Canon EOS-M Review

March 13, 2013 by Paul | Comments Off
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Panasonic set the stage almost five years ago by introducing us to the Micro Four-Thirds camera system. I like to refer to it as a Gen 3 camera for its unique feature (or lack-thereof) of not using a mirror in its operation--pretty significant when you think about how long we've had mirrors in our SLR's and now digital-SLR's.

Since that time, we've seen other manufacturers begin to dabble in this technology while being careful not to fully embrace it until it had proven itself. In the age of "smaller is better," combined with the fact that even the most basic of smart phones now take photos that rival the earliest digital-SLR's, the Micro Four-Thirds is getting more attention and being taken more serious.

So now we have the Canon EOS-M camera system. It's been on the market for nearly 8 months now and we've been able to put it through its paces and determine its worthiness as an EOS camera. While consumer opinion has been mixed, you have to admit, it's one pretty cool little camera and with the ability to use EF lens with an adapter, the possibilities are endless. With a retail price of just under $700, it's not exactly cheap but for the right person, it's a dream camera.

Packing a powerful 18 megapixel APS-C "hybrid" sensor and 14-bit DIGIC5 processor, the camera is certainly capable of producing crisp, clean images and is perfectly suited for novice users who are looking for better quality and more options than their current point-and-shoots offer. The EOS-M is essentially a mirrorless version of the EOS 650D but with a much simpler interface and more compact size.

   

The new EF-M lens mount currently supports two lenses natively--the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM zoom, and the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM prime and with the EF-EOS-M lens mount adapter, all of Canon's EF lenses can be used.

While there is no mechanical viewfinder on the camera, the fixed (non-articulated) 3" touchscreen LCD on the rear of the camera combines framing, focusing, and various exposure options, all in one place. Staying true to Canon quality, the camera features a magnesium-alloy body and although it lacks a built in flash, a hot shoe on the top plate allows it to be fitted with a Speedlite 90EX. The camera is available in black, white, red, and silver.

iPhone 5 Unveiled

September 12, 2012 by Paul | Comments Off

Apple CEO, Tim Cook, started his much anticipated speech discussing Apple's success with its retail stores worldwide, including a store in Barcelona, Spain made entirely out of quarried limestone. But no one in the crowd was interested in hearing about this, what everyone was interested in was the new products, specifically the new iPhone 5 which was confirmed earlier today due to a leak on Apple's website showing an inactive link for "iPhone 5 Tips."

iPhone 5 updates

Pricing & availability:

16GB - $199, 32GB - $299, 64GB - $399 (contract price). Pre-orders will begin on Friday with the first phones shipping on Sept. 21st.

The aesthetics:

The new iPhone 5 is made entirely of glass and aluminum with a two-tone back. Phil Schiller of Apple confirms it's the "thinnest phone we've ever made." 18% thinner than iPhone 4S at 7.6 mm, and 20% lighter at 112 grams. The new iPhone boasts a four inch display at 326 ppi with a total resolution of 1136 x 640 and a 16:9 aspect ratio. The new screen will have 44% more color saturation and will be a thinner LCD design. The phone will come in white or black, just as it does now. The white phone will feature bare aluminum trim and the black phone will have a new black anodized aluminum look.

Network (Antenna):

iPhone 5 is confirmed to be using LTE with a unique "dynamic-antenna," apparently giving Apple an advantage over other LTE phones. The real question here is how long will it take Samsung and HTC to file a suit and seek an injunction on the sale of the iPhone 5 due to patent issues with LTE technology? LTE, which stands for "Long Term Evolution" is a technology that Samsung and HTC dominate and control through their hundreds of LTE patents.

Processor, Graphics, Camera:

The iPhone 5 will use an A6 chip, twice as fast as the current A5 chip used in the iPhone 4S. Apple claims 2x performance across the board with twice the graphics speed as the iPhone 4S. We also see a new 8MP rear camera, backside illuminated, with a hybrid IR filter and an f/2.4 aperture. The camera will have dynamic low light capabilities, lens alignment functions, and a sapphire lens crystal cover which nearly eliminates scratches from the lens. Because of the new A6 chip's speed, the camera will be able to capture images 40% faster than the iPhone 4S.

