Canon 100-400L ii w/ 2x ii Teleconverter ?

[superstarfoto]

I just purchased the Canon 100-400L IS ii and was wondering if my 2x ii teleconverter is compatiable with it? Will AF work? How does this combo match up? Thanks.

[Waddizzle]

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@superstarfoto wrote:

I just purchased the Canon 100-400L IS ii and was wondering if my 2x ii teleconverter is compatiable with it? Will AF work? How does this combo match up? Thanks.

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You are asking more questions that you may not realize you are actually asking.  What camera body are you using?

Unlike camera bodies, the firmware in Canon teleconverters cannot be updated by the end user.  Instead, Canon releases an updated teleconverter, which includes updates for lenses released since the last teleconverter was released.  The same pretty much holds true for camera bodies.  

The teleconverter manuals describe [groups that extender] and lens combos fall into.  The camera body manuals describe how well the AF will work with lens/teleconverter groups.

“I ... was wondering if my 2x ii teleconverter is compatiable with it?”  

I doubt it.  The EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM was released after the release of the Mark II teleconverters.  You will need to use a Mark III converter, and even then you will need to use only the EF 1.4x III.  The EF 2x III will not work with any current Canon DSLR that I know about.

“Will AF work?”

The answer depends upon the camera body, but there is a 99.99% chance that the answer is [definitely] not.  Using a teleconverter changes the aperture value that camera body sees.  A 1.4x will narrow the aperture by 1 stop, while a 2x will narrow the aperture by 2 stops.  In other words, the teleconverter reduces the amount of light reaching the image sensor, and the AF sensor by a predictable amount.

”How does this combo match up?”

Not sure what you are “matching up” against, but it does not matter.  It will not “match up” well, at all, with most Canon bodies.

Different camera bodies have AF points with varying sensitivities.  Most bodies do not have AF points that can focus well with a lens that has a maximum aperture that is narrower than f/5.6.  Professional grade bodies have AF points that can still focus with a lens that has an effective maximum aperture of f/8.  Using a 2x teleconverter with the 100-400 will create a lens with an effective aperture that varies from f/9 to f/11.  In other words, you will definitely lose the ability to AF through the viewfinder.

Hope this helps.

[superstarfoto]

5D4

[superstarfoto]

I purchased a 1.4 iii to go along with the 100-400 ii which i have heard works quite well on the 5D4 - Iit sounds like the 2x ii won;t work that great so I think I'll just sell it at this point. Thanks for your feedback. 

[ebiggs1]

Almost all tel-cons are a bad idea.  A few work and they work fairly well. The ones that do work fairly well is the 1.4x models.

The question you should ask is, if you need a tel-com a lot of the time, why are you not buying a native FL lens in the first place?

[Waddizzle]

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@superstarfoto wrote:

I purchased a 1.4 iii to go along with the 100-400 ii which i have heard works quite well on the 5D4 - Iit sounds like the 2x ii won;t work that great so I think I'll just sell it at this point. Thanks for your feedback. 

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The 100-400mm II w/ EF 1.4x III should work VERY well with a 5D4.  They seem designed to work together.  They work so well that it makes me believe that this is the explanation as to why Canon has not released a super telephoto lens comparable to a 150-600mm.

The combo works okay to fairly well with a 7D2, which only has one f/8 AF point.  It takes a noticeable hit in AF speed.  The frame rate seems to be slow noticeably, too.  You really need to be good at tracking a subject through the lens to use this setup most effectively. 

The combo works very well with a 6D2, which has 27 f/8 AF points available.  I do not notice much of a slowdown in AF speed with the 6D2, or frame rate, either.  The focus tracking is excellent, IMHO.