Tele-converters usable in night sports?

<p>I have a Canon 70-200 2.8L IS lens, which I've used with success in capturing high school sports events in the afternoon. If I were to add the Canon 1.4 TC, it would be like using a 450mm f 4 lens (not exactly, but very close). My question is: would f4 be suitable for night sports (i.e., football)? I'm pretty sure that the use of a 2x TC (which would be like using an f 5.6 lens) wouldn't work very well at night. I have a Canon 20D, so my "ISO" is limited to 1600. Should I go ahead and spend the big bucks? Thanks!</p>

<p>It would be a 98-280mm. Multiply 70 by 1.4 and you get 98 ---200 by 1.4 is 280</p>

<p>All depends on the stadium, high schools are usually not that bright, unless it is a big school or just has really good lights, then maybe, but almost certainly at your max ISO.</p>

<p>Bill, I'm guessing he is using a 1.6 crop lens which would give the look of 450mm with the additional 1.4x.</p>

<p>If the 70-200 lens were on a film camera, that would be true; however, the multiplication factor for the 20D is 1.6, so at 200mm, the effective focal length is actually 320. If you multiply 320 by 1.4 you get 448...like I said, "almost" 450. (Note: I wrote this without seeing Nathan's resonse...no need to beat a dead horse, here.)<br />Thanks, Nathan, for your advice. I will probably have to experiment a bit to see what works well. I'm pretty much convinced, however that a 2.0 TC will be pretty much useless at night for local high school sports.</p>

<p>I have a Nikon 70-200 f2.8 with a 1.4xTC (Kenko). I'm not sure about low light as there is a noticeable difference in the brokeh so how lights would affect things I'm not sure. Focus speed does slow down a bit so couple that with dark conditions and min f4 you could have issues with fast moving subjects.<br>

I'm happy to use the TC in bright sunlight but I wouldn't expect great results at night I should try it I guess.<br>

If you are going for a genuine Canon unit the results may be different but I guess I would be trying to borrow or rent one first if the only use I would put it to is night time shooting.</p>

<p>I'd recommend saving the money for a higher ISO camera first. I used a 70-200 f2.8 + 1.4x tele-extender with an XTi/400D (also limited to 1600 ISO) for night football and found it to be inadequate. I love that lens combination for daytime sports; it just needs ISO 3200 or so to keep shutter speed above 1/400 at night.<br>

So of course, I had to buy a 7D :-)...</p>

 

<p>I guess it pays to read your camera's manual. In the Canon 20D's custom function section, there is an option to select "H" as the ISO speed. "H" is supposed to be 3200 (so why don't they say 3200? Who knows?). Armed with this info, I'm eager to see what I can accomplish.</p>