Talk Time:

8-hours of LTE browsing and 10-hours of video playback.

Connector:

New 30-pin dock connector to replace the old 43-pin connector used on Apple products for the past decade. They're calling the new dock connector Lightning. It's an all digital, reversible connector with an adaptive interface and is 80% smaller and supposedly more durable than the old style connector. Of course, Apple is creating an adapter so you can still use your old iPhone docks and devices. Note sure of the price yet.

iOS 6:

iOS 6, the new iPhone operating system will be released on Sept. 19th. There are some cool new features worth mentioning including a new design for iTunes on iOS6. It's now white, shows app rankings right on the download screen, and clicking on an album now opens a list of songs from that album. Mac and PC versions of iTunes are also getting an update which we're guessing will have a similar look and feel.

 

 

iPod updates

Pricing & availability:

The new iPods are coming in October. The 2GB shuffle is $49, the iPod Nano 16GB is $149, 16GB iPod Touch is $199, 32GB iPod Touch is $249, and the 64GB iPod Touch is $399.

iPod Nano:

350 million iPods have been sold and Apple says they've wanted to reinvent the iPod Nano for a while now so it's getting an update. The new iPod Nano will now come with a larger 16:9 ratio screen which looks really nice. Instead of the normal app icons we see on all Apple products, the Nano appears to feature round app icons. There will be a home button with the physical buttons on the side, multi-touch capability, Bluetooth, DVR functionality, Pedometer, and an FM tuner. The new iPod Nano will come in seven different colors.

iPod Touch:

The iPod Touch is getting a nice facelift, similar to the iPhone. It will feature a 4-inch, 16:9 Retina Display screen just like the iPhone 5, and an A5 dual-core processor. It's lighter and thinner than all previous iPod Touches, weighing in at only 88 grams and only 6.1mm thick. Apple is definitely focusing on gaming with the iPod Touch and with the new screen and faster processor, it should be able to handle just about everything with ease. iPod Touch also comes with a 5MP camera which appears to be similar to the iPhone 5's new camera, AirPlay Mirroring, and Siri. You can get it in five colors now, too! (black, red, blue, green, and aluminum.

Apple leaks iPhone 5 links on their website

September 12, 2012 by Paul | Leave a comment

Apple, Inc., the computer giant, appears to have accidentally leaked the name of their iPhone, the iPhone 5, confirming months of rumors over the much anticipated phone. Upon reviewing the search results on Apple's website, the following inactive link appeared:

Apple did not immediately respond for comment, but is rumored to be poised to announce its new iPhone sometime today. The Apple Store is currently offline for maintenance, a common occurrence on days when a major new product is to be added.

Kodak files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

April 12, 2012 by Paul | Leave a comment

Something many of us in the photography industry saw coming for a while now has finally happened: Eastman Kodak Company is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection in the coming weeks.

Kodak is hoping to sell off some of its 1,100 patents in a court-supervised auction and if it succeeds, it could avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But as we've seen in the past with other companies, many times this just buys a little time. When asked about the matter, a Kodak spokesperson apparently said Kodak "does not comment on market rumor or speculation." Well isn't that nice? Not only did the company sell out and turn its back on traditional film photographers, now it won't even acknowledge its own demise.

Kodak's problems started in the 1980's when it started losing market share in film due to foreign competitors. Instead of focusing all of its attention on what it did best, it began dabbling in other markets until 2003 when the company announced it would stop making investments in film. At that point, they sold out. They turned their back on us, abandoned film, and went off into La-La Land. Kodak went from dominating the film industry to selling bathroom cleaners, medical supplies, and consumer printers, losing money every year but one since CEO Antonio Perez took over in 2005. Robert Shanebrook, a former Kodak employee said he "didn't want to stick around for the demise" when he learned Kodak would stop making investments in film.

Because the company has been so poorly run and has failed miserably at being able to adapt to rapidly changing technology in the photography industry, a takeover by another company is very unlikely. So now we'll sit back and watch as this tragedy unfolds. A sad end to the legacy of a company once regarded as the Apple or Google of its day.

