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      08-02-2009, 12:08 AM   #62
dcstep
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vudoo4u2 View Post
never said the extension or the 1.4tc cause distortion...(if my long winded paragraph made it sound so...it was unintentional)

I was saying that when using the 1.4TC, you must give up a stop automatically, so starting from 2.8 and going to 4, is amazing (b/c you have a ridiculous telephoto thats F4)if you started with F4, and lost a stop to F 5.6, youre pretty much giving up the ability to shoot hand held in low light without huge iso bumps @ F5.6

as far as the macro tube, it works on both 2.8 and 4 w/o giving up a stop...so theres no difference really there, but the bokeh when you do macro shots is really nice with 2.8 vs. 4

its the 1.4 TC that has the difference b/c you give up a stop

and the F4 is not SIGNIFICANTLY sharper, its pixel picky sharper, but we'll see whos sharper when the lights go down
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree.

IMHO, 5.6 ain't that slow with IS. My 400mm prime starts at 5.6 and then I hang the TC on that, with NO IS!! Of course I use a monopod with gimbal head when I get out at that far. At those focal lengths you really need a monopod or tripod. I've got both, but find that the mono usually does the trick, unless I'm doing HDR or long exposures.

I've attached an example of bokeh from today's adventures. I don't see anything wrong with it. (This is with the 25mm ET on the 70-200).

If you look at your images and one lens seems soft and the other seems sharp, that's significant. You don't need 300% blow ups to see these differences. I think the softness at 2.8 is worse than the noise caused by pushing the ISO an equivalent amount. Of course the 2.8 is sharper when you stop it down, but....why pay for it if you don't use it.

I think that most people don't need the 2.8. However, some will and they know who they are, but they'll constantly be in low light where they're willing to sacrifice a bit of sharpness (it's not horrible, by any stretch) to get the shots that they typically take.

Image taken with 70-200 f4 L IS at 144mm, f4 with an extension tube, 1/5000 sec., ISO 1250 and pushed .3-stop in processing.
Attached Images
 
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Last edited by dcstep; 08-02-2009 at 08:37 AM..