1.4x Teleconvertor, Canon vs Kenko

I'm considering a 1.4x teleconvertor and I was looking for opinions and comments on the Canon EF 1.4 MkIII against the Kenko 300 DGX.

Most use will be for wildlife, including BIF, and principally with the 70-200 F4L and 100-400 F4.5-F5.6L lenses on my 6D body.

What are the Pros and Cons of the two convertors please?

I'm not sure how the Kenko 1.4 is, but the 3x converter is structurally weak. Large heavy lenses cause the tc to flex and show gaps even with something as light as a 70-200 f4 is. On the other hand, the 2x Canon tc feels add if you could throw it through a window and expect it to work fine. Imo, cost aside, there's no reason to buy a third party tc unless you plan to stick it on an unsupported lens.

I think the lens you are putting it on matters a lot. for my old 300f4L I can't imagine the canon could be any better. and opinions posted in here before canon updated theirs a couple of times were pretty much in agreement with that. I think what that the newer canon tc's work better than kenko on the newer and more upscale lenses. that would be from reading posts on the subject not my experience.

If you are going to get a series II canon lens , the III will work better . BUT it will only fit on some lenses .

The kenko will fit on more and unless you print really big or crop at 50 % or more and or hand hold the kenko is probably OK .

I went with the 2 X III - but I planned on some new lenses [ canon has not updated / up graded the ones I want ]

The 2X III I have SEEMS better than the 1.4 , 2X and 3X extenders I have [ older models ] Depending on why you want the extender - you can add tubes to make the III fit .

Steve Balcombe wrote:

MisterBG wrote:

I'm considering a 1.4x teleconvertor and I was looking for opinions and comments on the Canon EF 1.4 MkIII against the Kenko 300 DGX.

Most use will be for wildlife, including BIF, and principally with the 70-200 F4L and 100-400 F4.5-F5.6L lenses on my 6D body.

What are the Pros and Cons of the two convertors please?

I have both. The Canon is the right choice for the MkII big whites - it's more solidly constructed which matters when you are handling all that weight, and it's the right diameter (the Kenko is smaller). Plus it includes electronic cleverness which (apparently) cooperates with those lenses for better AF performance. I honestly don't know how much difference that actually makes, but I know that both the MkIIIs perform superbly with my 300/2.8L II.

The Kenko on the other hand comes into its own when you want to put a TC on a lens which wasn't necessarily designed for it. It fits any lens with an EF mount (but NB not EF-S) so it's incredibly versatile. I've used mine on, for example, the 70-300L and the Sigma 150 macro.

But your lenses fall between those two situations, and you could make a case for either teleconverter. Do you have any other uses, or future upgrades, in mind?

Remember that with the 100-400L you will have an f/8 lens and AF performance will be reduced with a TC. Not necessarily a recommended combination for BIF! It might be wiser to use the bare lens and just crop those beautiful clean 6D images.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I recently changed from a crop to the FF 6D, and I was considering something that would make up the difference due to the "crop factor."
Maybe I should give things a try re cropping the 6D images, before I make a decision.

I don't plan on changing any of the lenses in the near future, so whatever I do will be with the lenses I mentioned previously.
And Yes, I'm concerned about the long end of the 100-400 being down to f8 with a convertor, although I'm mostly going to be using it in good lighting, and there is always the excellent high ISO of the 6D to fall back on if necessary.

I think I need to try the existing combinations before I make my decision.

Ive got the Kenko 1.4 and for the amount of time I use it I find it gets the job done, picked mine up used for $77, a bargain I think.

This one with a 550d - 1.4x - 70-200 f4 IS. Cropped as well.
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/7856776075/photos/2411961/img_012443pp

These are some shots using the Kenko 1.4x DGX 300 on a Canon 500mmf/4 (version 1). Generally I have been satisfied with the results. I have tried it on my Canon 200mm f/2.8 II but they don't seem to work well together. The Canon 2x III does work reasonably well on the 200mm.

Nice shots - most of us can not afford a 500 .

I am on a back order for the 150-600 and have saved 800 towards it .

MisterBG wrote:

I'm considering a 1.4x teleconvertor and I was looking for opinions and comments on the Canon EF 1.4 MkIII against the Kenko 300 DGX.

Most use will be for wildlife, including BIF, and principally with the 70-200 F4L and 100-400 F4.5-F5.6L lenses on my 6D body.

