To get more magnification from the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5 L USM Lens, add a Canon EF 2x II or III Extender. The resulting 2x magnification is quite impressive. 360mm f/11.0 1/160s ISO 100. Shooting Sports with Extenders. There are few lenses that work as well with extenders as the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS II USM Lens.
I have been using the 1.4x extender with various models of the 70-200 f/2.8 along with other telephotos for 25 years. I love the 1.4x and hate the 2x. I have seen almost negligible change to an image with the 1.4x on an L lens and no difference in autofocus speed. The 2x is noticeably soft and the focus slows way down.
It autofocuses fine on just the body. I purchased a 1.4x and 2x Tamron (non-SP) teleconverters, neither of which work well with the the Sigma and result in lots of hunting and failing to lock in. I purchased the Sigma 1.4x and it works brilliantly with the 70-200. For kicks, I put the 1.4x Tamron onto the 1.4x+70-200 combo and took photos.Of course, the benefit of having the 70-200mm + 2x is you effectively have two lenses. A 70-200mm f/2.8, and a 140-400mm f/5.6. Now for the money part, you now have a $2,400 (current street prices for both) solution vs. a $1,400 (100-400). You save $1,000, but you are also 'stuck' is a fairly slow lens and less-good (not bad) optics. Thoughts? 1. 2X III works really well and maintain a reasonable sharpness only on Superteles, 100-400 II and on on 70-200 II and unfortunately not included the 100-400 I. It's a waste of money. kingfishers are one of the skittish creatures, it posts a challenge even with 600mm + 2x. rHY67.