I want a "big" telephoto lens without the weight/bulk

Up until about a year ago I always had a 500 or 600 mm Canon lens to use with my Canon 7D II and previous camera bodies. I really enjoyed the quality of image I got with that setup. Advancing age made me rethink the situation and I sold the big lens. My present "big" lens is a Canon 100-400 II. It is a fantastic lens but sometimes I wish for more focal length.

I have used the 100-400 with Canon 1.4X III teleconverter with mixed results. At best this combination is a far cry from the 500 or 600 lens.

Here's a question. Would any of the following options give better results than the 100-400 with the 1.4X III TC?
Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 lens
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens
Canon EF 400 mm f/5.6 USM lens with 1.4X III TC

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

If you want excellence, you may want to look at the Sony RX10IV, not quite the reach you are looking for (600mm fov) but brighter (f4 at the long end).

I had the 400 f4 DO II. Pricey but it was great with the 1.4 and still good with the 2x. I also had a 500 and didn't want to keep both but a buyer appeared for the 400 so I let it go. Still having some second thoughts about that. It was a very, very nice lens.

In general, TC's and zooms don't play that well with one another. Any of those options, optically are better than a zoom with a TC. The Tamron and Sigma's will be best with a detailed focus calibration utilizing their respective lens docks which calibrate the lenses across different distances and focal lengths. The Canon 400 prime +1.4x is also better but you lose IS which may be detrimental depending on how you shoot.

The Sony RX10 IV, while excellent doesn't give you the same reach. That is 600mm full frame equivalent. What you are looking for, based on your summary above is more like 750 to 900mm full frame equivalent. But it is a very good camera with a lot of reach in a relatively small and light package.

If you don't mind downsizing your sensor, you can have one combo that gives you 840mm full frame equivalent. Will cost you though

DChan wrote:If you don't mind downsizing your sensor, you can have one combo that gives you 840mm full frame equivalent. Will cost you though

And what sensor are you talking about - micro 4/3?

Mike in O wrote:If you want excellence, you may want to look at the Sony RX10IV, not quite the reach you are looking for (600mm fov) but brighter (f4 at the long end).

Mike,
I already have 640 mm of effective focal length - 400 mm X 1.6 crop factor. I have heard lots of good things about the Sony RX10 IV and have even tried one for a short time. In all sorts of ways the Sony is not even close to my 7D II/100-400 II combination.

Bruce Sherman wrote:

DChan wrote:If you don't mind downsizing your sensor, you can have one combo that gives you 840mm full frame equivalent. Will cost you though

And what sensor are you talking about - micro 4/3?

Yes.

DChan wrote:

Bruce Sherman wrote:

DChan wrote:If you don't mind downsizing your sensor, you can have one combo that gives you 840mm full frame equivalent. Will cost you though

And what sensor are you talking about - micro 4/3?

Yes.

You must be referring to the Zuiko 300 f/4 and 1.4x.  It’s tack sharp wide open with the extender.  I love that combo.

prairiewing wrote:I had the 400 f4 DO II.  Pricey but it was great with the 1.4 and still good with the 2x.  I also had a 500 and didn't want to keep both but a buyer appeared for the 400 so I let it go.  Still having some second thoughts about that.   It was a very, very nice lens.

I have never used either of the 400/4 DO's, but this was my first thought.  I would imagine that the 400 DO II would be your best bet.

I am in the midst of learning the EM1 MkII + 300 f4 + 1.4TC. I think the lens is less than 9 inches and weighs less than 3 pounds and has an effective focal length of 600mm (840mm with TC). I am not making huge prints, etc. so the need for the ff sensor is not for me. I need portability and ease of use. I have zero problem handholding this setup getting sharp images at slow shutter speeds with the IS functioning to 6 stops. IS is excellent on the system. Images are very good but if you pixelmpeep you may see a difference depending on conditions. But I don’t really do that so..... I wanted portability so I could bird as well as photograph instead of lugging all the crap around when mynoutput didn’t need that level.

Maybe rent the system for a week and see if it works for you. That is what i did.