400.5.6+1.4 Image Quallity

[brian simpson]

I have a canon 50D and 400. 5.6 and was wondering if i should get a 1.4 converter.I know the autofocus wont work.But hows the image qaulity ?

[Flavio Rose]

There are test charts at the-digital-picture.com.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...0&SampleComp=0

[Christopher C.M. Cooke]

I have a canon 50D and 400. 5.6 and was wondering if i should get a 1.4 converter.I know the autofocus wont work.But hows the image qaulity ?

The AF at f/8 is great and swift (if prefocused) on my 1DMKIII and the image quality is superb. On the 1.6 crop on the 50D, I would not use the 1.4X for BIFs as unless you are REALLY GOOD at manually focusing a long lens.

It may well frustrate you, better you get the 300 f/4 IS and the 1.4 which will give you 420mm with the 1/4X and full AF, or a brilliant fast f/4 300mm with IS without it

I use it without the 1.4X on my 7D and it is blindingly fast and accurate and also clean on my 5DMKII which also loves it.

On the 300 f/4 there is little loss of IQ if any at all with the 1.4X and you would be getting two lenses, the 300 f/4 also focuses very close and I often use macro tubes on it for long Macro work.

When the 1D MKIIIs come down in price soon, sell your 50D and get one, I am buying a second whilst I wait for the MKIV to mature and drop in price.

[David Stephens]

Christopher is right, it won't AF on my 7D, so I don't think it'll AF on your 50D. Without changing your view screen, you won't be able to MF very well on static subjects and it'll be impossible for BIF. The 1.4TC does AF on my 7D with f/4 lenses. I keep the 1.4TC almost constantly on my 70-200mm f/4L IS lens. Generally I use the tripod or brace myself with the 400mm f/5.6L, due to its lack of IS.

[brian simpson]

Yes i know it wont autofocus but,will the 400 still have great image quality with the 1.4 converter.I was thinking of using the 400 for Bif then slipping on the 1.4 for when they land for a closer portait. Does anyone use this combo

[Tom Wimberly]

Used it for 2 years on a 20D.That was my go to combo before I got a 500mm.
IQ is better than a big crop IMHO. I taped the pins & used AF in good light.

Luck

[David Stephens]

Used it for 2 years on a 20D.That was my go to combo before I got a 500mm.
IQ is better than a big crop IMHO. I taped the pins & used AF in good light.

Luck

Tom, is there a DIY about taping the pins somewhere? That'd change my whole view.

Dave

[Marina Scarr]

Is there a DIY about taping the pins somewhere?

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...&q=tc+pin&qf=m

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I used a borrowed lens with taped pins and a 1.4x and it is acceptable if you are prepared to put some effort into it and you do get rather frustrated. Get rid of the 50D and buy a 1DIII or IV. You're far better off. :)

[David Stephens]

I taped the pins on my 1.4TC and tried it with my 400mm f/4L on my 7D for BIF. It absolutely sucked. I saw a northern harrier hovering at close range and couldn't get focused. Later, I saw another northern harrier and focused fine at 150-yards, but that was too far for anything "special." Trying to focus on pheasant in and among the brush was next to impossible, even though I was using the single-spot mode. I saw two kestrel hunting together and couldn't focus on either. Even static subjects were much harder to keep locked on than without the TC.

Yes, it'll work, but your Trash rate will double or triple. OTOH, I used it for BIF on my 70-200 f4L IS and it worked like a charm. I suspect that with an f/4 or larger aperture I'll be hunky dorry, but on the 400mm f/5.6L on the 7D I'm not using it anymore for BIF.

Dave

[Mario Severi]

I have a canon 50D and 400. 5.6 and was wondering if i should get a 1.4 converter.I know the autofocus wont work.But hows the image qaulity ?

I have a small test on my web site, with some pics of the 400 F5.6 witout and with a 1.4 convertor. This might give you an idea about what IQ to expect.

http://www.severi.be/photography/reviews/review01.htm

Mario

[arash_hazeghi]

I would stay away from f/5.6 aperture lens and a teleconvertor on a high pixel density camera like the 7D. It is useless for professional work (IMO).

[David Stephens]

Mario's simple test addresses the OP's question spot on. The IQ of the EF 400 f/5.6L is excellent with and without the 1.4TC. If you're shooting static subjects in good light it'll be wonderful; however, BIF is a whole different matter. I don't think we know how the OP intends to use it, so Mario address the question best.

