Canon 1.4 Ext II or Canon 2X II

if this question is in the wrong section...would a Mod please delete it for me.....
guys and gals......
i know most of you have forgotten more about lens and photography than i will ever know.....my question maybe sounds dumb to some of you....
my question is....i already own a Canon 1.4 Ext, II and i will buy a Canon 100-400 mm lens in a couple days....what would be best......to buy another 1.4 and stack them or get a 2X II
thanks for any opinions that you may have to share with me
Richard

Neither, unless you plan to manually focus the camera, as your T2i would not autofocus. Using 1.4x TC adds another F stop to the lens, so the 100-400 at wide end becomes F 5.6. Add another 1.4x TC (you will need an extension ring for that), or use one 2x will make it F 8, and your camera cannot AF at all.

Heya,

Neither. The autofocus will go away on your camera, and you will have to manual focus. Live View focus will be much more accurate than view finder focus in this situation. You will notice a significant decrease in sharpness. Also, you lose aperture light using them, so be ready to lose 1 to 2 stops of light depending on which you use or stack. That means slower shutter, or more ISO to use to maintain enough shutter to avoid motion blur (which is significant now that you're shooting at a longer physical focal length).

If you want 600mm, get a 600mm lens. Sigma/Tamron have you covered there for the same cost as the Canon 400.

Very best,

so best to not opt for another 1.4 or 2X...the 1.4 works great on my 70-200mm f4 IS.......
thanks guys for the input....saved me some money.....i appreciate your help.....

Yes, 1.4 works very well with the 70-200 f/4, as you lowest F stop is now 5.6, and the camera has no problem with autofocusing.

i think i will still get the 100-400mm Lens.....i love taking photos of animals and birds......
you guys are the best...
thanks
Richard

I have a Sigma 120-400 f/4-5.6 and I tried to use it with a Kenko 1.4x converter. It does not accept a Canon TC, as the Canon has a protruding end that does not fit Sigma lenses. Besides, the Canon TC is what is called "reporting", so the camera "knows" it is there, and will not let you AF. The Kenko TC is not reporting.

With the 70D and Kenko 1.4 on the Sigma 120-400 the autofocusing is very unstable. Only in bright light, and only on subjects that have easily identifiable by the camera contrast. Otherwise the AF keeps hunting on and on. Surprisingly, on the 7D it works very reliable, I never had a problem with the AF even on a cloudy day.

Like you, I like to shoot birds.

i was looking in Amazon.com and they offer a Canon 100-400 packake deal (which i am not going to buy) the offer a Vivitar 2XMC4 AF ............do you think auto focus will work properly on the lens?

William R. Fleming wrote in post #17286752
i was looking in Amazon.com and they offer a Canon 100-400 packake deal (which i am not going to buy) the offer a Vivitar 2XMC4 AF ............do you think auto focus will work properly on the lens?

The loss of autofocus has to do with max apertures on your setup. The lens zoomed to 400 is 5.6 wide open. The 1.4 reduces that by a stop, the 2x by 2 stops. So with a 1.4 mounted your lens-extender combo has a max aperutre of f8. Rebel bodies will not autofocus when the max aperutre is smaller than f5.6. It would work if you had a 1D series or some of the newer bodies.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17286776
The loss of autofocus has to do with max apertures on your setup. The lens zoomed to 400 is 5.6 wide open. The 1.4 reduces that by a stop, the 2x by 2 stops. So with a 1.4 mounted your lens-extender combo has a max aperutre of f8. Rebel bodies will not autofocus when the max aperutre is smaller than f5.6. It would work if you had a 1D series or some of the newer bodies.

sooooooo......MF or nothing for me.....i cant afford a 1D ....not at this time.....i have saved for over a year to get the 100-400....
i really appreciate all the help ....you guys are the best....

William R. Fleming wrote in post #17286844
sooooooo......MF or nothing for me.....i cant afford a 1D ....not at this time.....i have saved for over a year to get the 100-400....
i really appreciate all the help ....you guys are the best....

Only if you use an extender. But if you need more than 400, dont buy a 400. There are third party zooms in this price range that go longer.

can you give me some of the 3rd party names to look over.....i havent bought anything yet......i read some good things about Sigma and Tamro Lens for Canon Cameras.....

William R. Fleming wrote in post #17287033
can you give me some of the 3rd party names to look over.....i havent bought anything yet......i read some good things about Sigma and Tamro Lens for Canon Cameras.....

Tamron, Tokina, and sigma are the 3 main 3rd party makers. I think all 3 have recently introduced zooms in this category that are competitive with the original canon 100-400. Canon recently responded with the mkII 100-400.

William R. Fleming wrote in post #17286752
i was looking in Amazon.com and they offer a Canon 100-400 packake deal (which i am not going to buy) the offer a Vivitar 2XMC4 AF ............do you think auto focus will work properly on the lens?

No! But see below.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17286776
The loss of autofocus has to do with max apertures on your setup. The lens zoomed to 400 is 5.6 wide open. The 1.4 reduces that by a stop, the 2x by 2 stops. So with a 1.4 mounted your lens-extender combo has a max aperutre of f8. Rebel bodies will not autofocus when the max aperutre is smaller than f5.6. It would work if you had a 1D series or some of the newer bodies.

This is true, with an if. If the TC is a reporting TC. Some off brands don't. If they do there is the taping of certain pins, so it does not report.

That said - (To the OP) doing this almost always results in poor to non-locking AF, so IMO it is not worth it.

Ultimately (IMO), just go with what gonzogolf said and suggested.

Reasonably priced 3rd party -
Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Sigma 50-500mm f4.5-6.3 (or one with same range but f/4-6.3 and no stabilization), 150-500mm f/5-6.3, & 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Tokina has non over 400mm that I am aware of!

IMO, go for one of the 600mm.

Do keep in mind the zooms with 500/600 tele ends are big. You might need a new bag for carrying them. The Canon 100-400L (MKI) can fit in most bags, as it is actually shorter than any of the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses. Supposedly the MKII is shorter than the IS f/2.8s and the same length as the non-IS f/2.8.

I mention this because I've thought about switching out my 150-500 for the Canon, just because then I would probably carry it more frequently. Decided I'd rather have the extra 100mm and kept the Sigma. Then the Tamron followed by Sigma 600s came out, and thought about side/up-grading. Now that the Canon II has been announced, I'm waiting to see how it performs before a final decision.

William R. Fleming wrote in post #17282108
if this question is in the wrong section...would a Mod please delete it for me.....
guys and gals......
i know most of you have forgotten more about lens and photography than i will ever know.....my question maybe sounds dumb to some of you....
my question is....i already own a Canon 1.4 Ext, II and i will buy a Canon 100-400 mm lens in a couple days....what would be best......to buy another 1.4 and stack them or get a 2X II
thanks for any opinions that you may have to share with me
Richard

frankly I wouldn't use either TC with this lens and even with the best canon white prime I would probably never use a 2x TC unless I was shooting the moon or something along those lines. so my vote is: neither.