R5/100-500 + 1.4 extender, experiences?

Johnnyxbow wrote:

MarkDavo wrote:

draacor wrote:

MarkDavo wrote:

I have a new R5 with 100-500 and wanting more reach would be interested to hear the experiences of those who use this combination.

I bought the 100-500 and 1.4 extender. Returned the extender. Never liked the way it handles and really hated that i couldn't retract the lens all the way, was stuck at 300mm. I prefer the flexibility of the full 100-500 along with the compact size.

Thanks. It is interesting to read of the different experiences and user preferences. Some aren't bothered by the very limited retraction and others don't seem to mind.

I use the same combo from time to time and find the quality excellent. Other have stated about the limited zoom range, but I only use it when I need extra reach. So for me it is a brilliant combination when needed, do not leave it on all the time.

How much of a problem that restriction is depends on the usage. If a person wants to be able to instantly zoom out wide towards 140mm and doesn't care about the open f-ratio or actually wants to stop down, then it would be nice to be able to do so, but for a person who doesn't value that level of instant response and wants the largest aperture possible, the limitation may be a friendly reminder that zooming out a zoom with a TC in use (or crop mode, for that matter), is non-optimal. You always get the largest pupil at a given angle of view, zooming out, when there are no TCs (and you use your entire sensor area).

The problem is actually worse with zooms that have the same open f-ratio through their entire range. If you have a 70-200/2.8 and you need 200mm, that's 200/2.8 without a 1.4x TC, and 200/4 with one. With a 2x TC, that would be 200/5.6. If you use a 2x and also forget that you're in crop mode, you have a 125/5.6 that is FF-equivalent to 200/9.