Tips to buying a used camera lens

April 7, 2012 by Paul | Leave a comment

I get asked this question quite a bit so I thought I'd do a quick post with my tips. As most of my camera/lens specific articles are, this is focused on Canon brand lenses although my safety tips apply to any lens purchase. First off, buying a used lens is always a gamble, especially when you're spending $7,000 or more on a super telephoto. It may look clean and unused, but is there anything wrong with it? Is the focus off? Does the Image Stabilization work properly? The easiest way to get through this nerve-wracking experience is to buy from a trusted seller.

Who are you buying from?

If buying from someone on eBay, check their feedback. Do they sell lenses frequently? What are past customers saying about their experiences? Is there a warranty being offered? Is the lens genuine USA stock? (This is more important when buying a lens still under a Canon warranty as Canon will NOT honor international warranties for lenses that originated outside of the U.S.)

If buying on Craigslist where you have the opportunity to meet the seller in person (NEVER wire money or send a money order to anyone on Craigslist), bring a camera body with you and take some test shots. Test all of the buttons on the lens. Do they all work? If you're meeting someone in person where you might be carrying a large amount of cash to purchase the lens, meet in a safe area. I recommend people meet at their local bank where they are a customer, simply because of the security cameras and the occasional security guard present. Don't just walk into a random bank though, make sure you're a regular customer and will be recognized as one.

What to look for

  • Check the glass for any scratches or blemishes that won't wipe away with a clean microfiber lens cloth. Tiny surface scratches on the front element are less of a concern than scratches or blemishes on the rear, subjective element. If you find any scratches or blemishes on the rear subjective element, walk away! One or two faint surface scratches on the front element, especially on a super telephoto will usually not be noticeable in your images. Any scratch or blemish on the rear element, will be noticeable in your images.
  • Switch the lens to manual focus and twist the focusing ring back and forth, listening for any grinding noises or a feel of grittiness. If the ring does not move freely, your lens may have difficulty focusing correctly and this lens should be avoided.
  • Take a flashlight and look into down the barrel of the lens from the front and rear. Is there any dust inside? If there is substantial amounts of dust, walk away. If there is a small piece here and there, you should be able to get it cleaned out pretty easily by sending it in for a cleaning. It's normal for an older lens that's a few year old to have a small amount of tiny dust particles in the lens and these can be cleaned out by sending the lens to Canon for a clean and check. If you're a Canon Professional Services member, you can get several of these clean and checks free each year.
  • Look for haze, mold, fungus, or other substances on the glass and inside the lens. Look for oil on the aperture blades. If you see any of these things, walk away. While fungus can usually be cleaned by Canon if it's only a small amount, oil on the aperture blades oftentimes requires replacing the aperture blades; a very costly procedure.
  • Check the contacts of the lens and the surface around the contacts for excessive wear. If you see a bunch of scratches on the area around the contacts, the lens may have been handled rough. If there are little to no scratches, the lens was likely handled much more carefully, or, used infrequently.

Date Codes

Check how old the lens is. This can be done by looking at the date code that is usually located near the rear lens element. Note, this date code does not appear on every Canon lens and there have been rumors of Canon removing the date code altogether though this has not been confirmed. Some Canon camera bodies will also have this date code, but again, not all of them.

The first letter, let's just say it's a "U", as this is the more common letter, indicates that the lens was made in Canon's Utsunomiya, Japan factory. Prior to 1986, this letter is moved to the last position of the date code.

U = Utsunomiya, Japan
F = Fukushima, Japan
O = Oita, Japan

The second letter, "X", in this example, is a year code that indicates the year of manufacture. Canon increments this letter each year starting with A in 1986 and prior to that, A in 1960 without the leading factory code. Here is a table to make things simple:

A = 2012, 1986, 1960
B = 2013, 1987, 1961
C = 2014, 1988, 1962
D = 2015, 1989, 1963
E = 1990, 1964
F = 1991, 1965
G = 1992, 1966
H = 1993, 1967
I = 1994, 1968
J = 1995, 1969
K = 1996, 1970
L = 1997, 1971
M = 1998, 1972
N = 1999, 1973
O = 2000, 1974
P = 2001, 1975
Q = 2002, 1976
R = 2003, 1977
S = 2004, 1978
T = 2005, 1979
U = 2006, 1980
V = 2007, 1981
W = 2008, 1982
X = 2009, 1983
Y = 2010, 1984
Z = 2011, 1985

* assumption of continuation being made for future years.

