2x extenders... worth the cash?

**_Belial** · 5th October 2006

Hi all,

I was just browsing the camera gear thread above, in the market for a new lens atm, but i also notice quite a few people have the 2x extenders. How do you find these? Does introducing more glass into the equation degrade image quality a lot? Obviously i'm not expecting it to be a replacement for a decent new lens, but I am interested in knowing what kind of performance people are getting with the extenders.

Thanks in advance

**slartibartfast** · 5th October 2006

It depends on both the quality of the extender and the lens you attach it to really.

I've no problems with the slight impact on image quality I get from mine, compared to the extra reach or magnification it gives me. Don't forget though that if the lens you attach it to is any slower than f2.8 then you'll lose auto focus. If you're connecting it to something like an f5.6 then the viewfinder image will also be quite dim, which can make accurate manual focus a little difficult.

If you look at this thread you can see the effect it had on the image quality of the first shot when I added a 2x extender for the last shot.

Another couple of examples are the first 2 shots in this thread, taken with it attached to my 70-200.

**_Belial** · 5th October 2006

Your advice is gratefully appreciated as always Slarti. I can see there's some extra noise introduced in the photos you posted, but i may invest in a decent extender along with an EF IS lens to try and keep noise to a minimum.

Love the shots on the macro thread btw

**slartibartfast** · 6th October 2006

Here's an interesting article comparing the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS + 2x extender with the Canon 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS.

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

**_Belial** · 6th October 2006

That's brill Slarti, exactly the kind of thing i needed to read, with direct comparison shots side by side, brilliant, thanks.

**slartibartfast** · 6th October 2006

If it's purely a long lens you're after then you might want to consider the Canon 400mm f5.6L.

Here's an article comparing it to the 100-400mm.

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