Which Teleconverter?

I have a Canon 200 2.8L and a Tamron 24-135. Which brand, other than the Canon,

1.4 Teleconverter will work best with both lenses?

 

Gmazz

Canon 1.4 :)

 

If you have 200/2.8 L is it worth buying a cheap teleconverter to use with it? Canon's seems to be the best.

I doubt that the Canon TC would even fit the Tamron lens (it has a protruding front element that will probably crunch into the rear element of the lens). In any event, even with a Tamron TC (which is the one most likely to fit the 24-135), I wouldn't expect particularly good results with the zoom. However, I think your best bet is to get the Canon TC, and forego the range between 135 and 200 or cover it with another lens, because it works very well with the prime.

I agree with all three of Mark's points.

Kenko Pro 300. An excellent TC that will work with both lenses.

I use my Canon 200/2.8 with a Sigma 1.4x EX APO converter. The resulting photos are sharp and contrasty. I haven't compared to any other brands. In general, if you're going off-brand I suggest going with their higher-end versions, like Sigma's EX or Kenko's pro series.

As noted the Canon TCs will not work with non-L lenses let alone non-Canon lenses.

 

The 200/2.8 prime works very well with the Canon 1.4X, and is very usable with the Canon 2X.

 

As noted one of the better independent makes of 1.4X may work with your Tamron, but note that TCs are really only intended to work with lens of 100-135mm or more, ie significantly telephoto designs. Results with your zoom at the wide end probably will not be that good, you may get vignetting issues.

 

If you have, or plan to get, other off brand lenses that are fully in the telephoto range it might be worth you looking at non-Canon TCs, otherwise I would stick to the Canon ones.

Kenko Pro 300 1.4X. They're $120 on EBay, new.

 

It will be excellent with the prime, and very bad with the zoom.

 

DI

Why would you ever need a 1.4X on the 24-135? That would give you a 33-189mm range that simply duplicates what you already have.

 

For top quality get the Canon 1.4X II and use it on the 200/2.8 only. Alternatively, some of the third party 1.4X might be pretty good and save you a few $. I haven't tried them, they may or may not be up to the Canon 1.4's image quality.

 

Without I.S., I hope you are considering a tripod or at least a monopod, especially if also using one of the 1.6X crop D-SLRs.