The first two numbers, "09", is the month number the lens was manufactured in. Month 02 is February, month 11 = November. The leading zero of the month code is sometimes omitted.

The next two numbers, "02", are meaningless in determining how old a Canon lens is. This is a Canon internal code (that is occasionally omitted).

3rd Generation cameras and the future of DSLR's

March 30, 2012 by Paul | Leave a comment

A lot of talk has been going on lately about the future of digital SLR cameras and as a professional photography instructor/blogger, I suppose every now and then I'm expected to write about the looming death of some photo technology. Well, today is not that day, but this topic does provide us with the opportunity to discuss exciting advances with digital photography and provide some insight as to the direction we're heading.

The buzz phrase in the digital camera industry right now is "3rd Gen cameras," also known as "four-thirds" or "micro four-thirds" cameras, "EVIL cameras", and a short list of other such names. With advances in technology, some camera manufacturers are starting to push out cameras that produce high quality images utilizing a smaller sensor and no mirror such as the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro-Four-Thirds digital camera, seen here. So what does this mean for the future of digital photography? Are these new "3rd gen" cameras ready to take over? Not by a long shot, but let's take a look at how I've come to that conclusion:

There's no denying that at some point in time, all digital cameras will lose the antiquated mirror, a technology that has been in use for for over 60 years since the advent of the Zeiss Ikon VEB Contax S back in 1949. The mirror in DSLR's is a mechanical component of the camera that must flap open and closed with each frame, creating a mechanical bottleneck that directly affects the maximum frames-per-second the camera is capable of. But losing the mirror won't happen overnight, in fact, it will likely be a gradual transition over the next decade.

The camera industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with photographers using billions of dollars worth of digital SLR gear, some of which is very expensive, especially when it comes to lenses. With high quality lenses ranging in price from $500 for a simple prime lens, to more than $14,000 for a top-of-the-line 800mm super telephoto, it's practically impossible from a financial standpoint for photographers to just switch overnight.

Let's take a look at some current issues I see with 3rd Gen cameras that will undoubtedly be resolved over time:

3RD GEN TECHNOLOGY IS STILL IN ITS INFANCY

So should you sell your DSLR and lenses and pick up a new 3rd Gen camera? No, and the reason is simple: These new 3rd Gen cameras are just that, new, and that means the technology is just starting to come to market, accessories are sparse, and there is a lack of lenses for these cameras compared with what is available for DSLR's. The 3rd Gen cameras of today will not be of the same caliber as the ones available in 5 or 10 years. The same was true when digital SLR's hit the market a couple decades ago. It takes a few years to get the ball rolling, test the waters, and see what works and what doesn't.

LENS COMPATIBILITY

It is unlikely 3rd Gen cameras will be compatible with the lenses of today because of the way today's lenses operate. Of course firmware may be developed to allow the camera to capture the old lens' image, flip it like the pentaprism does now, and display it correctly, but most likely, new lens technology will be used to compliment the new cameras. The new 3rd Gen lenses will be smaller, lighter, faster, and quieter than today's lenses which will be a welcomed change for those of us stuck lugging around 15 lbs. worth of lenses through the woods or on a safari.

SMALL SENSOR SIZE = POOR IMAGE QUALITY

Another current drawback that will improve over the next decade is image quality due to sensor size. Right now, the sensor size of choice for most pros is "full-frame," which means the sensor is the same size as a 35mm negative. Both Canon and Nikon's flagship cameras feature a full-frame sensor along with a slightly smaller APS-C sensor used in their sports/wildlife tailored cameras. The 3rd Gen cameras use an even smaller sensor, about 75% smaller than the full-frame sensors. The use of these tiny sensors allows the cameras to be made smaller and more compact, and allows them to be fast by devoting processing power to onboard systems like the digital viewfinder, auto image processing, autofocus, etc. What you end up with is poor image quality at high ISO or in low light conditions--a deal breaker for any professional photographer or advanced amateur.

