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Teleconverters

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 Mr Ed 11 Oct 2007
Just got into photography again after buying myself a D40. Nice little camera been very pleased with it.

I have got some nice results with my dads 70-300G lens shooting wildlife but was limited by the lack of autofocus it not being AFS so was considering getting the 70-300 AFS VR lens.

My question is after that would it be worth buying a teleconverter to get up to 600mm? Or are the results so shocking and the lack of light entering that the lens that there is no point?

Cheers

Ed
 ChrisJD 11 Oct 2007
In reply to Mr Ed:

Avoid 2x TC.

1.4x can be worth it.

Go with a Nikon one if you can, but image quality will be reduced. Be prepared to use a tripod/mono pod

Check that:

1. TC will actually work on the lens
2. That autofocus will work

The TC will reduce the wide open aperture - so there may not be enough light getting in for the AF to function - AF on Canons need f5.6 on consumer bodies and f8 on pro bodies.


I have a 1.4x and use it occasionally with success.

e.g.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.php?id=72835



OP Mr Ed 11 Oct 2007
In reply to ChrisJD:

I did wonder why nikon only listed certain lenses for compatability with its teleconverter. Unfortunately I don't believe that the 70-300 VR is listed as conmpatable with the 1.4x TC.

Really impressed by the photo! Front page of summit to! You must have been well chuffed with that.

Might have to go and have a think about TC's and lens compatability....

Thanks for the advice.

Mr Ed
 ChrisJD 11 Oct 2007
In reply to Mr Ed:

Compatability: Yep I've been caught out on that.

Third party TCs (eg Sigma etc) may be compatible.

Just avoid 2x !!

Happy shooting

Cheers

Chris
 Dr Avid 11 Oct 2007
In reply to Mr Ed: hmm, the problem is the lens is quite slow already, so fitting a teleconverter might be a problem, as even if it does autofocus, it might be slow and/or hunt a lot, not what you want for wildlife.

For teleconverters you want nice fast lenses to get the best out of them. However, I have not used one with a lens above 5.6 so cannot say this for sure.

I have used a tamron 1.4x pro with a Nikon 80-200 2.8 and it was perfect.....no loss of discernable quality, and autofocused the same.

Everything Chris says is spot on, I just think that putting a teleconverter on a 5.6 lens will lead to more frustration than joy in anything but very bright light. I would look at a faster lens for 1.4x, or the 200-400. Both will be more expensive. Wildlife photography is like that...

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