80 to 200 IS L f 2.8 with TC 1.4 or 2 or prime lens

gtan · 3rd February 2006

dear experts out there, can you give me your much honoured opinion on image quality for the following. i have a 80 to 200 mm L zoom f 2.8 IS and am considering a TC i.4 or 2 or a 300mm prime or even 400 mm

my need sare quite simple - holiday shots where a good reach with a 300 or even 400 mm can get me a sharp image of that bird on a tree branch [ or the occasional shoot of my kids on the football field]so weight and bulkiness of equiupment is a factor but most of all i am a stickler for GOOD SHARP IMAGES

is my present 80 to 200 zoom with the TC X2 a good combo? the reach factor aside, is there a great difference in iamge quality with the 1.4 or 2 TC on my zoom lens ? many thanks

fWord · 3rd February 2006

Originally Posted by gtan

dear experts out there, can you give me your much honoured opinion on image quality for the following. i have a 80 to 200 mm L zoom f 2.8 IS and am considering a TC i.4 or 2 or a 300mm prime or even 400 mm

my need sare quite simple - holiday shots where a good reach with a 300 or even 400 mm can get me a sharp image of that bird on a tree branch [ or the occasional shoot of my kids on the football field]so weight and bulkiness of equiupment is a factor but most of all i am a stickler for GOOD SHARP IMAGES

is my present 80 to 200 zoom with the TC X2 a good combo? the reach factor aside, is there a great difference in iamge quality with the 1.4 or 2 TC on my zoom lens ? many thanks

Not sure if we're speaking of the same lens here, but I've seen some picture tests of the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS with a 2X TC stacked on, and they aren't overly impressive. They seemed to lose out on sharpness compared to the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS. This lens itself seems to lose out to the 300mm f/4L IS + 1.4X TC in sharpness also.

This was kindly highlighted to me by the members at this forum. Some of these reviews/ discussions might be useful to you:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/re.../400v400.shtml

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=174226

http://photozone.de

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=131090

If you truly need the reach, then I think the choices you might be interested in are things such as the 300mm f/4L IS, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS, Sigma 50-500mm, 400mm f/5.6 L. In the end, the decision will depend also on whether you need IS, speed of the lens, zoom/ prime and price. The Sigma is the most reasonably-priced of all.

dEthANGeL · 3rd February 2006

haaa.. the bigma (50-500) is never a holiday friendly lens

(weight factor), you'll also need a monopod since this is 1 big/heavy lens!

You should be referring to the 70-200 IS as mentioned by fword.

A 1.4x TC stacked ontop of a 70-200 F2.8 (IS or non-IS) should not pose much image degradation but a 2x will. 2x is more suited for primes as most members here would agree.

As mentioned always and being debated at times, the flexibility of a zoom is always welcome.

The 300F4L IS is sharp and weight wise, lighter than the 70-200 IS definitely. But you lose flexbility.

gtan · 3rd February 2006

thanks a lot sorry yes its 70 to 200 apreciate your feedback

JediForce4ever · 4th February 2006

IMO, the 70-200mmf2.8L, IS or not, is almost as sharp as a prime.

3rd February 2006	#1
gtan Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 117	80 to 200 IS L f 2.8 with TC 1.4 or 2 or prime lens dear experts out there, can you give me your much honoured opinion on image quality for the following. i have a 80 to 200 mm L zoom f 2.8 IS and am considering a TC i.4 or 2 or a 300mm prime or even 400 mm my need sare quite simple - holiday shots where a good reach with a 300 or even 400 mm can get me a sharp image of that bird on a tree branch [ or the occasional shoot of my kids on the football field]so weight and bulkiness of equiupment is a factor but most of all i am a stickler for GOOD SHARP IMAGES is my present 80 to 200 zoom with the TC X2 a good combo? the reach factor aside, is there a great difference in iamge quality with the 1.4 or 2 TC on my zoom lens ? many thanks

3rd February 2006	#3
dEthANGeL Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Siglap Posts: 1,645	Re: 80 to 200 IS L f 2.8 with TC 1.4 or 2 or prime lens haaa.. the bigma (50-500) is never a holiday friendly lens (weight factor), you'll also need a monopod since this is 1 big/heavy lens! You should be referring to the 70-200 IS as mentioned by fword. A 1.4x TC stacked ontop of a 70-200 F2.8 (IS or non-IS) should not pose much image degradation but a 2x will. 2x is more suited for primes as most members here would agree. As mentioned always and being debated at times, the flexibility of a zoom is always welcome. The 300F4L IS is sharp and weight wise, lighter than the 70-200 IS definitely. But you lose flexbility.

3rd February 2006	#4
gtan Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 117	Re: 80 to 200 IS L f 2.8 with TC 1.4 or 2 or prime lens thanks a lot sorry yes its 70 to 200 apreciate your feedback

4th February 2006	#5
JediForce4ever Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Singapore, CanonGraphers.org Posts: 3,163	Re: 80 to 200 IS L f 2.8 with TC 1.4 or 2 or prime lens IMO, the 70-200mmf2.8L, IS or not, is almost as sharp as a prime.