Should You Use a Teleconverter? | Ask David Bergman

Today's question from Michel V. is, "Do teleconverters degrade your image? The only other way of getting longer reach would be to crop in post, but you can only crop so much before your image starts to suffer. So which method is best? This is assuming that using a longer lens or getting closer to the subject is not an option. Thank you."

Should You Use a Teleconverter?
00:00 Intro
01:22 Fill the frame
02:02 Three ways to get closer to your subject
05:23 Shoot 70-200 and crop in post
07:04 Adding a teleconverter to the 70-200mm lens
09:06 Canon 100-400 with a teleconverter
10:23 Canon 200-400 f/4 lens with built-in teleconverter
11:17 Using a 600mm f/4 lens
12:45 Adding a 2X teleconverter to a 600mm f/4 lens
14:03 Cropping vs teleconverter
18:41 Should you crop or use a teleconverter?

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✘ PRODUCTS USED:

1.4X Teleconverters

2X Teleconverters

Canon R3 Mirrorless Camera Body

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens

Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III USM Lens

Canon Control Ring Mount Adapter EF-EOS R

✘ PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT USED:

Canon R3 Mirrorless Camera Body

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens

Rode Microphones RODELink Digital Wireless System

Prograde Digital 512GB CFexpress 2-Pack

All Prograde cards and readers

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THANKS SO MUCH FOR WATCHING!

[rendermanpro]

The short answer, 2x tele converter will cut light twice. So, you will need to double ISO or make shutter speed lower. And this is more significant disadvantage than a litle bit (if any) degradation in image quality. I personally have teleconverters, for example it even hard or impossible to find 800mm or 1200mm native lens without wheels to tyransport it :) Very nice that Adorama makes and support those educational videos.

[CanonDMkII]

I use a 400 2.8 with both the 1.4x and 2x with great results. The 1.4x is so good you really have to look very close to see any difference. The 400 at 2.8 is just sublime for baseball infield work. The minor drop in image quality with extenders is totally acceptable. Using the 400 and a 70-200 gives me what I need using just two bodies.

[sergioramos]

I'm a hobbyst, once I was asked to shoot for the local soccer team... And things were going well for the team in the tournament, so when the time came to tour, I was asked again to shoot the games. My bag of lenses was stolen I had no option but improvise, went driving 2 hours and got a 500mm mirror lens from the 70's... Got the shoot done everybody happy. even the donut bokeh was a success..🤭 " shoot with what you have" though 🤷

[Twobarpsi]

Awesome info!! I am thinking of adding a 2x converter to my 70-200 2.8L. This is exactly the video I needed! Thanks Dave!

[SteveMillerhuntingforfood]

Great video showing the options for action photography.

One option not covered, is using digital crop in camera. If you're shooting with a high megapixel sensor, using that digital crop is effective. I use it for bird in flight photography with a 200-600 lens.

[quazisanjeed]

I use both EF 1.4x and EF 2x version III. They are great.

Thank you for the video.

[mjpt]

This is one of the more informative and helpful (to me) videos that help me understand the hardware side of things. Well done. Keep 'em coming David!

I'll be in New York in July staying on the Island. Hope to catch a baseball game and to watch the grandkids playing LaCrosse. I'll be putting the new gear to good use, I think. Nothing fancy like that hubble telescope that you're holding in the image above (RF100-400 and EF70-200L f2.8 on the R6). Have to pack light. Qantas, like most airlines, I think, is tightening up on its luggage allowances with hefty fees for overweight bags.

[MEK]

👍🏻☺👍🏻 As always, great video David! Very interresting! Some may want to throw rocks at me for that suggestion 😉 But, it would have been nice to see how a crop sensor would have done against a full frame with TC. Some years ago, I did try this with my EOS 5D MKIII vs my EOS 7D MKII. Both have the same Megapixels so I did compare the full frame + EF 1.4 III TC vs the cropped sensor, both on an EF 500 F4 MKII. The photos turned out to be quite similar. I mostly shoot wildlife and sports with that lens and found myself using the 7D MKII most of the time. In my opinion, the image quality was at least as good as the full frame + 1.4 x and there was no chance of slowing down the AF speed. The 7D MKII also had better frame rate. So I ended up using the 5D MKIII in low light situations or when shooting other (closer) things. Of course, that logic may no longer apply with today's R series but still...🤔... The R7 just came out...And since I always want more photo stuff😉 I wish that one will also be thrown into the mix for a part II of this video. And I also would like the see a comparison of the resulting photos against a crop done in post processing 🤓📷🔭 🦉

[DavidOxford]

Fantastic info, as always, David! The other thing to keep in mind in all scenarios (and I'm replying to this in Nov. 2023) is that with the proliferation of AI tools now available, we can be a little less worried about noise - maybe even a bit of motion blur - than in the past. This is no excuse to not aim for the best possible image quality in-camera, but having that extra tool in the toolbelt is a very good thing. Specifically, the Topaz AI tools for both photo and video are just incredible! Thanks for all your great content!

[nelsono]

excellent video, David. Lots of great info.

[Nypics]

My compromise - which served me very well with pics shot and published worldwide in major print and online publications around the world - was to use a 120-300mm F2.8 and add a 1.4x Teleconverter- essentially a 'poor man's' 200-400 F4...

[chuckm]

Amazing. Thank you! This was not )only a video about Teleconverters but also about the differences with zoom and super zoom lenses. I'm a Fuji X-H2S owner, with the 1.4 and 2.0x's the lenses I it will be just fantastic ... including the FX150-600 purchased from Adorama! (JUST purchased the Fuji 2.0x a few minutes ago because of this video). Chuck M

[mikek]

Thanks, David. I've found the Canon 2x TC on a 600 works well, but doesn't take a lot of cropping in post. I've found that cropping in more then about 25% on that combination start to get soft. But, I agree, that 600 is awesome.

[alansach]

Shoot with what you need to get the shot. You can crop and enlarge in post, but if you are shooting critical action, you probably are going to want to "see" it while shooting. More difficult to do if the image is small in the viewfinder.

[idahofallsmagazine]

First, let me just say that this is probably the best video I have ever seen on this topic, so bravo for that. One thing you didn’t touch on that is actually of huge importance is the resolving power of the lens in relation to the sensor of the camera. If the optics of the lens go beyond what the sensor can render, you effectively lose zero quality with a tele converter, at least the 1.4 X.

[frstesiste]

Really good presentation IMO. One comment about using TCs and that they aren't compatible with all lenses so might not physically fit on some of the less expensive tele zooms.

[aniljoglekar]

Very informative about teleconverter.. Thanks for sharing this wonderful VDO.

[LuisChainho]

Hi David, great video.
I have a canon R and speaking about cropping, which option will give me a better quality? Using the crop option in camera or to crop in post?
All the best

[JGZphotography]

For those who use the standard Canon DSLR cameras (with the flopping mirror), don't forget to fine-tune your camera's microfocus calibration inside the camera menu. This is to adjust front or back focusing, otherwise the image may be soft at the target focus. Those using mirrorless cameras have no need for this adjustment, in fact, not even found.

[johndanderson]

Great video. Good comparison to learn from.