R6 with EF 100-400mm II and TC EF 1.4x III for wildlife?

Marco Nero wrote:

XN_Stein wrote:

Hi,

Would like to get a R5, but don't really have the budget for it. 🤣I would like to ask if anyone had used the EOS R6 with the EF 100-400mm II and TC EF 1.4x III for wildlife before. May I know how is the result? Will this combination be long enough for most shot?

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Compared to the EOS R7 as an alternative?
I'd normally suggest an APS-C sensor for additional "zoom" with any long lens although shooting wildlife requires reliable critical focus. But I haven't been overly impressed with the new EOS R7 and for tracking birds in flight there's been some issues raised recently. I've used this very lens and Extender on the EOS M6 (APS-C) and was extremely pleased with the results, though I wasn't demanding Eye-Detect AF on that camera. But the R7, despite having a much better AF system than my EOS M6, is not in the same ball park as the EOS R6 when it comes to reliable AF performance. There's a few videos on YouTube that explain what others are seeing. Hence, I'm not going to recommend it with this combo. The EOS R7 has performance issues with both lowlight performance (probably due to the smaller APS-C sensor), noise (high ISO is often required at longer focal lengths and the resulting grain is inevitable) and it also has an issue with AF accuracy when tracking moving subjects whilst panning (causing the focus to jump back and forth between the background scenery and the subject). This is not an issue with the EOS R6. I'm only mentioning it because the performance is notably better coming from the large Full Frame sensor of the R6 which also makes good use of the sensor's real-estate with larger pixels. The higher Dynamic Range and -6.5EV on the EOS R6 is also preferable and it gives you better performance on the long end of the zoom with an extender and even a filter. The larger, 'brighter' sensor on the EOS R6 will allow you to use higher shutter speeds with lower ISO settings with less noise and better overall performance.

First of all, great write up and shots with the R6. I especially like the snake.

AF issues on the R7 are not something I have experienced. I have used an R5 quite a bit and the R7 is as good most of the time. I’ve not had the lack of consistency some are reporting nor any issues with BIF or dragons in flight etc. I saw similar videos and comments online about the 7D, 7D2, 80D, 90D etc. In fact, when the R6 appeared there were videos showing AF problems with that too. I feel it is always the way when any new camera is released. A lot of it I put down to familiarity with a new camera. Plenty just don’t seem to give new cameras enough time. Having said that, the rolling shutter on the R7 really is an issue and I wonder if what some are seeing as AF issues are in fact distortion caused by the rolling shutter.