Canon EF 2.0X III Telephoto Extender for Canon Super Telephoto Lenses

by Canon

• Extender Cap E II
• Lens Dust Cap E (Rear)
• Lens Case LP811

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.8 x 2.1 x 2.1 inches ; 11.5 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0040X4PV8
• Item model number: EF 2.0X III
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #66 in Camera & Photo > Lenses > Camera Lenses
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 26, 2010

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Designed to extend a lenses focal length by a factor of 2x, the redesigned Canon Extender EF 2X III delivers optical performance on par with the finest Canon super telephoto lenses. It features a built-in microcomputer for seamless communication among camera body, lens and extender, features careful lens placement and coatings to minimize ghosting, flare and chromatic aberration, and even has a new Fluorine coating that keeps soiling, smears, fingerprints to a minimum. Extender EF 2X III meets necessary standards in terms of rugged, dustproof and water resistant construction, and should be in every professional's camera bag.

Technical Specifications

• Focal Length & Maximum Aperture Magnification: 2.0x
• Lens Construction 9 elements in 5 groups
• Max. Diameter x Length, Weight 2.8 x 2.1 in, 11.5 oz / 72.0 x 52.7mm, 325g

Product Description

Designed to extend a lenses focal length by a factor of 2x, the redesigned Canon Extender EF 2X III delivers optical performance on par with the finest Canon super telephoto lenses. It features a built-in microcomputer for seamless communication among camera body, lens and extender, features careful lens placement and coatings to minimize ghosting, flare and chromatic aberration, and even has a new Fluorine coating that keeps soiling, smears, fingerprints to a minimum. Extender EF 2X III meets necessary standards in terms of rugged, dustproof and water-resistant construction, and should be in every professional's camera bag.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

210 of 215 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Clarifications for interested buyers February 21, 2012

By K. Dardashti

Things to keep in mind when reading various review.
1. There is no such a thing as free lunch. Anyone who claims fast autofocus with this combo is smoking something. Canon white papers claims a 75% reduction in autofocus speed. It will also degrade image quality, no matter what lens you put it on.
2. As for Image quality, acceptability, and degradation, there are several factors in play. Of course where you end depends on where you start. used on an optically superb lens, after some image degradation, you can still end up with good image quality. with mediocre lens, you end up with bad, and with a bad lens, you end up with mush. The other factor in acceptability is the image density of the sensor. The image quality will be a lot more acceptable on a 5d2 or 40D for example than the 7D. the higher pixel density of 7D is far more demanding on lens resolution. furthermore, the cropped sensor of same pixel count, greatly magnifies Chromatic aberration.
3. In addition to loss of image quality secondary to use of extenders, going from say 200 to 400, requires great improvement in long lens technique. any movement is greatly magnified. for someone to properly assess the functioning of the lens, esp when used for things such as birds in flight, great technique is required.
4. there are obvious things that one must know. in addition to double the focal length, you loose 2 stops of light with the converter, so a 2.8 lens becomes a 5.6 lens. if you are starting with a lens with max aperture smaller than 2.8, you will loose autofocus on all current bodies, except for the 1D/1DS class. The coming 1DX has also dropped support for lenses slower than f 5.6.
Edit april 2013....
As many are aware, Canon updated firmware in 1dx to now support f8 focusing with central focus point, and has promised similar upgrade with canon 5dIII. so autofocus is still possible with the TC mounted on a f4 lens on those bodies. Read more ›

106 of 111 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Double the focal length of of any L series telephoto lens January 5, 2011

By E. Bickel

The Canon EF 2X III Extender is a reasonably inexpensive way to double the focal length of of any L series telephoto lens. This is the very first extender I have purchased, so I can not compare it to it's predecessors. But, I am very impressed. I use it with the Canon 100-400L F4.5-5.6IS with minimal loss in quality. Much cheaper than spending $12k for an 800mm lens.

It's obviously intended for use with a tripod, as you will loose 2f stops. But I find most people won't do much shooting hand held with a 400mm lens anyway. You may be able to get away with using it handheld with some of the faster / smaller lenses. You will also have to manual focus when added to a slower lens like F5.6. If you are thinking about using this, do your homework, know it's limitations, and how to use it. It's a great addition for wildlife photography when getting closer to your subject is tricky, or not an option.

193 of 210 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The loss of image and camera performance compromises the usefulness of this converter July 29, 2012

By I. Giles TOP 500 REVIEWER

A starting consideration:
It stands to reason that an extender at a few hundred pounds cannot possibly do anything like the job of a longer lens costing thousands of pounds.
If it did then Canon would soon be out of business!

So exactly what is on offer here and what is not?
A considered and truthful opinion from a professional photographer and his supplier.
Not everyone will be bothered by these professional provisos but everyone should understand the issues before considering purchase as follows:

........................

Firstly the hard facts:

1. This extender loses two stops of light which means that only 1/4 of the normal light from the lens will reach the sensor
2. Only series 1 cameras will only give auto focus at basic f8.0 or wider which means that the slowest lens possible for auto focus will be f4.0
3. Non-series 1 cameras will only give auto focus at basic f5.6 or wider which means that the slowest lens possible for auto focus will be f2.8
4. Both the f5.6 or f8 basic apertures with the extender fitted will increasingly be slow to latch on to focus in less than good light

[...] gives in-depth reviews of all lenses and full explanations of the above facts.

