canon 6D + 70-200 f/2.8L II + 1.4 tc

[StoneColdCoffee]

Hello all,
sorry to bring up an old topic but I couldn't find an answer.
I'm taking the 6D and 70-200f/2.8L II to the Indy 500 this weekend. I'm thinking about renting a 1.4 III extender to get a little closer. I remember reading that some cameras with lenses will not be able to autofocus. I read some blogs but all I really see are guesses and "a friend said" I don't know why people answer if they don't actually have an answer but they feel they must.

Any real world experience with this combo? I don't know if an extra 80mm is really worth it afterall. And I read the 2.0 really stops down and not worth it.
thanks

 

[bholliman]

The 70-200 f/2.8L II works great with the 1.4x III extender on a 6D. I have no experience with older extenders. Be sure to run AFMA on the lens/extender combo, as your AFMA settings may change.

My use with this lens, extender and camera combo does not include shooting race cars, so I can't help you there. I used it for shooting bears and other large, fairly slow moving wildlife or perched birds and it performed well. The 1.4 extender will reduce you maximum aperture to f/4, but autofocus still performs well, especially with the center AF point.

 

[j-nord]

I've never shot cars on a track and I don't know your particular shooting scenario but I wouldn't recommend the 6D for action. If you want the extra reach of a 1.4x, instead Id recommend renting a 7Dii. It will give you similar reach to the 1.4x with MUCH better AF and MUCH higher frame rate. The IQ difference should be negligible shooting in mid day light.

 

[Mikehit]

I remember reading that some cameras with lenses will not be able to autofocus.

The extender will be fine on the 6D.
You will get a problem with lenses with narrower maximum aperture - so for example 400mm f5.6 pushes the effective aperture to make it a 560mm f8 lens. Many cameras can only AF down to f5.6 so the 1.4xtc on this combo will not work.
The 7D2 , the 5D3 and the 1Dx will all AF at f8 (not sure about the 6D) so would be OK with the 400mm+1.4x.

Any real world experience with this combo? I don't know if an extra 80mm is really worth it afterall. And I read the 2.0 really stops down and not worth it.

The jury is very much out as to the benefits of cropping vs using a teleconverter. But the tc can result in slower AF but whether it will be noticable on the 6D is open to question.

 

[LoneRider]

I've never shot cars on a track and I don't know your particular shooting scenario but I wouldn't recommend the 6D for action. If you want the extra reach of a 1.4x, instead Id recommend renting a 7Dii. It will give you similar reach to the 1.4x with MUCH better AF and MUCH higher frame rate. The IQ difference should be negligible shooting in mid day light.

That seems very sensible to me. The only problem will come in if the race extends into the evening.

A couple of years back I took my 7D and 100-400mm to the Texas Speedway. As it got into the evening, the 7D struggled. But I still managed to get some decent shots. The 7D-ii should, obviously, do better.

The whole gallery is at https://lonerider.smugmug.com/Events/NRA-500-2013/i-wBCXkPs

 

[jd7]

I've never shot cars on a track and I don't know your particular shooting scenario but I wouldn't recommend the 6D for action. If you want the extra reach of a 1.4x, instead Id recommend renting a 7Dii. It will give you similar reach to the 1.4x with MUCH better AF and MUCH higher frame rate. The IQ difference should be negligible shooting in mid day light.

To give a different perspective on that, I am not convinced there is much reason to rent a 7DII to shoot motor sports. I will try to explain.

To be clear, I would of course agree that the AF systems on cameras the 7DII, 5DIII, IDx/II, are far superior to the 6D's, and would make your life easier (provided you set it up correctly, of course). And naturally it makes sense to use the tool which makes it as easy as possible to nail focus.

However, when it comes to shooting action, I think the higher end AF systems provide the biggest advantage when you a dealing with objects which move erratically within the frame, and perhaps disappear behind another object from time to time (eg a bird disappearing behind tree branches, or a player disappearing behind another player or a goal post).

At least assuming there is a bit of distance between camera and cars, I would have thought cars on a racetrack would not move that erratically within the frame and you'd have a fair chance to nail focus on them, for example by pre-focusing on an area of track and using the AF for fine tuning to grab them as they come through, panning with them, etc. In that scenario, I would have thought you could do quite OK with the 6D.

I have not tried shooting motor sport so I may be wrong, but I guess what I am saying is I think the 6D is too written off whenever there is going to be any subject movement in the shot. Reading around the net, you could get the impression it couldn't AF on a snail going uphill! But if you accept its limitations and put some thought into working within those limitations, I think it can do quite well. So, if you own one, I would give it some thought before rushing out to rent a camera like a 7DII for shooting action unless you are sure you will really benefit from the more advanced AF (or perhaps you just want to try out the camera!).

 

[jd7]

Action shooting (of sorts) with the 6D and 70-200/4L IS ... Australian Open tennis from a couple of years ago ...

 

[jd7]

more Australian Open tennis

 

[jd7]

and one more lot

 

[Click]

more Australian Open tennis

I really like te first shot of this series. Well done.

 

[jd7]

more Australian Open tennis

I really like te first shot of this series. Well done.

Thank you Click