5Dmk3 doesnt play with kenko teleconverters

[wickidwombat]

I discovered this last night, I'm very disappointed, I havent tried my kenko extension tubes yet, i'll try them later and see. I hope canon fix this with a firmware update

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Which model Kenko? If its the latest one, hopefully they can offer a upgrade. I'd get in contact with them and verify that they are seeing your issue.

My tubes are merely pass thru conductors, no electroics. They should make no difference.

 

[wickidwombat]

Which model Kenko? If its the latest one, hopefully they can offer a upgrade. I'd get in contact with them and verify that they are seeing your issue.

My tubes are merely pass thru conductors, no electroics. They should make no difference.

yeah the latest ones
the kenko tubes have electronics and report aperture and exif i'll try them tonight

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Ouch, Canon strikes again? I saw one person who was having AFMA issues with his Sigma lens, but others seem to be having no issues. I hope the lens incompatibility does not pop up again.

 

[wickidwombat]

my Sigma 85 f1.4 seems to be working fine i succesfully did all the AFMA last night on it as well as a bunch of other lenses thankfully since its my favourite lens

 

[drjlo]

To my dismay, my trusty Kenko 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300 teleconverter is not working with Canon 5D MkIII. It used to work perfectly with every Canon lens (not just the ones compatible with Canon teleconverter) on 550D.

The only lens that seems to still work with Kenko is Canon 70-200 MkII, which is a relief since that's the one that needs to work. But even the Canon 135 f/2, which is listed under compatible lens for Canon teleconverter, does not work with Kenko. Any other lens simply locks up the 5D MkIII after one shot (image is not recorded), which requires a battery reinsert to unfreeze the camera. What a bummer!

On the other hand, Pro Optic extension tubes from Adorama still work with 5D III.

 

[FlowerPhotog]

I have been able to successfully use my Kenko 1.4X Teleplus Pro 300 converter with my 5D Mark III. I have had no problems at all using it with my 70-300 L, which by the way does autofocus when the Kenko is attached, even when it is at 300 mm, which theoretically it shouldn't as the max aperture is f5.6 at that point, so with the 1.4X, I'm at f8.0. Data is reported in EXIF file correctly as the 70-300 lens and it shows 420 mm as the focal length. I also have tried the Kenko with my Sigma 150 Macro and the 24-105 kit lens that came with the 5D Mark III, and both also seem to work fine. I just bought the Kenko from Adorama about 6 weeks or so ago, so maybe they changed something in it that is allowing a newer version to work? The Kenko also works fine on my T2i, also allowing autofocus on my 70-300 when its at 300.

I've attached a shot taken tonight with the 70-300L @ 300mm with the Kenko 1.4X. This was handheld at f8.0, 1/500 sec. ISO set to 3200. One of the main reasons I wanted to get the Mark III vs my old T2i was the ability to use the higher ISO, both for faster shutter speeds to help in windy conditions and/or low light like this picture which was taken in total shade. These are jpgs out of LR4.1, absolutely no noise reduction added, so you can see how little noise there is at 3200 ISO. First one is the full frame, then cropped to just the tulip.

(I haven't posted pictures before, so hopefully these will show up. When I did the preview before submitting,I am not seeing the pictures, but it shows them to be attached.)

 

[Stephen Melvin]

Tested my Sigma 1.4x EX TC with my 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM II and it works fine. For once, a Sigma didn't stop working.

 

[drjlo]

I have been able to successfully use my Kenko 1.4X Teleplus Pro 300 converter with my 5D Mark III. I have had no problems at all using it with my 70-300 L

Can you try some other Canon lenses and report back which ones do/don't work?

 

[wickidwombat]

here is the last email from Kenko support (very quick to respond I might add)
I also note that using the sigma and kenko works perfectly on the 1Dmk3 and 5Dmk2 (although i dont use it as a regular combo i have just tested it out the 3 lenses i mainly use a TC on are the 100 macro, the 70-200 and the 300. but i have verified that the kenko TC works on every lens i've ever owned on every body except the 5Dmk3 I had.


"Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for your reply.
We have checked all lenses you mentioned with Canon 5D Mark 3 and Teleplus PRO300 DGX 1.4x Canon.
And we haven't any problems in these combinations.
Canon lens:
300 f4L IS
70-200 f2.8L IS II
100 f2.8L IS Macro
50mm f1.4

For 85mm Sigma f1.4, we didn't check with because Kenko Teleplus series support only Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax and Tokina lens.
If you use Kenko Teleplus with other lenses, it might cause camera body, Kenko Teleplus or lenses to malfunction.

Yours sincerely,

Kenko International Division"

 

[FlowerPhotog]

I apologize, as I gave some mis-information yesterday with my post. I had attached the Kenko 1.4 to my Sigma 150 macro while indoors and did a half-press on the shutter, which did a fast and apparently accurate auto-focus, so I assumed it was working fine, but I didn't actually try to take a picture. Tonight I tried to actually use it outside and it appears to take a picture, but then it locks up the camera, with the only way to get it going again is to remove and then replace the battery. After that exercise I went thru my entire collection of non EF-S lenses and tried to take pictures - this is what I found;

Works: EF 70-300L
EF 70-300 (non-L),
EF 24-105 (kit Lens)

Doesn't work: EF 100 2.8L IS Macro (despite Kenkos reply to wickidwombat that it does)
EF 100 2.0
Sigma 150 2.8 Macro (non-IS model)
Sigma 70 2.8 Macro

All four lens that don't work exhibit the same behavior - it just locks up the camera after one shutter actuation. It never actually takes the picture.