DSLR's ARE HERE TO STAY... FOR NOW

So for now, digital SLR's are still the way to go if you're looking to achieve pro results from your gear. I anticipate these cameras will continue to be sold for at least another decade or longer and as better and better 3rd Gen cameras start hitting the shelves, they will slowly begin to phase out. The bottom line is, digital SLR technology is HOT right now and each new product launch yields even more impressive specifications. We're just starting to hit the plateau with digital SLR's so you can still feel confident in purchasing a nice DSLR and some lenses without having to worry about obsoleteness for a while.

UPDATE, JANUARY 22, 2013:

Today, Olympus announced five more companies would be joining the Micro Four Thirds family. These companies are as far as we know, unaffiliated with the consumer camera industry and a few of them are very new companies. JK Imaging, Ltd., the company which purchased the Kodak brand, just formed last year in 2012. Below is a full list of the companies with brief biographies provided by Olympus:

Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd.:

An Australian company established in 1984 that manufactures high quality electronic equipment for broadcast and video production.
Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd. Website : http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/

JK Imaging Ltd.:

An American company established in 2012, and the recently announced brand licensee for "KODAK" branded cameras, pico projectors and other digital imaging products.
JK Imaging Ltd. Website : http://www.kodakcamera.jkiltd.com

PHOTRON LIMITED.:

A Japanese company established in 1968 that provides manufacturing, sales and service of professional film and video equipment and photo- instrumentation.
PHOTRON LIMITED. Website : http://www.photron.com/

SVS-VISTEK GmbH:

A German company established in 2001 that develops, manufactures and distributes professional machine vision components and systems.
SVS-VISTEK GmbH Website : http://www.svs-vistek.com/

ViewPLUS Inc.:

A Japanese company established in 1998 that provides video equipment and the solutions which link communication and image processing as well as sensing technology.
ViewPLUS Inc. Website : http://www.viewplus.co.jp/english.html

Photoshop CS6 Beta Now Available

March 22, 2012 by Paul | Leave a comment

SAN JOSE, Calif., Mar 22, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Adobe Systems, Inc. officially announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 Beta and is offering it as a free download in both English and Japanese on the Adobe Labs website. At installation, users will be required to provide an Adobe ID to complete a one-time login and online product activation. Customers can submit feedback via the Photoshop CS6 beta forum. Users can also connect with the Photoshop team via the community-powered site; on Facebook; YouTube; Photoshop.com blog; or via Twitter. Here are some of the major changes to expect in Photoshop CS6:

  • Content-Aware Patch — Patch images with greater control using the newest member of the Content-Aware family of technologies. Choose the sample area you want to use to create your patch, and then watch Content-Aware Patch magically blend pixels for a stunning result.
  • Blazingly fast performance and a modern UI — Experience unprecedented performance with the Mercury Graphics Engine, which gives you near-instant results when you edit with key tools such as Liquify, Puppet Warp, and Crop.* Plus, a refined, fresh, and elegant Photoshop interface features dark background options that make your images pop.
  • New and re-engineered design tools — Create superior designs fast. Get consistent formatting with type styles, create and apply custom strokes and dashed lines to shapes, quickly search layers, and much more.

You will also discover hundreds of new ways to work faster and with greater creative freedom and precision. Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended will be part of the Adobe Creative Suite®, and Photoshop CS6 Extended will be part of Adobe Creative Cloud membership. Both Photoshop editions will also be available separately and both will be available for Windows and Macintosh. The company expects a final release date sometime in the first half of 2012.

REVIEW: Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II

March 11, 2012 by Paul | Leave a comment

The Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L lens has been the trusty sidekick for professional photographers and advanced amateurs alike. Because this lens is probably the most common lens you'll find in any serious photographer's camera bag, it's no surprise that many people have been very apprehensive about Canon "messing with" this lens. Well, they've done it, but I think you'll agree after reading this review, it's for the better.

