Canon RF 1.4x Extender

I bought a Canon R5 camera and later got a chance to buy a Canon 600 mm diffractive optics telephoto lens at a used price. I had read that the autofocus on the R5 would at least support the use of such a combination. I decided to splurge and buy a Canon RF 1.4 teleconverter on the assumption that sooner or later I would want one, even if I decided not to use it with the telephoto in question.I combined the three and discovered that teleconverter did a good job of increasing the focal length of the 600 mm lens and that my camera's autofocus functioned properly with the combination.I give the extender only three stars because it is too expensive ($100 more than a version III Canon EF teleconverter); yet it has very little utility. So far there are very few RF ... MoreI bought a Canon R5 camera and later got a chance to buy a Canon 600 mm diffractive optics telephoto lens at a used price. I had read that the autofocus on the R5 would at least support the use of such a combination. I decided to splurge and buy a Canon RF 1.4 teleconverter on the assumption that sooner or later I would want one, even if I decided not to use it with the telephoto in question.I combined the three and discovered that teleconverter did a good job of increasing the focal length of the 600 mm lens and that my camera's autofocus functioned properly with the combination.I give the extender only three stars because it is too expensive ($100 more than a version III Canon EF teleconverter); yet it has very little utility. So far there are very few RF lenses that will even function with the converter. You can't use one with the RF 70-200mm lenses, and used with the RF 100-500 mm L zoom, half of the enhanced zoom range is not usable, because the converter interferes with the use of the lower part of its zoom range.While one can use the extender with the 600mm and 800mm diffractive optics lenses, I chose not to use it with either, despite owning both. The 600mm, with the converter is only 40mm longer than the 800mm without one. The 800mm lens is a stop faster than the 600 mm with the teleconverter attached and is much easier to hold steady. While I could use the extender with the 800 mm, doing so would render it harder to hold steady and interfere with achieving decent shutter speeds for wildlife photography. Also, lenses in the 1,120 mm class tend to render poor images even when they are used with adequate shutter speeds. (I base this conclusion, not only upon the combination in question, but having also used two different Canon 600 mm super telephoto lenses with doublers with poor results.)Thus, at present I can see no lens currently available for the R5 which would reap a decent benefit from using the RF 1.4 teleconverter. By contrast, I can add series III Canon teleconverters to several of my Canon lenses and then attach them to my R5 using the Canon lens adapter. I can also use my Tamron 1.4 teleconverter with my series II Tamron 150-600 mm lens, plus the Canon lens adaptor, and have a very sharp and usable 210-840 mm zoom lens which, even at its longest end is only an f/9, rendering it faster than the Canon 600 mm diffractive optics lens with a 1.4 and more versatile in focal length than the Canon RF 100-500 L zoom with its restricted zoom range caused by the RF teleconverter.Given all of the wonderful Canon EF lenses which can be combined with teleconverters and several more Sigma and Tamron lenses that can also be used with teleconverters and then attached to the R5, via the Canon lens adaptor, I suspect that it will be many years (if ever) before I choose to buy an RF lens that would benefit from the Canon RF 1.4x extender.

The Canon Extender RF1.4x is great. It is light weight and when on a lens it actually lengthens the lens less than my old EF version. The image quality of the photos with it seems better than the EF version to me and I never had an issue with the EF 1.4x on my EF 100-400mm L ii. I mainly bought this to use on my new RF 100-400mm in order to extend my range to 560mm. But it also works well on my RF 800mm F11, giving me a whopping 1120mm. So now I have a lighter, smaller zoom with amazing minimal focus distance and over full zoom range for small birds that are close to me and my 800/1120mm for larger birds or birds at more distance. The combination of these three pieces gives me amazing flexibility, less weight and less room in my pack. It's true that at dawn and dusk ... MoreThe Canon Extender RF1.4x is great. It is light weight and when on a lens it actually lengthens the lens less than my old EF version. The image quality of the photos with it seems better than the EF version to me and I never had an issue with the EF 1.4x on my EF 100-400mm L ii. I mainly bought this to use on my new RF 100-400mm in order to extend my range to 560mm. But it also works well on my RF 800mm F11, giving me a whopping 1120mm. So now I have a lighter, smaller zoom with amazing minimal focus distance and over full zoom range for small birds that are close to me and my 800/1120mm for larger birds or birds at more distance. The combination of these three pieces gives me amazing flexibility, less weight and less room in my pack. It's true that at dawn and dusk I've given up some light-gathering ability, but honestly, I don't shoot then most of the time any more. I couldn't be happier with the Extender RF1.4x using my R6. It pretty much stays on my 100-400mm most of the time. It's given me a lot of flexibility for minimal cost and great weight/space savings.

The RF 100-400 comes with .41 magnification. Adding this extender boosts that to .57, which is enough to show even small insects. That makes it versatile enough to shoot everything from battling fruit flies and ladybugs preparing for takeoff to great horned owls and preening northern flickers. This combination is almost always on my R5. The attached files, especially of insects, have all been cropped but the sharpness remains. Wish this extender matched more of my RF lenses, but it does very well on the two it does fit.