topic Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens? in EF & RF Lenses

Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

photographyguy1 — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 01:23:29 GMT

I was browsing B And H's website looking at teleconverters and I had a question. I have a Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens and I shoot (or try to) a lot of wildlife photography with it but it just does not have the reach that I would like. I was hoping to find a teleconverter to use in conjunction with this lens. I was looking at the Canon teleconverters but from what the website said, they are only supposed to work with L-series lenses. I was wondering if this was actually true or can I use one of the teleconverters with my lens?

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

cicopo — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 02:14:25 GMT

Save your money for better lenses. SEE

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=41922

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

trulandphoto — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 12:10:47 GMT

@photographyguy1 wrote:
I was browsing B And H's website looking at teleconverters and I had a question. I have a Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens and I shoot (or try to) a lot of wildlife photography with it but it just does not have the reach that I would like. I was hoping to find a teleconverter to use in conjunction with this lens. I was looking at the Canon teleconverters but from what the website said, they are only supposed to work with L-series lenses. I was wondering if this was actually true or can I use one of the teleconverters with my lens?

Canon extenders will not fit that lens. Third party teleconverters will fit but odds are you won't like the results. Image quality and focusing will likely not be acceptable. Try borrowing one and see how you like it.

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

Dun1 — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 15:25:29 GMT

The Canon teleconvertors do only work with the L series of lenses

Here is a link to show which Canon teleconvertors work with which lenses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Extender_EF

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

photographyguy1 — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 22:11:34 GMT

So...in other words, I'm screwed as far as shooting wildlife photography goes until I can get a better lens.

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

Dun1 — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 22:59:34 GMT

No you will not be able to use Canon Extenders, the 1.4, or the 2x extenders,

You will have to choose a non Canon Teleconvertor

Here is a link albeit to Amazon, you can plug in your body in the middle using the drop down menu

http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-Teleconverter-Canon-Mount-Lenses/dp/B000CD8BIS

One thing you must realize if you add an teleconvertor you will reduce your lens apeture by approx that number of f/stops

i.e. a 4 lens will become an f/8

When you lens budget gets deeper, you might want to take look at the Canon 100-400 lens

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/ef_lens_lineup/ef_100_400mm_f_4_5_5_6l_is_usm

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

photographyguy1 — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 23:46:09 GMT

Ok. Thank you.

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

Dun1 — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 00:04:23 GMT

ya welcome glad to help out,

Good luck and an early Happy New Year wish to ya

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

photographyguy1 — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 00:32:02 GMT

Happy New Year's to you too. It looks like we might be getting snow for the new year where I live.

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

pahranagatman — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 02:53:34 GMT

Hey photographyguy1. I started out with the 75-300 too. Is your's the non-IS? Ever put any thought into getting the 400mm 5.6? Depending on what you want to get you could use the 300 for on the go walking shots and the 400 for tripod work. To me the big plus from getting the 400 was clarity that let me heavily crop pictures to get the zoom I wanted.

The other factor big, big factor has been using a hunting blind and waiting for things to come to me.

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

photographyguy1 — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 15:46:03 GMT

Yeah, mine is the non-image stabilized version. I'd like to get 100-400mm but I am nowhere close to being able to afford that right now.

Re: Will A Teleconverter Work With My Lens?

amfoto1 — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 19:30:27 GMT

The Canon teleconverters are not limited to L series lenses only.

Canon teleconverters have a protruding front element, so they only physically fit lenses that have a large enough diameter at the rear and a recessed rear element that allow the TC to be fitted....

It just so happens most of the Canon lenses that can be physically fitted with the Canon TCs are L's. The 135/2 is the shortest prime Canon recommends using with either of their Extenders. Among the Canon zooms, only the 70-200mm (all versions) and 100-400mm are physically able to have the Extenders mounted.

Not listed by Canon, but I happen to know that their Extenders also can be used with their 45mm and 90mm Tilt Shift lenses, as well as the 100/2.8 USM macro, none of which are L-series lenses. There may be some others... those are just some I've personally tried out and can confirm are usable with the Extenders. I'm sure there are some third party lenses it's possible to use them with, too.

Third party teleconverters don't have the protruding front lens elements and will physically allow mounting a wider selection of lenses. However there are other considerations.

Earlier responses are correct.... with a 1.4X teleconverter, you lose 1 stop of light, while a 2X costs you 2 stops. Most Canon cameras are not designed to be able to auto focus with less than an f5.6 aperture (1D series, 1V and EOS-3 film cameras, and 5D MkIII can focus to f8). So if you put a 1.4X on an f5.6 lens, making it an effective f8 lens instead, auto focus will not work. If you put a 2X on an f4 lens, that becomes and effective f8 and, again, AF won't work.

Now, there are a couple workarounds.... you can focus manually, though your viewfinder might be rather dim to work with (try using Live View with Exposure Compensation enabled, to brighten things up... you also can magnify the Live View display in to check manual focus accuracy). Another trick is to tape up a couple of the electronic contacts on the teleconverter, so that the camera doesn't know it's there and will still try to auto focus. This might work in good light, though it will likely be slower and might hunt.

Another concern is image quality. Teleconverters generally give better image quality with prime lenses instead of zooms. Plus, stronger teleconverters (2X and 3X) will degrade image quality considerably more than weaker ones (1.4X and 1.5X). There are varying quality among teleconverters, too... just as there are among lenses. There are so many different possible combinations, you might find others who have tried particular combinations.... or not. Just be very specific about which teleconverter and which lens)es) you are asking about, to be sure you get truly helpful information. Still, you almost have to roll the dice and try it for yourself, to see if the results meet your expectations.

I use the Canon 1.4X II and 2X II Extenders. I'll use the 1.4X on a number of lenses (occasionally on 135/2, 70-200/4 IS or 70-200/2.8 IS, much more frequently on 300/4 IS, 300/2.8 IS or 500/4 IS). I mostly only use the 2X extender on 300/2.8 IS, occasionally on 500/4 (focusing manually). I don't find image quality of the 2X on 70-200/2.8 IS good enough for my purposes. I have heard that the newer 70-200/2.8 IS Mark II zoom and EF 2X Mark III Extender work together much better than the versions I have.

Someone suggested saving up for a 400/5.6L.... which is a good recommendation and an excellent lens. Personally I prefer the 300/4 IS and 1.4X combo, because it has IS making for a very portable, handholdable combo. Plus I like having two focal lengths on hand (300mm, plus when the 1.4X is added, 420mm).

Other options you might consider are the Canon 100-400mm zoom, or one of the third party zooms in the 120-400mm or 150-500mm range. There are other possibilites at much, much higher price (the EF 200-400/4L IS 1.4X, for example).

***********
Alan Myers

San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & PRINTROOM