Those four lenses that don't work with the Kenko 1.4 on the 5D Mark III do work with it on my T2i.
I guess the only silver lining for the time being is I will be using it mostly on my 70-300L to get back some of the reach I lost going from the crop sensor to the full frame. Canon's teleconverters won't work on the 70-300L, so at least the Kenko provides some benefit, and so far I'm pretty happy with the IQ.

 

[wickidwombat]

the 3 main lenses I care about it working with are

300 f4L
70-200 f2.8
and
100 f2.8L Macro

I did buy a canon 2x TC so on the 100 f2.8L i can always use that with a 12mm extension tube however my extensiontubes are kenko too.

It would seem that this camera locking up issue is boddy specific though and not common accross all copies
which is a good sign

 

[drjlo]

All four lens that don't work exhibit the same behavior - it just locks up the camera after one shutter actuation. It never actually takes the picture.

Yes, that's exactly what happens to my 5D III. I replied to Kenko with list of lenses that did not work, and I just got their reply, which is not encouraging since it does not seem like they even want to look into it any further despite multiple user reports. So far I have not seen 5D III owners who report that ALL their Canon lenses work with Kenko, yet Kenko reports their 5D III body copy works with all the lenses. Hmm, is it possible that Kenko's Japan version of 5D III is fine but U.S. version isn't?

"Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for your reply.
We have checked all lenses you mentioned with Canon 5D Mark 3 and Teleplus PRO300 DGX 1.4x Canon.
And we haven't any problems in these combinations.

Canon 135 f/2L
Canon 85 f/1.2L II
Canon 100 f/2.8 L
Canon 35 f/1.4 L

Yours sincerely,

Kenko International Division"

 

[wickidwombat]

All four lens that don't work exhibit the same behavior - it just locks up the camera after one shutter actuation. It never actually takes the picture.

Yes, that's exactly what happens to my 5D III. I replied to Kenko with list of lenses that did not work, and I just got their reply, which is not encouraging since it does not seem like they even want to look into it any further despite multiple user reports. So far I have not seen 5D III owners who report that ALL their Canon lenses work with Kenko, yet Kenko reports their 5D III body copy works with all the lenses. Hmm, is it possible that Kenko's Japan version of 5D III is fine but U.S. version isn't?

"Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for your reply.
We have checked all lenses you mentioned with Canon 5D Mark 3 and Teleplus PRO300 DGX 1.4x Canon.
And we haven't any problems in these combinations.

Canon 135 f/2L
Canon 85 f/1.2L II
Canon 100 f/2.8 L
Canon 35 f/1.4 L

Yours sincerely,

Kenko International Division"

Mines an australia version well was... I sent it back

sounds like you should consider doing the same mate
how are you finding the AF focus accuracy of your copy BTW?

 

[Old Shooter]

wickid - Did you get a new 5DIII? Is it better than your first copy? Happy with it?

 

[spinworkxroy]

I have the Kenko 1.4TC..it's the new version but it's about 1yr+ old.
So far i've tested it with
Tamron 70-300 USD VC and it focuses even at 300mm at F5.6 which makes it f8
Canon 50mm F1.4
Canon 85mm f1.8

I've got other lenses but i didn't try them.
I don't use the Kenko much..

 

[Marsu42]

I have the Kenko 1.4TC..it's the new version but it's about 1yr+ old.

I am just about to buy a Kenko 1.4 DGX for my 70-300L and discovered that there are at least two different versions for sale: an older one with ASIN B003VN781M / EAN 4250440307085 and a new one that's listed on Kenko's site with ASIN B002C6QC3E / EAN 4961607601334

Maybe Kenko did a silent update and forgot to tell users about it? This would explain the different results on the 5d3.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I have the Kenko 1.4TC..it's the new version but it's about 1yr+ old.

I am just about to buy a Kenko 1.4 DGX for my 70-300L and discovered that there are at least two different versions for sale: an older one with ASIN B003VN781M / EAN 4250440307085 and a new one that's listed on Kenko's site with ASIN B002C6QC3E / EAN 4961607601334

Maybe Kenko did a silent update and forgot to tell users about it? This would explain the different results on the 5d3.

There is a lot of confusion about the Kenko models, many stores did not update when Kenko went from DG to DGX and then there are the pro and non pro versions, there are so many variations a person can easily be confused.

 

[Marsu42]

There is a lot of confusion about the Kenko models, many stores did not update when Kenko went from DG to DGX and then there are the pro and non pro versions, there are so many variations a person can easily be confused.

Indeed, that's why I made triple-sure to get the one that works with f8 af on the 60d. But apart from the different models, as I wrote there might be even different versions of the same model, the "Kenko Digital Teleplus Pro300 1.4x DGX for Canon EOS" model number "K1.4PRO.300DGX-C". Maybe they just changed the packaging, but maybe they silently adjusted their firmware, too:

http://www.kenko-tokina.co.jp/imaging/eq/camera-lens/kenko_teleplus/pro300_1/4961607601334.html

http://www.amazon.com/Kenko-1-4X-Teleconverter-Canon-Digital/dp/B002C6QC3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1334522186&sr=1-1

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Kenko USA may also have a unique number. BTW, Adorama confused a lot of people when the DGX came out because they did not update the SKU or description until Helen Oster read about it on a forum and had it corrected.

I'm sure that minor production changes happen all the time, but a firmware change should be indicated somehow. Having worked in a large manufacturing company, electronic parts and processes are constantly being updated due to new vendors, new equipment, newer materials, and so on. The rule of thumb is issue a new part number if anything functional changes, but its a fine line if a better plastic or a different process is used that should not affect the product. It cost a bundle to change a part number, so you try to avoid it.