Canon 7D mkii and EF 100-400 f4.5/5.6L lens compatibility

[Barney]

Hello again people , some more dumb questions for you ?

As previously stated in "gear" re: weatherproof DSLR's , I have pretty much decided to go down the Canon 7D mkii path.
[And then I 'discover' the 70D , apparently much better for video with its articulated LCD screen and "touch screen follow focus etc". But this is another story....]

Question: Is the 100-400 mkii lens FULLY compatible with the 7Dmkii ? I have tried to find a definitive answer to this question in innumerable forums , only to be more confused than when I started. Various 'stories' of focus problems , limited focus points , locking-on to subjects etc etc.

Does the 7Dmkii and the 100-400 lens retain all functions when used with a 1.4 TC [mkiii version?]

Will I have to 'calibrate' the focus of the lens/camera to use it for bird photography?

Better off with a straight 400mm f5.6 lens?

Much thanks in advance for any advice/help ,

Barney.

[ktoopi]

Hi Barney
I shoot with a canon 7d original and the 100-400 mk ii all the time with no issues at all so I don't see why it wouldn't be a suitable/compatible combo for a 7dmk ii.
I don't use a TC so can't offer anything on that. I calibrate the focus of my lenses if they appear slightly off straight out of the box. So far I have only ever had one lens with front focusing issues that needed to be calibrated and that was my 50mm 1.4 and It took all of about ten minutes to calibrate it. I love the versatility of the zoom in the 100-400, it is a fabulous lens and the extra reach you get when using with a crop sensor like the 7d is awesome Hope this was somewhat helpful.....
Cheers Karen

ps why don't you rent the combo you are talking about and have a play around with it and see if you like it and it suits your needs before you purchase?

[Filter]

I use this exact combination for my sports photography, I have no issues with the auto focus, it's quick. There was one problem I worked out quick, I was using the shutter button to exit pic preview instead of the preview button. This was causing the auto focus to focus on whatever I was pointing at, mostly the ground in front of me .
To then get focus at 400mm took a bit of fiddling, not much though.

[Barney]

Thank you ktoopi and Filter. Hiring the outfit sounds like a great idea.

Barney.

[Morgo]

I have a 7Dii, 100-400 II and 1.4tx TC III

Works perfectly for me so far, nice alternative to carrying the 200-400 around.

As far as compatibility the 7DII and 100-400 II are probably the best matched combo out of canons line since the 100-400 was released not long after the 7D2

[Barney]

Thanks Morgo.

I'm still trying to find out the compatibility of the 100-400 mkii and the TC 1.4 with a Canon 70D as well.

I'm interested in the 70D as well because of the flip-out LCD screen , touch follow focus etc.

Truly , freedom of choice can be a curse !

Barney.

[Morgo]

Thanks Morgo.

I'm still trying to find out the compatibility of the 100-400 mkii and the TC 1.4 with a Canon 70D as well.

I don't think you will have AF with a 70D if you use the 100-400 II with the 1.4x TC

[Barney]

I don't think you will have AF with a 70D if you use the 100-400 II with the 1.4x TC

Thanks again Morgo. So if I use a 70D with the 100-400 mkii lens without the 1.4 TC all camera/lens functions will be retained?
[eg: 70D + 100-400mkii lens are FULLY compatible?]

I understand the 1.6 crop factor [narrower field of view , equating to using 640mm lens? ] , and I think this should be sufficient for 'general' bird photography?

I wont ever be a 'passionate' bird/wildlife photographer , I'd just like a lens with some capability to use when the opportunity arises.

Barney.

[spootz01]

[QUOTE=Barney;1337292]Thanks again Morgo. So if I use a 70D with the 100-400 mkii lens without the 1.4 TC all camera/lens functions will be retained?
[eg: 70D + 100-400mkii lens are FULLY compatible?]
QUOTE]

You should be fine without the TC. The issue with it is that the effective lens max aperture would be 10.8 (f4.5 x 1.6 (crop factor) x 1.4 (TC)) which may be more than the AF system allows. I'm fairly sure most canon AF systems top out at a max of f8.0 (at least I know the system in the xxxD series does).

I'm more than happy to be proven wrong but that would be why you lose AF.

Cheers

S.

[Morgo]

Thanks again Morgo. So if I use a 70D with the 100-400 mkii lens without the 1.4 TC all camera/lens functions will be retained?
[eg: 70D + 100-400mkii lens are FULLY compatible?]

I understand the 1.6 crop factor [narrower field of view , equating to using 640mm lens? ] , and I think this should be sufficient for 'general' bird photography?

I wont ever be a 'passionate' bird/wildlife photographer , I'd just like a lens with some capability to use when the opportunity arises.

Barney.

I've never used a 70D but I don't see why you would loose any functionality using the 100-400 on it. It should work much the same as a 7DII, 5DIII etc just that the 70D can not do AF with the TC.

- - - Updated - - -

[QUOTE=spootz01;1337297]

Thanks again Morgo. So if I use a 70D with the 100-400 mkii lens without the 1.4 TC all camera/lens functions will be retained?
[eg: 70D + 100-400mkii lens are FULLY compatible?]
QUOTE]

You should be fine without the TC. The issue with it is that the effective lens max aperture would be 10.8 (f4.5 x 1.6 (crop factor) x 1.4 (TC)) which may be more than the AF system allows. I'm fairly sure most canon AF systems top out at a max of f8.0 (at least I know the system in the xxxD series does).

I'm more than happy to be proven wrong but that would be why you lose AF.

Cheers

S.

The 100-400 is a F4.5-5.6 adding the 1.4x TC adds 1 stop so the lens becomes an F8 on the long end. I don't know if the 70D would auto focus on the short end with a TC, I think they just lose that ability on any lens when it goes past f5.6 using a TC