20D with 200L 2.8

OK-when you take a picture of a bird 75' away or so with the 200, it is not a close up like a zoom would do. So to bring the bird up close when I process the picture, I have to crop it quite a bit. And I get a decent close-up. The problem is when I want to enlarge that crop, it gets grainy. If you had a 400 5.6 lens, isn't it going to be the same problem? I now have a 1.4 Kenko Pro 300extender but still have the same problem. What's wrong? (other than trying to take close ups from far away)
Karen

Yes, too far away. You did not mention the size of the bird but, in general, you'd need to be about 15 to 25 feet from a bird with a 200 on a 20D to get something that you would not have to enlarge too much.

the 400 5.6 is twice the length of your 200 2.8, it is much more suited for birds. youll still want to close in to about 40 feet or less to get the bird to get a good sized picture.

OK-that's what I needed to know. I'm trying to do too much with too little.
Karen

You could try a noise reduction program there quite good as long as you dont have it set to high.
Rob.

Yeah, I often have to use the one on Adobe but would like to get the shots right to begin with. With what you guys said, it's amazing that some (SOME) of my shots have been as good as they are because I am WAY too far away. Have about decided my next lens will be the 400 5/6...I just like the primes.