5d MKII, 100-400 EF IS, 2 x Extenders..... Help!!

Location : Suffolk Spotter Watch Member : No

Hi everyone.....

Thought I'd make my 'fightercontrol' debut at last...... I'm in need of some camera advise and hopefully you may be able to help!

I have a Canon 10d with 2 lenses, 18-105 and 70-300.... I've been looking to upgrade for a while now but thought I'd do this years RIAT with my current setup and then to start looking and buying equipment over the next few months.

Basically what I've set my heart on is a Canon 5d MK II with the Canon 100-400mm EF IS Lense.... pricey but I've saved hard so far!, the part I really wanted is the 2x or even 1.4x extender to attach to get me in real close but I'm finding confusing reports, I've been in contact with a couple of retailers and they tell me the extenders work fine with the 5d MK II and the 100-400 lense - all functions are fine apart from losing 2 stops, they both insist the A/F works but on forums it seems that the A/F will not work with this setup!?, having gone back to speak to one of the retailers they insist the A/F problem is not an issue because of using 5d MKII?

I'm just not sure, any advise would be greatly appreciated..... even some recomendations!

Regards

Richard.

Location : Scotland Spotter Watch Member : No

The retailer are talking baws. You'll lose 1 stop with the 1.4x and 2 stops with the 2x. Auto focus will not work at all (unless you tape over the contacts and even then it'll be sluggish). The 100-400 does get soft at the 400mm end and using a converter will make it worse. In fact I wouldn't recommend using converters with the 100-400 at all, the benefit of all those pixels on the 5DII will be negated by the lens not being able to resolve that detail (you'll just get a bigger, soft image). The 100-400 should be fine on the 5DII in general though - pixel density on the 5DII is lower than the 40/50D so less will be asked of the glass than it would on those cameras and plenty of people use the 40/50D + 100-400L with no problem.

Location : Coventry Spotter Watch Member : No

I would personally go with a 50D as you still have the 1.6 x magnification built in as you have with the 10D. The 5D is a full frame sensor and due to this you lose the magnification.

Only a suggestion, but if you look on the bright side, you save quite a few pounds!

Chris Evatt

Location : Scotland Spotter Watch Member : No

I wouldn't worry too much about the loss of range due to the full frame nature of the camera. If you applied a 1.6 crop to a 21MP 5DII shot you'd end up with a 8MP shot, and that's what a 20/30D would give you. I'm gonna upgrade to a 5DII from my 30D (keeping as my second body) and the way I see it I'll lose 1fps but get better ISO performance, bokeh, will see wider that I do right now and will be able to record HD video if i so wish. Oh and when stuff is close in I'll get 21MP worth to play with.

I did look at the 50D (seeing as I could get 2 of them for the same price as a 5DII) and yes it's faster and more suited to aviation photography but the pixels are crammed in so tight it'll ask more of my glass, the ISO performance is worse than the 40D and purple fringing is more evident. Going the 5DII route is going to give me a camera that provides excellent IQ and that won't need upgraded for a long time, allowing me to save up for long glass.

EDIT - In fact I've gone ahead and ordered it Big Grin

Location : Suffolk Spotter Watch Member : No

Thanks for the replies everyone, I knew this was the place for answers to my questions!

I did in fact consider the 50d as mentioned but I thought I'd futureproof myself to a certain extent going for the 5dII..... I love my 10d but think it's time to get an upgrade, my pictures are good but I think the 5dII would make them that much better.

I did go back to the retailer and ask more and more questions about the 2x extender and they told me that the autofocus will work - but only on the centre focal point!??, at this point I think I value the comments on here more than a hard sell, maybe once I've got my gear I'll get a extender from somewhere I can return within so many day and have a play.

The only question I really have left is would you guys consider the 5dII with the Canon 100-400mm EF IS Lense a setup to deliver good results?

Thanks for your help

Richard

Location : Northwood

Richard,

have a look at the lensforhire web site, you can hire what you want lens wise and try it out, they are quite reasonable price wise and the service is very good

simon

Location : Scotland Spotter Watch Member : No

lukeafb wrote:: The only question I really have left is would you guys
consider the 5dII with the Canon 100-400mm EF IS Lense a setup to
deliver good results?

I hope so as that's my 'long' lens at the moment. I'd recommend buying your kit, or at least getting a quote, from Ian Kerr (Kerso1123 @ msn.com). I just got my 5DII along
side a spare battery (those things are expensive!) for less than the cheapest body only UK price.

Location : Henlow, Beds

lukeafb wrote:: I did go back to the retailer and ask more and more questions about the 2x extender and they told me that the autofocus will work - but only on the centre focal point!??, at this point I think I value the comments on here more than a hard sell, maybe once I've got my gear I'll get a extender from somewhere I can return within so many day and have a play.Richard

Your supplier is talking rubbish. On all except the 1D series bodies autofocus is not possible once the lens maximum aperture exceeds f5.6. At 400mm (in fact over aboput 200mm) the 100-400 will be a f5.6 natively. If you add the 1.4x TC that takes you to f8 and the 2x TC will take you to f11!. On the 1D series autofocus is possible on the centre point only up to f8, so even that one will not support the 2x TC with that lens.

The taping method mentioned is very hit and miss. It seems to work with the older EOS bodies and not the newer ones. Even if it does work autofocus is very slow.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

Welcome to FC by the way.......... Cheers

Location : Scotland Spotter Watch Member : No

Further to my last I can happily report that the 100-400 handles beautifully on the 5DII.

First a shot at 100mm - f5.6 (Please note there are DoF issues in these shots)

5d MKII, 100-400 EF IS, 2 x Extenders..... Help!! IMG_1991-1

5d MKII, 100-400 EF IS, 2 x Extenders..... Help!! IMG_1991-1

100% crops

5d MKII, 100-400 EF IS, 2 x Extenders..... Help!! Untitled-4

5d MKII, 100-400 EF IS, 2 x Extenders..... Help!! Untitled-1-1

And at 400mm - f5.6

5d MKII, 100-400 EF IS, 2 x Extenders..... Help!! IMG_2002-1

100% crops

5d MKII, 100-400 EF IS, 2 x Extenders..... Help!! Untitled-2-1

5d MKII, 100-400 EF IS, 2 x Extenders..... Help!! Untitled-3-2

Not bad for a bog standard 100-400L wide open!