1.4x or 2x for sports?

I shoot a variety of outdoor sports such as football, soccer, and lacrosse with my 70-200ii, and I'm just itching for a bit more reach. Of course, the longer the better, but since the two newer ones are about the same price, which one would be best for my situation?

Depends how close you are to the field...

svassh wrote in post #14981855
Depends how close you are to the field...

Sideline.

Do you shoot night games or other low light situations?

pixelhack wrote in post #14981919
Do you shoot night games or other low light situations?

Occasionally, but this is for day use.

I'd really consider the 1.4 if you find that you might want to use it at night time.

question is are you using the 1d3 or 5d2 with the lens
the 1d3 will autofocus with 2x and 5d2 won't - high speed sports pics require panning and autofocus afaik so you may need both

p32shooter wrote in post #14982201
question is are you using the 1d3 or 5d2 with the lens
the 1d3 will autofocus with 2x and 5d2 won't - high speed sports pics require panning and autofocus afaik so you may need both

Incorrect.

p32shooter wrote in post #14982201
question is are you using the 1d3 or 5d2 with the lens
the 1d3 will autofocus with 2x and 5d2 won't - high speed sports pics require panning and autofocus afaik so you may need both

OP is using a 70-200 2.8L. Coupling that with a 2X TC yields f/5.6 wide open. All Canon DSLR will focus that setup.

TSchrief wrote in post #14984754
OP is using a 70-200 2.8L. Coupling that with a 2X TC yields f/5.6 wide open. All Canon DSLR will focus that setup.

Not very fast though, 4x slower than just the bare lens, both in terms of light and the AF motor. I would just stick to a 1.4x.

I would not go with the 2X as the focusing is pretty slow. The 1.4 will work pretty well both for focus speed and image quality.

I've actually been experimenting with this a bit lately shooting youth soccer. I'm also using the 70-200 f2.8 II (with the 1DX), and I have the 1.4x II and 2x III extenders (actually, I have the 2x II extender too). I've been shooting with the bare lens and with these two extenders to compare the results. I often shoot at f5.6, and for comparison purposes, that's what I used for each test. One thing that surprised me was the IQ with the 2x III extender...in a good way. It was better than I expected and nearly as sharp as the 1.4x and bare lens. The main issue I had with the 2x III was focus speed. When it would lose focus, it would go off into la-la land and slowly hunt and find focus again. If I tried to focus quickly on some action, I sometimes missed focus. The resulting photos were either right on the money or a complete miss. I didn't notice the focus speed difference so much with the 1.4x II. I plan to keep experimenting because I really do like that range of 140mm-400mm for shooting 8v8 soccer!

mesodan wrote in post #14984927
Not very fast though, 4x slower than just the bare lens, both in terms of light and the AF motor. I would just stick to a 1.4x.

I never used that setup. All I am stating is that it will AF. A 400 5.6 or a 100-400L would focus faster AND provide a sharper shot.

sdipirro wrote in post #14985448
The main issue I had with the 2x III was focus speed. When it would lose focus, it would go off into la-la land and slowly hunt and find focus again. If I tried to focus quickly on some action, I sometimes missed focus. The resulting photos were either right on the money or a complete miss. I didn't notice the focus speed difference so much with the 1.4x II.

Yes, for sports I would stick with the 1.4x just because of the focus speed situation.

Why won't you try renting a 400mm 5.6?