TC Musings

[Leif]

Originally Posted by nirofo

I regularly work with a TC14E on my Nikon 500 f4 AFS and can honestly say I can't tell the difference. I'm sure Leif is right, some converters only work well with specific lenses, on the other hand I have a Tamron 1.4 that seems to work well on my Tokina 150-500 f5.6 ATX, my Tokina 80-400 ATX and on my Tamron 90mm Macro. I think if you push the boat out and use a 2X converter on any lens, then you are going to have to except lower quality results. Having said that, if it's the only way you can obtain the shot, then the result is as good as it gets!

nirofo.

Have you tried a 2x TC on your 500mm lens? Andy has some results with a 600mm F4 + 2x TC that are surprisingly good. And Arthur Morris has some in his bird book that are also surprisingly good. At least one of his pictures stacks TCs i.e. 1.4x + 2x.

I think we also need to remember that most of us are testing teleconverters on APS cameras. That means that any edge softness is going to be reduced. That said, I've tried a TC14A on a Nikon 75-150 F3.5, a Nikon 200mm F4 AFD micro lens and a Sigma 400mm F5.5 APO Macro, and the less said the better. The best of the bunch is the 75-150 zoom + TC which is surprisingly sharp, but CA is excessive. The TC14A is said to be for lenses less than 200mm so maybe that explains the results.

[Adey Baker]

Well, I must say that I'm impressed with the 400mm + converter at F5.6, though I suppose the dimmer viewfinder image makes it less easy to use with a moving subject.

The key seems to be in finding the lens' best focus distance as well as aperture.

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by Adey Baker

The key seems to be in finding the lens' best focus distance as well as aperture.

Things are getting trickier by the moment. Still without this thread I would not have checked this aspect out at all.

As for viewfinder brightness you are right. Luckily the X has a lot brighter one than the D100, but it would a problem in low contrast/lower light level situation.

Don.

[Leif]

Originally Posted by Don Hoey

Things are getting trickier by the moment. Still without this thread I would not have checked this aspect out at all.

As for viewfinder brightness you are right. Luckily the X has a lot brighter one than the D100, but it would a problem in low contrast/lower light level situation.

Don.

Surely you can use the focus confirmation light? That would be auto-focus with a DH motor I guess.

[nirofo]

Originally Posted by Leif

Have you tried a 2x TC on your 500mm lens? Andy has some results with a 600mm F4 + 2x TC that are surprisingly good. And Arthur Morris has some in his bird book that are also surprisingly good. At least one of his pictures stacks TCs i.e. 1.4x + 2x.

I think we also need to remember that most of us are testing teleconverters on APS cameras. That means that any edge softness is going to be reduced. That said, I've tried a TC14A on a Nikon 75-150 F3.5, a Nikon 200mm F4 AFD micro lens and a Sigma 400mm F5.5 APO Macro, and the less said the better. The best of the bunch is the 75-150 zoom + TC which is surprisingly sharp, but CA is excessive. The TC14A is said to be for lenses less than 200mm so maybe that explains the results.

I've taken many excellent sharp photo's on my Nikkor 500 f4 AFS with a TC20E, however they still don't have the crisp bite of the 500 f4 plus TC14E combo. I've also obtained similar results using a Tokina 150-500 f5.6 ATX and a TelePlus 2X converter at 500mm (1000mm effective). Having said that, both lenses are of exceptional quality and among the best in their class. There are times when everthing is right and all things come together that you can obtain photo's which are way above the quality you could expect from the equipment being used. One particular instance I remember was when photographing Short-eared Owls, I was working from a hide, Olympus OM1n, Tamron 60-300 f5.6 SP at 300mm f8, Hoya 2X converter (600mm f16 effective) Kodachrome 64 slide film, Sunpak GT32 flash unit set up off camera outside hide. Here's one of the resulting photo's.

nirofo.

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by nirofo

One particular instance I remember was when photographing Short-eared Owls, I was working from a hide, Olympus OM1n, Tamron 60-300 f5.6 SP at 300mm f8, Hoya 2X converter (600mm f16 effective) Kodachrome 64 slide film, Sunpak GT32 flash unit set up off camera outside hide. Here's one of the resulting photo's.

nirofo.

Very impressive it is too.

Don

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by Leif

Surely you can use the focus confirmation light? That would be auto-focus with a DH motor I guess.

On a reasonably bright overcast day like yesterday with light around EV14, then centre focus confirmation light does not display with 2x tc on, light levels reaching the a/f sensor are equal to trying to auto focus an f11 lens. The focus direction arrows work fine at these lower EV though.

Today with the cloud, the light level is EV11 and the centre confirmation light is out with the 400 on its own.

A/F would be very nice but pricey. Guess that would rate a thread, but then again, perhaps not. I must be one of the few here, or possibly the only one, using M/F at the long end.

Don

[paul0510]

don't you guys use tripods??

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by paul0510

don't you guys use tripods??

Pick 'n mix.

Don

[nirofo]

Originally Posted by paul0510

don't you guys use tripods??

I use a tripod 90% of the time for landscapes, wildlife, close-ups and general photography, I use a custom made ledge and bean bag from the car window 8% of the time for birds and wildlife and I handhold my camera 2% of the time, mostly flight shots of birds. I must admit though that very occasionally, very occasionally I might add, I take a hurried handheld shot of a particular scenic view, where the lighting is just right and I don't have time to set up for it. Unfortunately it's very rare I get a winner from it.

nirofo.