Let's take a look at the new specifications:

Focal Length & Maximum Aperture 24-70mm, 1:2.8
Lens Construction 18 elements in 13 groups
Diagonal Angle of View 84° - 34°
Focus Adjustment Inner-focusing with USM
Closest Focusing Distance 0.38m/1.25 ft.
Zoom System Rotating Type
Filter Size 82mm
Max. Diameter x Length, Weight 3.5 x 4.4 in., 28.4 oz. / 88.5 x 113mm, 805g

 

The notable changes include the addition of 2 elements giving the lens 18 elements in 13 groups, as opposed to the 16 elements in 13 groups of the previous 24-70. Canon also added a zoom lock lever to the lens and as they've been doing with other new lenses, increased the number of aperture blades from 8 to 9, while also increasing the filter size from 77mm to 82mm. The filter size change will certainly irritate some folks but this is the route Canon is beginning to take. If you have used the Canon 16-35 f/2.8L lens, you know that lens also has the 82mm filter size. Having to buy new C-POLS and ND filters for your lenses is often an expensive and irritating process, but at least now you'll be able to use them on more than just the 16-35 lens.

Focusing distances remain the same at 0.38 m/1.25 ft. and the zoom system remains a rotating type. Weight has been reduced from 950 grams to 805 grams, even after adding two new glass elements. The reason for this, of course is the new glass element technologies combined with smaller, more efficient electronics. The new 24-70 also loses 1/2" of length, taking it down to 4.4", but gains about 1/4" of diameter due to the increased filter size.

Now of course, none of this means anything if the lens can't hold it's own against its predecessor, and so for that, let's take a look at the MTF charts:

 

Now, let's compare these with the MTF charts of its predecessor, the 24-70 f/2.8L:

 

Consistent Image Quality Throughout Zoom Range

Notice the thick black line on the MTF charts for the new 24-70 lens. This line represents image quality wide open at f/2.8, and shows the falloff as you move away from the center of the lens. The thick blue line represents image quality with the lens stopped down to f/8. The closer the lines are to each other, the better. From these charts, we can see that the image quality is consistent from center to edge with literally no falloff of quality in the 70mm range, and only 11% falloff in the 24mm range. On the older 24-70, we see some falloff at the edges of the lens in the 70mm range, and a very big falloff at the edges at 24mm, about 80% to be exact. These numbers are very telling and really demonstrate the improvements Canon has made to this lens.

Bokeh

Obviously, we can see there is an improvement with bokeh as well. First, notice how the two thin, dashed lines are so close together on the newer version 24-70. The closer these lines are to each other, and the more consistent their position is to each other, the better the bokeh. The thin, dashed black line represents the lens at wide-open f/2.8, while the thin, dashed blue line represents the lens stepped down to f/8. This lens will be consistent in terms of bokeh from the center to edge. The older 24-70 had a more substantial falloff as it approached the edges with as much as an 85% falloff in the edges at 70mm. Not the case with the updated lens.

Buy, or Wait?

WAIT. The original 24-70 f/2.8L is such a good lens, has been my "walk-around lens" for years, and like many other photographers, it's difficult to accept that there could ever be a worthwhile upgrade for such a great lens. But, after looking at the performance tests of the new 24-70 lens, it's easy to see how this really is a worthwhile upgrade, especially with the lens being so popular amongst serious photographers. However, with an MSRP of $2,299, nearly $1,000 more than what its predecessor sold for, and the same price you'd pay for the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II, the lens is overpriced by $500 to $700. That said, I do NOT recommend an upgrade at this time. Keep your original 24-70's until the pricing becomes more reasonable.

