a 70-200 L2.8, 300 L2.8 & 500 L4.0 'White' lens trio to great effect. The 1.4 slightly impairs the focus speed but not acquisition, the 2X it tedious slow & I have not used my 2X since going digital. In the good old days of wet-film it was worth using the 2X coz' you got what you shot!

[Pune]

Thanks folks, some great info' to ponder..a lot more technical than I thought...cheers
Pune

[Skip]

Does af work on the 400mm f5.6?

AF works with the 1.4x on my Canon 7D mk2

[onemac]

Does af work on the 400mm f5.6?

It does with my 7d Mk II but not the Mk I.

Al

[pig hunter]

I tried a 100-400 V1 with a Canon 1.4 x extender on a 70D

It would not auto focus

the images from manual focus were most unimpressive

it was very difficult to get a sharp focus in the viewfinder

i eventually sold the 1.4X

my advice

get a Sigma 150-600

more expensive yes.....but you will get decent IQ

and usable images

best

pig hunter

[eagle driver]

Just a quick thank you to the OP and all that replied , it has helped me decide on whether or not to buy a TC ,

[Bluetail]

I have a 1D Mk3 and 7D bodies plus a 100-400 Mk1 and a 300 L series Prime, I only ever fit my Canon 1.4 to the 300 prime because its rubbish with the 100-400 and never AFs I find it works ok on either body though, it just doesn't seem to like zoom lenses AF, I,ve never tried MF though so I cant help there.

[apex]

I've had a 1.4 TC for some time now. I only ever used it when aircraft were moving and a long way off, which is a testing time for your kit. I've used it on 7D mk1 and 40D bodies and with the 70-200 f4L and 100-400mk1.
Although the auto focus worked, the results were not as sharp, on close inspection, as I could achieve without the TC and cropping a bit. That's not to say it was no good, I've had some very sharp results from it but it's just not consistent enough. It felt to me as if the auto focus did not like loosing an f-stop or two of available light that adding the TC would deny it, take it off and just use the 70-200 and it's sharp all the time.
I don't think I've ever taken a stationary shot with it, it might be ok if you don't need to push your auto focus to the limits as I've done.