First of all I just want to give a little background about myself before I start so that you can get an idea about my own personal abilities when it comes to shooting BIF with regards to this test.
I normally shoot people, mainly weddings and portraits in all sorts of conditions as well as travel oriented photography. I've always enjoyed going out and shooting just about everything; however, and I have tried shooting BIF's in the past with my old 70-200 2.8L IS ver I and got some decent results with that. With that being said, I am no expert in BIF/Wildlife photography so take that into account when viewing these samples and pretty much any error in technically is more likely my fault than the equipment.
Why am I comparing this lens + tc combo? Well recently I've semi left the wedding biz and I'm mainly shooting for fun now. One of the things I've always wanted as a 400mm or longer lens to go shoot some wildlife and airplanes but I never really made a budget for any lens like that. My initial choices for this job were the 100-400 L and the 400 5.6L as some affordable options. But realistically I didn't know how much of this type of shooting I would actually do so when I read this review on Arthur Morris' blog (http://www.birdsasart-blog.com …s-from-the-non-believers/
) I decided to give the 70-200 II + 2x TC III combo a try by renting the 2x TC III from Borrow Lenses for the weekend to see if it was an option I could live with. Also, bear in mind that in NO WAY am I saying that this combo will replace/beat either of the two previously mention lenses in sharpness or AF speed with regards to BIF, wildlife portraits or aircraft shots. I'm only doing this comparison because I'm sure there are others like me who already own a 70-200 II and have thought about adding a longer lens for wildlife, airplanes, etc..., without having to shell out another $1100 + for an additional lens.
So with that being said, on to the photos. Also I apologize for the different sizes for the crop photos as they were just quick crops in Lightroom.
A quick background on what I used for the shoot:
Canon 1D MKIII with cfn's: AI Servo tied back focus AF-ON, high speed burst, center point only with no expansion points, AI tracking sensitivity set to slow, AI Servo tracking method on continuous track priority.
Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II: Stabilizer on, Stabilizer mode 2, focus limiter at 2.5 to infinity
Canon 2x TC III
Exif was stripped by lightroom so for the first 6 photos it's as follows: ISO 1600, f / 7.1 @ 1/2000 sec @ 400mm
Some more 100% crops
My impressions?
Sharpness: I was honestly really impressed with the combo of the 70-200 II and the 2x TC III. The photos were a lot sharper than what I was expecting and they can clean up nicely depending upon whether you're sharpening for web or print. I'll let you be the judge on whether or not they're satisfactory for you but for me as a casual bird/airplane shooter they'll do fine and I suspect they'll print out great if sharpened properly.
Autofocus Speed and Accuracy: This was a big concern of mine as I've heard that the TC will slow the AF down a lot and degrade it's consistency. I found that the AF was quite a bit slower than just the 70-200 by itself, but not so bad that it was unusable. I actually found that as long as I gave myself enough time to spot a bird, set my center point AF on and track it the AF was consistent and accurate. That being said; however, I found that if I just spotted a bird that was moving quickly and had to bring the combo up real fast to get a shot the AF was slow enough for me to miss some shots as the birds had already flown past me or far enough way for me not to get the shot. To counter this I just pre-focused on certain points near a subject of interest so that if it did start to move I would have enough time for me to center the AF point on the target, allow the camera to lock on and allow myself time to track the target as it moved. Over all though, I will admit that I need a lot more practice shooting BIF as missed a lot of shots simply because I couldn't hold the center point AF on target accurately for some of the faster birds. Also, the one thing I wasn't really able to get a chance to see was how well the combo would hold up with a bird flying fast head on towards me as it was a slow day at Bolsa Chica and I wasn't in a position to grab that type of a shot when the opportunity presented itself.
My conclusions? Well I was extremely pleased with the 70-200 II + 2x TC III combo and will be picking up at 2x TC III in the future when my budget allows. The IQ from the combo was satisfactory to me but it may not be for others. Especially to those who are used to shooting with the super telephotos. Either way, as with all things I believe it's up to the individual shooter to either take advantage of their equipment by knowing its short comings and advantages to get the best shots possible with their ability. And with that I believe that it's up to the individual shooter to take this review with either a grain of salt or with much more interest to make their own decision about this combo. But personally I believe that this combo will just fine for me for now as I am really the weak link to nailing some great BIF/Airplane shots vs my equipment.