What are the Pros and Cons of the two convertors please?

Hi

The Kenko 1.4x MC4 DGX is better in terms of IQ. My decision her would always be, sealed or non sealed.

While the Kenko is not sealed, the Canon is.

Cheers

Martin

MisterBG wrote:

I'm considering a 1.4x teleconvertor and I was looking for opinions and comments on the Canon EF 1.4 MkIII against the Kenko 300 DGX.

Most use will be for wildlife, including BIF, and principally with the 70-200 F4L and 100-400 F4.5-F5.6L lenses on my 6D body.

What are the Pros and Cons of the two convertors please?

Not sure if this was mentioned previously, but the 6D + 100-400 will not autofocus with the Canon TC.  And AF will be slowed with the other lens.

R2

A bit off-topic, but reportedly the Canon EOS M will continue to focus where several Canon dSLRs will not. For static and semi-static subjects this could be a way to go.

MisterBG wrote:

I'm considering a 1.4x teleconvertor and I was looking for opinions and comments on the Canon EF 1.4 MkIII against the Kenko 300 DGX.

Most use will be for wildlife, including BIF, and principally with the 70-200 F4L and 100-400 F4.5-F5.6L lenses on my 6D body.

What are the Pros and Cons of the two convertors please?

Whenever I see posts about the Kenko TCs I get concerned because it seems there are two versions with different specs and folks get them confused.

The Kenko C-AF 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300 will allow AF to work on a 6D at F/8, which is what you get if you use it with that 100-400 f.4.5-f5.6L. It also reports the proper f-stop in the metadata. I don't believe the non-Pro version will do this. There is no need to tape any pins with this particular TC.

As with most TCs, it does slow down AF, which is why I mainly avoid using it for BIF. But for perched birds, it works fine and can produce sharp images. I can't compare with a Canon TC as I don't own one.

The Kenko Pro 300 will not AF on a 70D body at f/8 (f/5.6 without TC). It works fine on the 6D, however. Also, it works fine with the 70-200 F/4 L you mention on both the 6D and 70D.

Abu Mahendra wrote:

A bit off-topic, but reportedly the Canon EOS M will continue to focus where several Canon dSLRs will not. For static and semi-static subjects this could be a way to go.

You can use Live View with the 6D to focus too, but the OP was talking about BIFs.

R2

RogerZoul wrote:

Whenever I see posts about the Kenko TCs I get concerned because it seems there are two versions with different specs and folks get them confused.

The Kenko C-AF 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300 will allow AF to work on a 6D at F/8, which is what you get if you use it with that 100-400 f.4.5-f5.6L. It also reports the proper f-stop in the metadata. I don't believe the non-Pro version will do this. There is no need to tape any pins with this particular TC.

Actually a lot more complicated... there are many versions

There are two lines, the Pro300 and the MC4 - with the Pro being the superior of the two.

In these lines are are subsets such as DG, DGX, DGX-E.

DG is the earliest type, they don't have the electrical connectors so it's a non-reporting TC.

DGX is a reporting TC, they added the electronics needed for it - tape pins apply

DGX-E - no bloody clue what changes, but it's a reporting TC. Saw something about compatibility with some newer lenses or something.

Currently in production is only the Pro300 DGX-E and the MC4 DGX-E. So they're all reporting TCs. Unless you're Nikon, which hasn't/doesn't/whatever reason is still only on the DGX version.

In NA, the most common type is DGX, so you run a search on your favored vendor and you're likely to pull up MC4 DGX or Pro300 DGX - which means reporting and you will need to tape pins. Why the Japanese DGX-E hasn't made it here, no clue.

In order to not tape pins you'll need to find the much older DG series.

ZiggyDeath wrote:

RogerZoul wrote:

Whenever I see posts about the Kenko TCs I get concerned because it seems there are two versions with different specs and folks get them confused.

The Kenko C-AF 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300 will allow AF to work on a 6D at F/8, which is what you get if you use it with that 100-400 f.4.5-f5.6L. It also reports the proper f-stop in the metadata. I don't believe the non-Pro version will do this. There is no need to tape any pins with this particular TC.

Actually a lot more complicated... there are many versions

There are two lines, the Pro300 and the MC4 - with the Pro being the superior of the two.

In these lines are are subsets such as DG, DGX, DGX-E.

DG is the earliest type, they don't have the electrical connectors so it's a non-reporting TC.

