Troops:
Never used one and running out of ideas on Cookie's gear with her birthday approaching. Mostly wildife interests for her.

Is there any perceivable image degradation with their use? I know one gives up about an F-stop. I've done a little surfing, and it looks like most of her Canon lenses would still be fully functional. I've not bumped into any tests, however, addressing resolution issues. Thoughts on about a 1.4X would be appreciated.

No help.....but you asked my question, nikon for me though....so I am subscribing.

I've personally not had any luck with them. For me the reach they give doesn't override how soft they make images. For me and the Nikon stuff anyway... I found myself always going for the 500mm prime and working until I was at where I needed to be...

With that... I've shot with canon guys who have had good luck with them. Mostly with the 2X and the 400mm. That's about all I can speak of to the Canon side of things.

Tele-converters work best with fast lenses. If you are using an f2.8, a TC is fine. From there it starts to get iffy. But, if you can get some good shutter speeds, you can get good results. The higher the quality the TC, the better the results for sure.

1'
I do not know if Cookie is shooting FF or crop. I suspect a crop body would give better results than a FF and 1.4xTC.
Another BD idea may be the camo lens covers by LensCoat. Gimbal Head?

Cookie has a 50 and 70D Canon, so they crop. I think we might just do the rent deal and give one a try. They simply don't seem to give those things away anywhere. Thanks,

I find a 1.4x to be viable in terms of image quality, but the 2x teleconverter requires a very sharp lens to begin with. I will use a 2x on a 300 2.8, and a 90 t/s lens with good results, occasionally I will add it to the 600 4 but would prefer not to.

I've had some decent success with a 1.4 TC on my Nikkor 300mm f/4. In a trained set of hands (I.e., not mine) it can be an exceptional combination. All shot with my Nikon D7100. Great for BIF too if you can close the distance; pretty light and easy to move!

DSC_2231LR4edited-2 by kipmichael, on Flickr

DSC_3469LR4edited-2 by kipmichael, on Flickr



DSC_9710LR4edited by kipmichael, on Flickr

Don't waste your money on a TC.

Some lenses work better than others - no doubt about it.

I use a Sigma 1.4 TC on both my Nikon bodies - a D300 and a D3s and with my big Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 Sport lens they are both sharp enough produce 12x16 prints made with a 50% crop.

The only problem is you need to increase your shutter speed to compensate for loss of f-stop and the extensions provided by the TC moves the center of gravity of that BIG SOB of a lens further to the front which makes it more difficult to balance on my monopod/

.............. decrease your shutter speed to ........

A couple local sources suggest a 1.4 is fine but they see some degradation with the 2X's. I think I'll try for a 1.4.

Thanks for the comments,

I wouldnt bother with a 2x if you are hypersensitive to image quality. I use a 1.4 on a 500F4 both full frame and APS-C sensor cameras with excellent results. Stability and technique are always the equalizer.

Using a release with the mirror locked up is the way to go if the subject allows it.

Troops:

Thanks for the feedback here, and decided to stay away from the 2X's.

Just ordered a Canon 1.4 up from the boys here and they met the best offer I could find anywhere on the web. Thanks Joel, and I'll post Cookie's thoughts after she exercises it a bit.

Have a good one,

I think you'll be happy with the 1.4. I have used both and don't see much degradation with the 1.4 at all.

I use the Tamron 1.4 pro version and I have no complaints when used in the right conditions.