nederob1 Loc: Brandon, Ms

Just wanted to ask everyone is would it be worth it or beneficial to put a tel converter like a 1.5x or 2x on my Nikon AF-S VR Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.4-5.6G. I have a Nikon D7000. This is to shoot wildlife and object out in the open not in trees or deep woods. What would I have to do if I did put on the lens. I know I'll lose light, how do you fix that problem lower the speed or raise ISO. THANKS FOR ANY ADVICE

thephotoman Loc: Rochester, NY

The first thing you should do is make sure the teleconverter works with the lens you want to use. I found out just because both are from same company not all lenses work with a converter. You will lose some light, usually 1-2 stops. If you are shooting action keep the shutter speed up and either lower aperature or raise iso. Depnding on your desired results you may have to do both. If you are shooting a stationary subject you can keep iso low and use a smaller aperature for greater depth of field. What you do for exposure adjustments always depends on what results you want.

Musket Loc: ArtBallin'

You will lose a ton of light, 70-300 becomes 600mm f8 at the long end with a 2x and may cause problems with AF(the camera may hunt/misfocus).

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2009/01/teleconverters-101

I personally wouldn't bother, but to answer your question you will be upping your ISO in bad light. Its a solution for sunny 16 days, but probably going to be a PITA in lesser light.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

Not sure. I'm a Canon user, but I own a 1.4x converter. You need a lot of light on a lens rated at f/4 or smaller (meaning smaller aperture like f/5.6). However, on my f/2.8 lens it works much better. In a nutshell, I'd say avoid the converter unless you are willing to invest in faster glass. Just my opinion.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

So true. I don't think the Nikon tc's will work on your 70-300. I was disappointed to learn that I don't have any lenses that will work with Nikon tc's. Nikon intentionally designed them so you cannot get super zoom with a cheaper lens. Rule of thumb, if the lens costs less than $1000, the teleconverter cannot be mounted to it.

Musket Loc: ArtBallin'

The TC20EIII wont function with anything but pro 2.8/f4 lenses and even then at f4 you lose function with some camera bodies of the AF. Example My 600mm f4 will have af issues on a D7000. It wont have issues on a D4.

http://www.nikonusa.com/en_INC/IMG/Assets/Common-Assets/Images/Teleconverter-Compatibility/EN_Comp_chart.html

AF will only be functional at F8 with Prosumer and up bodies.
Autofocus is available only with cameras that offer f/8 support. These include the D4, D800/D800E, D600 and D7100.

Hypno Loc: Miami

I used a Tamron 70-300 wih a 2x converter on a Nikon D60 to take this picture of a ship in the Port of Miami, 8 miles away overlooking Biscayne Bay. Picture is noisy but we are talking about a cropped picture at 8 miles distance.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

Is that Princess Kate on the top deck? :shock:

Bugfan Loc: Toronto, Canada

Used to be that every lens and teleconverter combination would work but no more.

There are two issues. Some lenses with internal focus have a rear element that would crash into the teleconverter lens so you can't use them.

The other issue is AF. Generally AF stops working after f5.6 so if the teleconverter cannot keep the maximum aperture at that level or better the teleconverter likely won't mount on the lens. Nikon had designed it that way to ensure that autofocus always works when using the teleconverter.

Today Nikon has cameras that handle autofocus below f5.6 so technically it should work but the teleconverter still won't mount on many of the slower lenses.

A solution is to acquire a non Nikon teleconverter. There are some third party ones that connect to every Nikon lens, there are some others that only connect to most of them, the ones without the protruding rear element. You'll have to snoop around to find one.

Make sure the teleconverter you get links electronically so that you can retain autofocus and aperture control. And if things get too dark to focus automatically, set the lens to manual focus instead.

I have a Nikon 2x teleconverter which works on my macro lens and a few of my high end lenses like the F2.8 70-200. The performance is amazing but the images are not as perfect as they are when you use the lens without it. Recognize that there are compromises when you use this technology but then if you have to get the picture, that's an inexpensive way to get it.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Simple answer is, don't waste your money as you will never be happy with the results. Plus its possible to physically damage your lens using a TC on it, many lenses when zoomed back will contact the element in the TC damaging both optical elements when they collide.

nederob1 Loc: Brandon, Ms

Thanks everyone, Musket, Oddjobber, Shooter and the others for a pretty good job of explaining it to me.

zundapp5 Loc: Portugal

In some situations you need to take a test to make sure that everything is working fine! I use the TC-20EII in AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED, and the autofocus works well in all conditions, but in the table they say "AF not possible"
One thing to be careful that the rear element of the lens does not go hit the teleconverter lens when zooming

cthahn

A 2x tele converter looses two stops of light. Everything is a trade off and it revolves around available light and the subject. Do you need shutter speed, depth of field, distance to subject, more light. When you understand the equation between shutter, aperture, ISO, lens speed, then you can answer t he question.

cthahn

A 2x tele converter looses two stops of light. Everything is a trade off and it revolves around available light and the subject. Do you need shutter speed, depth of field, distance to subject, more light. When you understand the equation between shutter, aperture, ISO, lens speed, then you can answer t he question.

bersharbp Loc: Texas

I had a T/C in the '60s. The picture sharpness always decreased and, obviously, the speed. I was told that wasn't true any more and that I should get one. Based on your comment, I'm discontinuing my research on T/C. Thanks.