Hello
I'm looking for some help making a decision....
I have a Nikon D7000 with a 24-120 Nikon lens and an 80-400 Nikon lens. I was wondering if anyone had any experience using teleconverters. Are they any good/do they do the job? I understand that some aspects of the lens will change with a teleconverter. Are those changes worth while for the benefit of the teleconverter?
Thanks so much for your help!
@bradleynovak I do some nature shots and want to do a lot more. I am also interested in some sport photography but can not always sit front row at sports games to get the close up shots. I have not had any experience with a teleconverter so was really wondering if they were worth the money.
@k1w1 So I know more about it on the Canon side so most will apply here, but take it with a grain of salt just in case. Your camera and that 80-400 has the field of view of a 120-600mm lens. This is crazy good. This should cover most everything you could possibly need. Teleconverters tend to slow down autofocus as well as degrade Image quality, but it is often worth it for the extra range. However, I believe using a teleconverter on your 80-400 will actually prevent autofocus from working, because it changes the maximum aperture to f/8 on the narrow end, f/11 on the long end. If you can;t live without autofocus, not worth it.
@k1w1 I did not know Nikon had an 80 - 400mm. Was it pretty expensive. I will have to research this more. Dropped my 200mm, it was the one that came in a kit, and looks like it will cost more to repair it than it is worth so looking for an upgraded better option for a new zoom lense... Anyone have any suggestions as to what route I should go?
@bradleynovak
Thanks. I will do some more reading. I can live without auto focus but what I was reading about the converter made me think it did not impact anything. Going to check that out. I was really thinking of taking it to the ball park to try it out at the next MLB game we go to :)Thanks again for the advice :)
@shirljess
I purchased the lens when I got my D200... when they were first released in the U.S. I have never seen another one since. If you live in the US then try 42nd Street Photography in New York city. When I got my D200 and lenses they were cheaper than anywhere else. I even got a trip to New York and a hotel room for less than what I could get the same things from set up here :) Good luck shopping!!
You can generally get either 1.4x or 2x tele extenders. In either case your f stop is reduced e.g. f4 on normal lens becomes f8 with the 2x. Also because there are glass elements in the extenders there is a likelihood of reduced quality, especially with the cheaper extenders, of the pic. I used to use them years ago when I had my old Pentax but I don't have them for my Canons so can't comment on the quality now. But for that shot when you really, really need some extra reach they will do the job. Maybe look at a used long prime lens if you can carry the extra weight (and cost!!). I have an old 450mm full manual lense which I had for many many years and have bougth an adapter to fit my Canon and that does me the twice a year I need it. Can also use my 2x Pentax thread converter with it to give me an effective 1350 on my dslr. Quality is a bit horrendous at that though.
I'm on Canon hardware, not Nikon, so experience may be different. I'm using a Canon 2x tele with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L. There's no noticeable loss in image quality. You do lose two f-stops with a 2x tele, so be sure to factor that in. If it raises your base aperture too far, you'll lose autofocus. That's not an issue with an f2.8 lens, but it IS an issue with an f5.6 lens. Now, the one real negative that I've found for shooting wildlife is that the autofocus is extremely slow with the 2x tele attached. Slow enough that I've missed birding shots with it. I'm considering picking up a 100-400 f4-5.6L IS lens for wildlife since the 2x tele is not satisfactory for anything that's moving.
Note from me - when is says "AF not possible", that isn't necessarily true. I used a 1.7TC on the Nikkor 300mm f/4 and while AF was pretty slow, it did work.
@bradleynovak@georgews@kannafoot@coastandcactus
Thank you everyone for your responses. Cissy B, thanks for the link. I'm not purchasing a teleconverter and will just have to be happy with the lens that I have!
@k1w1 Hi Christine, I have been using a x2 plus my 70-200 f2.8 which becomes an effective 140-400 f5.6 yes they AF is slightly slower, but its very usable even for fast action like Kite surfing which is what I mainly used the x2 for easy enough to bump the ISO and shutter speed up and hand hold.
Wildlife shots are the same but I tend to have it on a mono pod or my tri pod for that. As long as you aren't pushing your f stop above f8 I would recommend one
@flagged Thanks for your response. I have sent Nikon an email asking them exactly what I can use with the lenses that I have to be sure. One review I read indicated that it would damage both the lens I was using and the extender.
@flagged@coastandcactus@kannafoot@georgews@shirljess@bradleynovak
I got a telephone call from Nikon Canada today. They advised me that there are NO teleconverters that will work with either of the lenses that I have. There suggestion was to look for a good quality 300mm fixed lens and then attach the teleconverter to that. The issue is that as they try to focus the lens and the converter can both damage each other. Their other suggestion was to add a macro filter to the end of the lens as that magnifes what you are shooting...sort of :)
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Thanks. I will do some more reading. I can live without auto focus but what I was reading about the converter made me think it did not impact anything. Going to check that out. I was really thinking of taking it to the ball park to try it out at the next MLB game we go to :)Thanks again for the advice :)
I purchased the lens when I got my D200... when they were first released in the U.S. I have never seen another one since. If you live in the US then try 42nd Street Photography in New York city. When I got my D200 and lenses they were cheaper than anywhere else. I even got a trip to New York and a hotel room for less than what I could get the same things from set up here :) Good luck shopping!!
http://www.nikonusa.com/en_INC/IMG/Assets/Common-Assets/Images/Teleconverter-Compatibility/en_US_Comp_chart.html
Note from me - when is says "AF not possible", that isn't necessarily true. I used a 1.7TC on the Nikkor 300mm f/4 and while AF was pretty slow, it did work.
Good luck!
Thank you everyone for your responses. Cissy B, thanks for the link. I'm not purchasing a teleconverter and will just have to be happy with the lens that I have!
Wildlife shots are the same but I tend to have it on a mono pod or my tri pod for that. As long as you aren't pushing your f stop above f8 I would recommend one
I got a telephone call from Nikon Canada today. They advised me that there are NO teleconverters that will work with either of the lenses that I have. There suggestion was to look for a good quality 300mm fixed lens and then attach the teleconverter to that. The issue is that as they try to focus the lens and the converter can both damage each other. Their other suggestion was to add a macro filter to the end of the lens as that magnifes what you are shooting...sort of :)
This may help when you are looking into a new lens.
http://www.nikonsupport.eu/europe/Manuals/DrdIaQvRZv/TC_converter_compatibility-EN_01.pdf
also lens list and compatibility listing;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nikon_F-mount_lenses_with_integrated_autofocus_motors