DGX is a reporting TC, they added the electronics needed for it - tape pins apply

DGX-E - no bloody clue what changes, but it's a reporting TC. Saw something about compatibility with some newer lenses or something.

Currently in production is only the Pro300 DGX-E and the MC4 DGX-E. So they're all reporting TCs. Unless you're Nikon, which hasn't/doesn't/whatever reason is still only on the DGX version.

In NA, the most common type is DGX, so you run a search on your favored vendor and you're likely to pull up MC4 DGX or Pro300 DGX - which means reporting and you will need to tape pins. Why the Japanese DGX-E hasn't made it here, no clue.

In order to not tape pins you'll need to find the much older DG series.

Why do you need to tape pins with the DGX?

RogerZoul wrote:

ZiggyDeath wrote:

RogerZoul wrote:

Whenever I see posts about the Kenko TCs I get concerned because it seems there are two versions with different specs and folks get them confused.

The Kenko C-AF 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300 will allow AF to work on a 6D at F/8, which is what you get if you use it with that 100-400 f.4.5-f5.6L. It also reports the proper f-stop in the metadata. I don't believe the non-Pro version will do this. There is no need to tape any pins with this particular TC.

Actually a lot more complicated... there are many versions

There are two lines, the Pro300 and the MC4 - with the Pro being the superior of the two.

In these lines are are subsets such as DG, DGX, DGX-E.

DG is the earliest type, they don't have the electrical connectors so it's a non-reporting TC.

DGX is a reporting TC, they added the electronics needed for it - tape pins apply

DGX-E - no bloody clue what changes, but it's a reporting TC. Saw something about compatibility with some newer lenses or something.

Currently in production is only the Pro300 DGX-E and the MC4 DGX-E. So they're all reporting TCs. Unless you're Nikon, which hasn't/doesn't/whatever reason is still only on the DGX version.

In NA, the most common type is DGX, so you run a search on your favored vendor and you're likely to pull up MC4 DGX or Pro300 DGX - which means reporting and you will need to tape pins. Why the Japanese DGX-E hasn't made it here, no clue.

In order to not tape pins you'll need to find the much older DG series.

Why do you need to tape pins with the DGX?

I did not need to with my T3i and 400 ƒ5.6L so dont know why it was mentioned. It might not work with every body, but many have been successful with the Kenko DGX  auto focusing. Also I am using the center AF point on my body and it works pretty well and decently fast to focus.

Loren Charif wrote:

ZiggyDeath wrote:

RogerZoul wrote:

Whenever I see posts about the Kenko TCs I get concerned because it seems there are two versions with different specs and folks get them confused.

The Kenko C-AF 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300 will allow AF to work on a 6D at F/8, which is what you get if you use it with that 100-400 f.4.5-f5.6L. It also reports the proper f-stop in the metadata. I don't believe the non-Pro version will do this. There is no need to tape any pins with this particular TC.

Actually a lot more complicated... there are many versions

DGX is a reporting TC, they added the electronics needed for it - tape pins apply

DGX-E - no bloody clue what changes, but it's a reporting TC. Saw something about compatibility with some newer lenses or something.

Currently in production is only the Pro300 DGX-E and the MC4 DGX-E. So they're all reporting TCs. Unless you're Nikon, which hasn't/doesn't/whatever reason is still only on the DGX version.

In NA, the most common type is DGX, so you run a search on your favored vendor and you're likely to pull up MC4 DGX or Pro300 DGX - which means reporting and you will need to tape pins. Why the Japanese DGX-E hasn't made it here, no clue.

In order to not tape pins you'll need to find the much older DG series.

My experience with 2 DGX's has never included taping pins; they work well (depending on the lens), but primarily with the outer focus points, not so well with center points.

That said, it should be added that there are at least 3 versions of the DGX; the original apparently didn't work (or work well) with some camera/lens combos, so they corrected it and added a green dot to both the box and the TC to signify the update. Then, units showed up with blue dots (actually, not sure if the green or blue was first...it was a couple of years ago). I'm not sure what the change in color signified; I have one of each and can't really tell the difference, other than one is a bit sharper than the other.

Loren

Wow....no wonder this is so confusing. What a mess. Mine has a blue dot. I noticed that it does not work with BIGRON (Tamron 150-600mm) on the 6D. Disappointed there, but the TC was on the market long before this new lens, so don't see a blame here. Not that I intend to use a TC with this 600mm zoom, though.