Will autofocus work on a Canon 600D with a 70-200mm f/4 and a 2x teleconverter?
Asked 9/12/2016
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I use a Canon EOS 600D with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L (non-IS) and am considering a 2x teleconverter. I know this combination would reduce the maximum aperture to f/8, and I’ve read that the 600D loses autofocus beyond f/5.6.
If I normally use the center AF point, half-press to focus, then recompose, would that still work? Or would I need to switch to full manual focus and turn the focus ring myself?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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You will have to manually focus by moving the focusing ring on the lens.
Using the center focus point to focus and then recompose is still considered autofocus. Even if you have manually selected which autofocus point the camera uses, the camera is still focusing the lens, not you.
You'll also lose more image quality with a 2X than with a 1.4X. This will be most evident in terms of CA and flare when shooting into bright lighting. You'll see much less image degradation when the brightest light source, such as the sun, is behind you.
In general 2X teleconverters and extenders are only recommended for f/2.8 or faster lenses. Some bodies (most of the 1D series, the 5D Mark III, and the 7D Mark II) can use the center AF point with f/8 lens/extender combinations. But the narrower PDAF baseline of the APS-C cameras makes this much more difficult than for their full frame counterparts. The FF 1D X Mark II and 5D Mark IV can even use many of their AF points with an f/8 lens/extender combo, but even those high end models don't perform AF as fast or as well as they do with a faster lens.
For more on how f/8 combinations may or may not work with third party TCs with Canon EOS cameras, please see this answer to Will the Canon 5D MK II with 100-400 1:4.5-5.6 work properly with Kenko 1.4 converter?
For more on the variety of TCs please see this answer to How do I choose a teleconverter for my Tamron 70-200 f2.8 and Canon camera?
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
No—focus-and-recompose with the center point is still autofocus, so it would not work on a 600D with that lens plus a 2x teleconverter.
A 2x converter turns your 70-200mm f/4 into a 140-400mm f/8. The 600D is designed to autofocus only up to about f/5.6, so with a reporting 2x teleconverter you should expect to lose AF and focus manually using the lens focus ring.
Some non-reporting third-party teleconverters may let the camera attempt AF because the body doesn’t “know” the effective aperture is f/8, but AF performance is not reliable.
Also, 2x teleconverters generally reduce image quality more than 1.4x converters. They’re usually better matched to f/2.8 or faster lenses, while a 1.4x tends to preserve quality better.
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