Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Browning
Think of the 7D as a perfect 1.6X TC. It doesn't add any additional aberration, it doesn't slow down (or stop) autofocus, and it doesn't make the viewfinder any darker. All it does is magnify the flaws in your lens. Since the 500mm f/4 has few flaws, this is not much of a problem. I would have thought that the 7D would handily trounce the 5D2+1.4X TC, because real life teleconverters aren't perfect (though their distortion and chromatic aberration can often be corrected in post), but in this case (200mm lens) it looks like even with the 1.4X TC, the 5D2 is sharper:

Daniel


The 200mm lens in the comparison is a very high quality sharp lens. The 500mm F4L is an awesome lens as well. With the 1.4 teleconverter on the 500mm I can not perceive any loss of sharpness or Image Quality when using the 5D Mark II. With some other L series lenses I think you would have seen the 7D outperform the teleconverter. The 2x is a different story, it rarely performs to what I expect.


In the crop comparisons you pointed out, I am not sure in a real world situation I would notice any difference in quality from either camera. That said the autofocus system and the frame rates would be the deciding factors.


The 7D being the better camera for wildlife use is a hard one to get in my mind. I upgraded to a 5D Mark II before the 7D existed. At first thought you would think it would be a step backwards. I have been waiting for the 1Ds IV to come out, and hoping it would have a very fast frame rate and be able to process pictures quickly so I don't hit the "BUSY" signal.


Thanks for the input, it gives me a lot to think over.





Rick