REVIEW: Canon 1.4x Series III Extenders (Teleconverters)

March 8, 2012 by Paul | Leave a comment

The new Series III extenders (teleconverters) from Canon are pretty amazing for when you need that extra reach, but don't want to reach too far into your pocket to pay for it. But how do the really stack up (no pun intended) against each other, and is there really a noticeable loss in image quality like so many doomsday critics say? We used a Canon 7D camera with a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens for this test and these were our observations:

Construction & Durability Improvements

The extender is solidly built and there was no movement or play when affixed between the camera and lens. These new Series III extenders have 7 screws holding the mount plate together where it attaches to the camera body; an upgrade from the 4 screws used on the previous generation of extenders. For some reason, Canon only added the extra screws to the side that mounts to the camera body, not the side that mounts to the lens. We're not sure why but it does seem like reinforcing both sides of the extender would have been nice. The extenders are weather sealed so it shouldn't be a weak spot if you're shooting on a 1-series camera with full weather sealing.

Image Quality

The image quality was very good in our tests throughout the aperture range, something the 2.0x Series III extender was not able to achieve. The 2.0x did a decent job at maintaining sharp image quality but the 1.4x did an awesome job and you can see that in the side-by-images below. There is not the noticeable degradation in the lower aperture range (f/5.6 and f/6.3) as we saw in the 2.0x extender. Even though the 1.4x extender only causes you to lose one f-stop instead of the two stop loss you get with the 2.0x extender, we decided to test both extenders starting at the f/5.6 setting for consistency.

Conclusion

So is this extender usable? Absolutely. Whether or not you buy this extender will depend a lot on how much image quality you're willing to lose and how much money you're willing to spend. At $475, the 1.4x Series III extender is a very affordable alternative to buying an expensive 400mm lens that could easily cost 20 times as much money and with the relatively negligible amount of degradation, it's definitely worth considering.

TEST CAMERA: Canon 7D
TEST LENS: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
*** Please keep in mind, this was a very basic test, using only one lens, one camera body, and one lens focal length (doubled with the extender to 400mm). The results will vary based on your particular camera/lens combination but this should at least give you a basic idea of how much image degradation you can expect to lose with the extender.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE AND SEE DETAIL

REVIEW: Canon 2x Series III Extenders (Teleconverters)

March 7, 2012 by Paul | Leave a comment

The new Series III extenders (teleconverters) from Canon are pretty amazing for when you need that extra reach, but don't want to reach too far into your pocket to pay for it. But how do the really stack up (no pun intended) against each other, and is there really a noticeable loss in image quality like so many doomsday critics say? We used a Canon 5D Mark II camera with a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens for this test and these were our observations:

Construction & Durability Improvements

The extender is solidly built and there was no movement or play when affixed between the camera and lens. These new Series III extenders have 7 screws holding the mount plate together where it attaches to the camera body; an upgrade from the 4 screws used on the previous generation of extenders. For some reason, Canon only added the extra screws to the side that mounts to the camera body, not the side that mounts to the lens. We're not sure why but it does seem like reinforcing both sides of the extender would have been nice. The extenders are weather sealed so it shouldn't be a weak spot if you're shooting on a 1-series camera with full weather sealing.

Image Quality

The image quality was pretty decent in our tests, especially at the higher aperture settings. There is a noticeable degradation of image quality at the lower aperture settings, specifically at f/5.6 and f/6.3. The image quality past f/6.3 was pretty consistent with only minor degradation at f/8 and almost no difference at f/11. The one problem we do see with this, however, is that most people using this extender are using it for wildlife photography and birding. For that type of photography, you need a wide aperture to let in enough light to maintain the high shutter speeds. Since you will lose two f-stops when you use a 2x extender (one f-stop for the 1.4x extender), your widest aperture on an f/2.8 lens will be f/5.6 which is where the highest amount of image degradation appears.

Conclusion

So is this extender usable? We think so. Whether or not you buy this extender will depend a lot on how much image quality you're willing to lose and how much money you're willing to spend. At $475, the 2.0x Series III extender is a very affordable alternative to buying an expensive 400mm lens that could easily cost 20 times as much money.

TEST CAMERA: Canon 5D Mark II
TEST LENS: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
*** Please keep in mind, this was a very basic test, using only one lens, one camera body, and one lens focal length (doubled with the extender to 400mm). The results will vary based on your particular camera/lens combination but this should at least give you a basic idea of how much image degradation you can expect to lose with the extender.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE AND SEE DETAIL