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My personal experience as a professional

This extender was bought primarily to extend the use of the 300mm F2.8 and the 70-200mm F.8 lenses. I had previously owned the original version of this extender and then the Mark 2. This mark 3 continues the improvement although it must be said that differences are slight and you need large images to fully see any real change. All three extenders have real matters of compromise to consider and these apply to this latest model too.... The real issue concerns the loss of image quality and performance compared to full-length lenses and whether such losses are acceptable enough for the purchaser's purposes.

The intended advantage of using this extender with these two lenses is that you get greater magnification with full automatic features but at a much lower total weight (and cost) of buying another lens. The performance, flexibility and ease of use thus gained is supposed to be such that this works out as a useful piece of kit.

However it must be stated that this extender is less sharp than the 1.4 extender and that you also lose a valuable 2 stops of light which will have quite a major reduction in overall performance of the main lens being used. It really is only worth having if you are pairing it up with an F 2.8 lens because otherwise the focus may take too long to latch on, or may not even work at all if your basic lens is not fast enough. Use is also rather limited to bright conditions for reasons of speed and focus. Conditions in the USA may therefore be more suitable than in the UK for example and safari holidays may also be suitable uses for the same reason.

As a result I have found that I use it only very rarely and only then in particularly favourable lighting conditions and as a last option. I have never found the final image to be of sufficient quality to be useful professionally. In reality it really only works well enough to be considered with fast professional F 2.8 lenses. However, professionals would nearly always choose to use a longer lens because the loss of performance with the extender makes images too doubtful for professional use.

As a consequence this is nowhere as useful as the 1.4 extender in practice. A longer lens will always out-perform this extender coupled with a shorter lens and quite markedly. However longer lenses cost more, are heavier and simply more to carry about so this extender is useful as a fall-back option for occasional extra reach but at some cost of quality and operating performance.

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Professional supplier's opinion

I discussed this extender with my professional supplier on behalf of an enquirer not using my equipment and this was his considered advice:

1. The loss of 2 stops makes this a slow lens so an 100-400 f4.0-5.6 lens becomes f8.0-11.0 for example
2. Autofocus loss or prolonged searching becomes an issue with lenses slower than f2.8
3. This loss means that good light becomes very important and a futher limiting factor
4. Cropping will exaggerate loss of sharpness. Large crops do more damage than small crops
5. Large images, especially in print form, will exaggerate loss of sharpness
6. Older camera models with older processors are less able to handle the increase of digital noise
7. Cameras with less than full frame imaging will exaggerate loss of sharpness
8. Lenses without image stabilising will exaggerate loss of sharpness.

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Essential considerations:
In the supplier's view the best chance of success with this extender therefore would be to have a new model full-frame camera coupled with a USM lens with image stabilising and as fast an F stop as possible (F2.8 is, in his opinion, the only viable option). Avoid cropping and large prints as much as possible and always work in good lighting.

Conclusion:
Recommended only for the specific circumstances as above and especially for owners of fast F 2.8 lenses. Consider the pros and cons carefully before purchasing. You may be disappointed otherwise.

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A note to the anonymous negative voters:
The voting system is specifically only about reviews being 'helpful' or 'unhelpful'
Goodness only knows what you find to be `unhelpful' about this review.

A negative vote without reason is not helpful to anyone. It does not contribute in any useful way to discussion so no-one can learn from you.
If you have a different view or find the review 'unhelpful' then explain, giving your reasons, and share your views in the comment option as intended.

Significantly, I know of at least one good reviewer who has finally given up with anonymous negative votes such as has been experienced here and deleted all his reviews. The loss to the whole collecting community is his considerable knowledgeable advice and the gain is his own free time. He cannot be persuaded to return to writing reviews despite my repeated encouragement.

Anonymous negative votes without supporting reasons can have other negative results that you may not have thought of. Read more ›

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Initial results here.. February 10, 2011

By Manohar Srikanth

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is my first extender, and I have not used any other ones before. So far I have tried this on 135mm f/2L and 200mm f/2L, the canon's best :). The results on 135mm f/2L is extraordinary -- I am the guy who scans for each pixel in the photograph. I was amazed to see the sharpness of the resulting 270mm f/4L, the images are super sharp even at f/4. However, the results are not so great on 200mm f/2L. I need to do extensive test when I find time, and I hope to update it in the due course. If someone here requests a test, I'll be happy to do it faster.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It does exactly what the specs say but... October 24, 2011

By Jeff Chodack

Amazon Verified Purchase

The Canon EF 2X III does exactly what Canon says it will do. I use the Canon T1i and the 70-200 f2.8 IS II lens. I purchased the extender for sports photography on larger fields.
General Observations:
- I did not notice any lag in the autofocus.
- The autofocus did hunt more at the upper end of the zoom.
- The 2 stop decrease in light made a big difference. I am spoiled using a f2.8 lens and found that I couldn't use the extender on an overcast day. For action shots, I like to use TV mode (Canon's Shutter Priority) and set the shutter speed between 1/800 - 1/1000. Because of the decrease in incoming light, I could not shoot this fast and found many shots blurrier than expected. If you can tolerate shooting at lower shutter speeds, this won't be an issue.

The extender is not compatible with all Canon lenses. Be sure to check the compatibility of your lens with the extender before purchasing. Also be sure to check that if the lens is compatible, is there any loss of lens functionality. No autofocus being the big one.

Overall the extender is a good product but there is a reason that the pros buy expensive lenses and not extenders.