Dave

[abdulghani]

400mm f5.6 With kenko 1.4 tc on my mark III gives outstanding image quality. If taped on the the connectors of the TC, you may get AF too on the 7d.

Here is a sample from mark III with 400mm f5.6 and tc 1.4x


Cheers Rahil

[David Stephens]

400mm f5.6 With kenko 1.4 tc on my mark III gives outstanding image quality. If taped on the the connectors of the TC, you may get AF too on the 7d.

Just don't plan on getting any BIF pictures with the 1.4TC mounted. It CAN be done, I've done it, but the keeper ratio will drop down one or two orders of magnitude.

Dave

[Christopher C.M. Cooke]

Get rid of the 50D and buy a 1DIII or IV. You're far better off. :)

Akos is right, don't waste your time with taping pins, get a 2nd hand MKIII, stick on the 1.4 TC and you have a great 560mm F/8 lens with good AF.:)

[Kerry Perkins]

Brian, I use this combo and can get decent images even hand-holding, like this (be sure to scroll down and see Artie's color correction!) - http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=53917

I have even gotten a few bif shots with this setup, but suggest that it works best when on a tripod and a static subject. I've never tried the pin taping trick as I suspect the performance would just frustrate me. Maybe some day I'll have the resources to buy the pro body and big glass, but for now this is what I use.

[Chris Brennan]

I taped the pins on my 1.4TC and tried it with my 400mm f/4L on my 7D for BIF. It absolutely sucked. I saw a northern harrier hovering at close range and couldn't get focused. Later, I saw another northern harrier and focused fine at 150-yards, but that was too far for anything "special." Trying to focus on pheasant in and among the brush was next to impossible, even though I was using the single-spot mode. I saw two kestrel hunting together and couldn't focus on either. Even static subjects were much harder to keep locked on than without the TC.

Yes, it'll work, but your Trash rate will double or triple. OTOH, I used it for BIF on my 70-200 f4L IS and it worked like a charm. I suspect that with an f/4 or larger aperture I'll be hunky dorry, but on the 400mm f/5.6L on the 7D I'm not using it anymore for BIF.

Dave

Dave -

Did you mean to mention the 400mm f4 L or was that a typo? The reason I say that is because you shouldn't have to tape the pins on a 1.4x TC with an f4 lens to AF with a 7D. My primary long lens IS a 400mm f4IS DO + a 1.4x on a 7D, and my results have been terrific!

[David Stephens]

Dave -

Did you mean to mention the 400mm f4 L or was that a typo? The reason I say that is because you shouldn't have to tape the pins on a 1.4x TC with an f4 lens to AF with a 7D. My primary long lens IS a 400mm f4IS DO + a 1.4x on a 7D, and my results have been terrific!

Oh, I wish. My 400mm is a f/5.6L. Sorry for the typo.

Dave

[brian simpson]

Thanx mario,nice work.abdulghani your photo looks really good,and kerry your roadrunner photo wow i guess the 400.5.6+1.4 does have great image quality it seems the best choice till i can afford a 500mm,..arash i value your opinion why do you say useless

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanx mario,nice work.abdulghani your photo looks really good,and kerry your roadrunner photo wow i guess the 400.5.6+1.4 does have great image quality it seems the best choice till i can afford a 500mm,..arash i value your opinion why do you say useless

Hi Brian,

I do like the 400 f/5.6 naked on 7D it delivers very sharp shots when you stop it down to f/7.1 and further checkout this sample from a few weeks ago here http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=55582

However I mostly do flight shots so I can't live without fast AF, I also found that the TC degrades quality quite a bit on 400 f/5.6 and small pixel camera like 7D. I sometimes make prints and usually prefer to have high quality photos that are at least 1920 pixel wide so while the downsampled images look good for web presentation after processing, it doesn't have the critical sharpness that I like to see at larger sizes. If you want to stop down to f/11 it becomes somewhat slow and you will be sitting at high ISO all the time, also you have to get the focus right. That said, If you plan to use it on tripod with live view focusing or can train your eye to nail critical focus and subject isn't moving it will probably produce acceptable results in good light. I would just not use it as a primary setup. depending on your budget, if you really need more than 400mm I would be looking at a used 300 f/2.8 plus the 2X TC which still retains AF and has better quality.

Good luck with your choice.