Canon RF 2x Extender Sample Pictures

The Canon EOS R5 and RF 400mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens combination was the perfect choice for the white-tailed deer I was photographing in the Shenandoah National Park woods.

The 400mm focal length permitted close enough working distances to avoid obstructions, and that focal length combined with the f/2.8 aperture blurred the abundant foreground and background distractions.

Then, this barred owl showed up. Obviously, owls are much smaller than deer, and suddenly, significantly more focal length was needed.

Fortunately, the friend I was shooting with solved that problem via a pair of extenders in his pocket. He opted to use the 1.4x on his lens, kindly loaning me the 2x.

The capability to go too 800mm was indispensable in this case.

After getting sharp insurance shots at faster shutter speeds, the exposure time was increased, decreasing the ISO setting for less noise. The keeper rate dropped, but only 1 sharp image was necessary, and the results surpassed that requirement.

As I mentioned recently, the ultra-high-performance of the Canon RF 100-300mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens means still-excellent image quality with extenders mounted, including the Canon RF 2x Extender. The 2x addition results in a 200-600mm f/5.6 IS lens, and ideal choice for wildlife photography.

So, this combination and I headed out for some birding.

A great blue heron was standing on a small, mostly-submerged log — for a long time. I was having the oft-repeated stay or go argument with myself when the bird started looking intently into the water, clarifying that staying won the argument. The bird plunged its head and entire body into the water and came up with a speared sunfish.

I know, these birds do this every day — it is how they survive. However, what the bird did was incredible.

Duck weed covers then entire surface of the water (except where the plunge just occured), making underwater visibility from above water, even for a bird, seemingly impossible, but this heron performed a perfect strike at the extent of its reach under these circumstances. Upon shaking the duck weed from its feathers, the heron turned slightly toward the camera for an "I'm so cool" hero pose.

Significant foreground obstructions mean limited openings for shooting in this location, and I couldn't move any further away from this great blue heron. The Canon RF 600mm F4 L IS USM Lens is my usual choice for the selected location. While that lens has a 1-stop aperture advantage, it lacks all of the other focal lengths. The RF 100-300 with the 2x in place provides the 600mm angle of view while enabling zooming out to 339mm from this GBH vantage point for a full-body image.

Usually, heavy cropping of a full-frame image is required to fill the frame with the moon. Not so when using the Canon RF 1200mm F8 L IS USM Lens with an RF 2x Extender behind it.

At the magnification provided by 2400mm, keeping the moon in the frame (without a tracking mount) is problematic. The moon must be led by the right amount to be centered in the frame after the vibrations settle out.

Fortunately, it is easy to precisely center the moon during post-processing – as long no edges are clipped. The black border is easy to extend on any side.

Is this full-sized image sharp? Not especially so. The wide-open f/16 aperture has some diffraction impact, 2x extenders magnify aberrations, and worse is the atmospheric distortion.

Would I buy a $20,000 lens to photograph the moon? While the 2400mm focal length is difficult to obtain otherwise, no, I'm not that serious about photographing the moon. But if you have the lens, the moon makes a fun subject.

As I mentioned recently, the ultra-high-performance of the Canon RF 100-300mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens means still excellent image quality with extenders mounted, including the Canon RF 2x Extender. The 2x addition results in a 200-600mm f/5.6 IS lens, and ideal choice for wildlife photography.

So, this combination and I headed out for some birding.

A great blue heron was standing on a small, mostly-submerged log — for a long time. I was having the oft-repeated stay-or-go argument with myself when the bird started looking intently into the water, clarifying that staying won the argument. The bird plunged its head and entire body into the water and came up with a speared sunfish.

I know, these birds do this every day — it is how they survive. However, what the bird did was incredible.

Duckweed covers the entire surface of the water (except where the plunge just occurred), making underwater visibility from above water, even for a bird, seemingly impossible, but this heron performed a perfect strike at the extent of its reach under these circumstances. Upon shaking the duckweed from its feathers, the heron turned slightly toward the camera for an "I'm so cool" hero pose.

Significant foreground obstructions mean limited openings for shooting in this location, and I couldn't move any further away from this great blue heron. The Canon RF 600mm F4 L IS USM Lens is my usual choice for the selected location. While that lens has a 1-stop aperture advantage, it lacks the other focal lengths. The RF 100-300 with the 2x in place provides the 600mm angle of view while enabling zooming out to 339mm from this GBH vantage point for a full-body image.