Canon 70-300mm IS USM + Canon 1.4x Extension

Hi everyone,

I would like input on the combo mentioned above. My father-in-law is going on an Alaskan cruise in late February. He's got an XTi, lens kit, and the Canon 10-22mm UWA lens. He's been looking around for a telephoto lens (specifically the 70-200L IS USM) but doesn't want to shell out more than $700 or so. He was considering the "non-IS" 70-200L f/4, but in the long run, he wanted the "IS" feature...

The combo kit mentioned in the title seems to be something up his alley. Granted it's not a "L" lense, but he gets the "IS" feature plus an additional 100mm reach. In addition, the 1.4x Extension Tube will give him over 650mm when it's fully opened...

Thanks in advance for any input, comment, and/or concern regarding the combo kit mentioned above.

- airbutchie

well the 70-300+ 1.4x is only a 420mm lens. You are likely to lose autofocus with that combo in low light, and when you have lots of light you'll notice its slow as nuts and will hunt more. The 70-300IS lens is great optically, but AF is slow, the lens expands when you zoom, and rotates when you focus. Kinda annoying. I shot with that lens last year, and i've been very happy to make the change to a 70-200/2.8L + 1.4tc for my sports shooting.

May I point out that the Canon 1.4x Extender won't physically fit that lens as far as I am aware.

PaulB wrote in post #2549471
May I point out that the Canon 1.4x Extender won't physically fit that lens as far as I am aware.

It does, however, work very well with the current Kenko Teleplus Pro 300 DG, including decent AF given sufficient light.

I just bought the Kenko Pro 300 1.4x, over half the price of the Canon and apprently near impossibly to tell the difference in IQ loss. As mentioned though, you really need to use a TC with a lens that is f/4 or faster.

airbutchie wrote in post #2548035
Hi everyone,

I would like input on the combo mentioned above. My father-in-law is going on an Alaskan cruise in late February. He's got an XTi, lens kit, and the Canon 10-22mm UWA lens. He's been looking around for a telephoto lens (specifically the 70-200L IS USM) but doesn't want to shell out more than $700 or so. He was considering the "non-IS" 70-200L f/4, but in the long run, he wanted the "IS" feature...

The combo kit mentioned in the title seems to be something up his alley. Granted it's not a "L" lense, but he gets the "IS" feature plus an additional 100mm reach. In addition, the 1.4x Extension Tube will give him over 650mm when it's fully opened...

Thanks in advance for any input, comment, and/or concern regarding the combo kit mentioned above.

- airbutchie

I just re-read your post. Isn't it kind of cold and dark in February in Alaska? What type of shooting does your FIL plan to do?

As I mentioned in my earlier post, "...given sufficient light."

Hi everyone...

Thank you for the input and comments regarding this combo kit...

Runninmann:
I'm pretty sure it'll be a bit cold there in Alaska, but they'll bundle up nicely to compensate for the temperature. Thanks for the concern. As for the kind of shots he'll be taking, I gather most will be on landscape and wildlife shots. He's got the 10-22 UWA for the landscape and such, but lacks the lense to reach wildlife animals (seals, polar bears, penguins). I figure most of the pictures he'll be taking will be during the day. Of course, depending on weather, it could be a picture perfect "blue sky" calm day, cloudy and overcast, or worst, foggy!!! I hope that answered your question.

In addition, thanks for mentioning the Kenko TC's. I completely forgot about that brand. I'll look into that.

- airbutchie

Well... Ive got that 1.4x kenko... great IQ and yeah it fits (barely) on the 70-300. AF is a real slug tho

Unless you wanted waterproofing for your L lens and 1D body, (imho) there is really no reason to get the canon 1.4x extender

sirsloop wrote in post #2550093
Well... Ive got that 1.4x kenko... great IQ and yeah it fits (barely) on the 70-300. AF is a real slug tho

Unless you wanted waterproofing for your L lens and 1D body, (imho) there is really no reason to get the canon 1.4x extender

Did/do you have some kind of issue with the fit/installation?

the rear element of the 70-300 is right at the bottom of the lens, where as the 70-200/2.8L's rear element is stuck up inside the lens an inch or so. The TC bolts on to the bottom of the lens, and the glass on the TC comes close to hitting the 70-300 rear lens when you are at 70mm. Other than that.. no issues. I believe canon's TC is taller on the lens side which is why it doesn't physically fit on a lot of lenses

Do a search, I believe it was either POTN member Lightstream or Neilyb (maybe both) had some threads running about this lens + extenders and some of the results were actually decent.

airbutchie wrote in post #2548035
doesn't want to shell out more than $700...he wanted the "IS" feature

The 7-3IS is an ideal fit for what your FIL wants. The lens is very lightweight for offering 300mm (almost 500mm FOV on 1.6x) and IS. You can add a Kenko Pro 1.4x TC to it for additional "reach", though you need a lot of light for AF to work consistently well. You can always MF if need be. But I found the Kenko Pro 1.4x to "oscillate/hunt" (i.e., machine gun hunting) significantly less than the cheap Tamron "F" 1.4x, so another reason to get the Kenko Pro. No need to tape any pins as the Canon 7-3IS lacks the 11-pin receptors (it only has the basic 8-pin receptors).

Here's how it performs (on a 20D) with the cheaper Tamron 1.4x TC (you can expect better IQ from the Kenko Pro):

http://www.pbase.com …s/image/5435837​9/original

You can see more of how it performs against other lenses here:

http://www.pbase.com/l​ightrules/70300s

And against the new 7-2F4IS here:

http://www.pbase.com/l​ightrules/73v72f4is

And a shot at 300mm wide open (f5.6), just for fun:

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

You will have to get a non-canon/ non Sigma teleconverter for that combination, as has been said. you can tape the pins to retain some sort of AF, but focusing speed and accuracy as well as image quality will take a nose dive.

Maybe he should just rent the lens he really wants to use?

I own the 70-300IS and a Kenko 1.4x. I also own a Canon 100-400L IS. The 70-300 with the Kenko focuses well in early morning winter light in Pennsylvania. Photo quality is good - but not sure I have any easy examples that I haven't sharpened.
Ironically, the kenko will not autofocus with my 100-400 even with the pins taped trick in similar light. Matter of fact, I still haven't found a method or condition to achieve autofocus with this latter pair.

buddy4344 wrote in post #2552078
Ironically, the kenko will not autofocus with my 100-400 even with the pins taped trick in similar light

Interesting. I use the 1-4IS with the 1.4x Kenko Pro (taped) and AF is by and far good and accurate in sufficient lighting. It goes to show that this issue is not as black and white as it might seem.