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Heres some photos from Iceland (sorry I haven't been able to do this comparison yet in SA). I think they show fairly typical quality when I use the different teleconverters

1.4x : here it's difficult to see any difference to the 400 lens, you lose a step, but you can get closer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22594688@N ... 658668904/

2X: feather detail begins to get softer, but I wouldn't have got the shot without it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22594688@N ... 658668904/

Stacked 1.4x + 2x: This was taken at ridiculous range, and sure it's not great, but much better than nothing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22594688@N ... 658668904/


And to make this on-topic heres our South Africa gallery as far as I've got.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22594688@N ... 650728077/
/Neil

Does anyone know wether a sigma 1.4x teleconverter will fit onto a tamron lens??

It depends on which Tamron lens you are referring to. The Sigma 1.4 (just like the Canon) has a protruding front element. This means it can only be used with lenses that have a recessed rear element. In practice this means that they can only be used with professional quality lenses (in the case of Canon their "L" range and in the case of Sigma their "EX" range and in the casew of Tamron their "SP" range). In particular, I doubt if the Sigma 1.4 will fit any of Tamron Di-II lenses (their lenses meant for crop factor digital cameras) because generally the rear element protrudes as well. The best is to check the 1.4 against the actual lenses you want to use it with.

The golden rule when using teles is not to shoot wide open, and at least drop by 1 aperture to retain clarity.

I have gotten good results with my 70-200 F4 converter with 1.4 times on it.
It is not as clear with a 2x though.

my 400 F5.6 happily takes clear shots with a 2x convertor but it becomes really slow as you shoot at f11.

The 300 F2.8 I used lately worked superbly with either converter.

The 500F4 worked well with a 1.4 and you had to take care with a 2x, but I managed some decent shots from it when the light was good enough, and the subject still.

Thanks bucky
I have the DI series lens and it does not have a protruding portion of lens at the rear so i think it will fit , !! i hope

Hi Im looking for 1.4x and 2x converters to go with canon 70-300mm IS USM lens can anyone give me some idea of which is the best make if canons own converters are not used.

Kenko works pretty well for me.

Kenko or Sigma.

But! The quality is quite a bit less than the TC's made by Nikon and Canon, which you'll notice in your photos, especially with the 2x converter!
The Kenko's do not tell your camera that they are there, so you can use the 2x converter. (Your camera will stop with Autofocus after f/5.6....)

Test first I'd say, then decide to go for the Canon 1.4....

Many Thanks Bucky and DQ the canon site says their own converters will only work with L lenses is this correct or will they work with the above lens as I would prefer to use a canon converter if it will work.

It depends which camera you have.

If you have a EOS 1 or 3 series they will AF up to f/8, above that and you're on manual focus. All other cameras (350D, 30D, 40D and so on) AF up to f/5.6.
The 1.4 TC will cost you 1 stop, the 2x 2 stops....

Hi DQ thanks for the prompt reply, after the issues I had with my original camera my dealer agreed to allow it to be swopped out so I now have the 40D.

Your lens is f/4 - f/5.6, so at the long end, with TC will not autofocus.

I'm not sure if it'll take a Canon TC, is the back lens well inside your lens? The TC has a protruding bit that enters your lens...

The 70-300 IS USM is not compatable with the canon converters.
Only the white L lenses are compatable with the Canon converters. Something to do with a protruding lens element

Nightowl is correct. The Canon and Sigma EX teleconverters have protruding front elements which means they can only be used with lenses that have sufficiently recessed rear elements. With few exceptions (none that I am aware of) these are only Canons L range of lenses (ie professional grade lenses) or Sigma's EX lenses (also professional grade lenses) and then not all of the L or EX lenses have recessed rear elements. With lenses like the Canon 70-300 you might want to try Kenko's teleconverters but be prepared for poor performance in terms of image quality.

I have a Canon prime, the 400L 5.6, and it works very well with a non-reporting
Tamron 1.4x teleconverter, this one:

I see no reduction in sharpness, although I'm sure you can if you really try. It loses
one stop, that's the only disadvantage. Autofocus works well on the Canon 300D
(and the 350D), and I can still take photos of bird in flight, and get a good deal closer.
I also have a Tamron 2X teleconverter, I can see poorer image quality but I suspect
a lot of it is due to camera shake and exposure issues. The 2X teleconverter will
autofocus but rather badly, so I switch to manual focus. Daniella on dpreview
reports that the 2X converter works much better on the Canon 40D.
I don't use the 2X much, but the 1.4X converter is more or less on the camera all the time.
Nearly all the bird and animal photos here are taken with this combo.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22594688@N08/
Best regards Neil