Saturday 14 November 2020

Testing Canon 5 D mark IV with Canon Extender 2x iii and 1.4x iii with EF 300mm F/2.8 L II telephoto lens - A field Report

 Though I had received my Canon 5 D Mark IV body and Extender 2x iii in February 2020 itself , I couldn't test them due to Covid 19 lock down that followed soon after. It was only in the first week of November , when the Covid spread stood contained quite a lot,  that I decided to head for Himalayan foothills for field testing my newly acquired imaging gears.

I spent 2 days in Chafi  and Pangot forests near the hill station of Nainital in Uttarakhand. .  These two areas are known for being the finest places for all those who may wish to click a wide species of  Himalayan birds. My idea was to capture some challenging objects in their native environs so as to understand the technical capabilities of the equipment while testing one's camera skills and physical fitness too. Himalayan forests were the perfect place for it.

As we know that Extender 2x reduces light by 2 stops. Thus my 300 F/2.8 L II lens became F/ 5.6 . I clicked a Himalayan Black Partridge to start with at F/5.6 , 1/800, ISO 6400 with minus 0.7 compensation. It was shot in RAW and converted to JPG after processing with Canon DDP 4 software. The result was quite acceptable. ( All other images also are shot in RAW and converted to JPG as explained above. )


Next I shot a Greater Yellow-nape Woodpecker at F/7.1, 1/200 at ISO 6400. Again the image didn't disappoint.
Next I tried some shots with Extender 1.4x. Here the results were excellent . I shot in AV, TV and P modes just to find out camera performance and I must admit that it gave me no cause to complain. Even in most trying light conditions, low and back light, results were very nice.
             F/5 , 1/1000 , ISO 3200 
                                                                   F/4, 1/1000 , ISO 4000
F/6.3 , 1 /1000 , ISO 3200
The test was satisfying. Extender 2x iii performs well on EOS 5 D Mark IV body provided it is mated with a prime lens. With Extender 1.4 x it is as sharp as the bare telephoto lens that I was using. Also EOS 5 D Mark IV has got good resolution and  its low light performance remains very good.
Please leave your comments.


                     


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