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Canon EF 1.4x Extender Mk II
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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1
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5768
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Thu August 21, 2008
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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£175.00
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9.0
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Description:
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This tele extender can be used with fixed focal length lenses 135mm and longer (except the 135mm f/2.8 Softfocus lens), and the EF 70-200 f/2.8L, 70-200 f/2.8L IS, 70-200 f/4.0L, and 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS zoom lenses. Superb optically, it preserves the image quality of the lens it's mounted to and multiplies its focal length 1.4x. Effective aperture is reduced by one f-stop; autofocus is possible on any EOS camera when combined with a lens having an f/4 or faster maximum aperture. The new version II maintains the outstanding optics of the previous version, and adds enhanced weather- resistant construction, and improved anti-reflective surfaces in the barrel.
SPECIFICATIONS
Magnification: 1.4x
Lens Construction: 5 elements in 4 groups
Max. Diameter x Length, Weight: 2.9" x 1.1", 7.8 oz. / 72.8 x 27.2mm, 220g
EXTENDER DATA
Lens Attachment Focal Length
(mm) f-stop
(f) Max. Magnification
(x) AF
EF 135mm f/2L USM 189 2.5 ~ 45 0.27 O
EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM 252 4.5*1 ~ 45 1.40 O*3
EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM 280 2.5 ~ 32 0.22 O
EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM 420 4 ~ 45 0.15 O
EF 300mm f/4L IS USM 420 5.6 ~ 45 0.33 O
EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM 560 4 ~ 45 0.22 O
EF 400mm f/4L DO IS USM 560 5.6 ~ 45 0.17 O
EF 400mm f/5.6L USM 560 8 ~ 45 0.18 O
EF 500mm f/4L IS USM 700 5.6 ~ 64 0.17 O
EF 600mm f/4L IS USM 840 5.6 ~ 64 0.17 O
Accessories supplied
1-Canon front & back caps
2-Canon instruction manual.
3-Canon soft case
4-Canon box Box.
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Keywords:
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Converter Canon 1.4X Extender
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Author
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Rob Barron
Loves the place
Registered: September 2006
Location: Poole, Dorset
Posts: 7225
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Review Date: Thu August 21, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £175.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Quality of build and pictures
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Cons:
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Limited to certain L series lenses
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The price I have added is the price you could relaistically pay for a new one today (quoted from Onestop Digital) as I got it obscenely cheap from someone on Ebay who had more money than brains!
This is a superb 1.4x extender but I must start by highlighting its limitations: if you haven't got a grey-bodied L series zoom lens or prime L series lens, don't bother with one of these as it won't fit. See the list of lenses in the technical spec above to check if your lens will work.
This is not a general purpose teleconverter like the types you can buy from jessops etc, this is made of the same glass as the L series lenses. Let's face it, there would be little point in having an L series lens and then attaching it to something with less than L series glass anyway as the results would inevitably be lesser quality.
When using a 1.4x TC, you lose one stop of light and this is an important factor to consider. Why? Because this will work in autofocus with an aperture of f5.6 or less so you won't be able to use AF on a 100-400mm zoom as this has an open aperture of f4.5 - 5.6 to which you must add a stop so wil go beyond the f5.6. This won't be a problem with lenses that have a max aperture of f4 or less providing you are using the lens on open aperture.
To be honest, I find it easier to use manual focus when using a TC anyway so am perfectly used to doing that. If you are using this with a long lens, focusing is pretty easy and the clarity of pictures is very good.
Ok, to the bits that matter: pictures!
I have taken some pics here of an electricity pylon that is roughly 400m from my house. Pictures were taken using a solid tripod and Live View so that the mirror was locked up. I focused manually using 5x or 10x zoom on the live display in order to get it as sharp as I possibly could. Image stabilisation was turned off so that it didn't interfere with the results and because IS doesn't work properly on a tripod anyway!
These are cropped areas at same size to compare the result with and without the TC. They are NOT to show you how close things look! Remember that this is a very basic test, I chose something a long way away with a lot of detail.
400mm without extender. F11 and ISO 800:
400mm plus 1.4x extender - 560mm. F11 and ISO 800:
Remember that this is the same aperture but with the resulting one stop less light, hence the metal looks darker. It also clouded over slightly between shots so the darkening is not only down to the extender.
The detail remains pretty sharp in both images so clearly the addition of the extender is allowing you to get closer without a significant loss in picture quality. I am not adding other pictures just now as I am doing another review for the 2x TC and can only upload 5 pics at a time. I might add a couple more tomorrow or if people specifically want to see some that show other things like difference in field of view etc.
Just shout if they would be helpful to you.
The build quality of this TC is superb. However, the ones available now are the Mk II version which have better weather sealing. Having said that, I very much doubt you'd have a lot of need to be using these outside in the rain!
If you have a 300mm prime or the 100-400mm lens and you would like to get closer but can't afford a 600/640mm lens, this will prove an extremely effective and practical alternative. It doesn't give you the same quality as a 600mm f4 lens but then it doesn't cost you £5,000 either 
Hope this is of help.
Rob
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