New lens or tele converter: Hi Gang! I love both outdoor, wildlife and high school sports. To those ends, I bought a Nikon 80-200 f2.8 two ring version lens. While the 200 will do most...

Dana C Loc: Buhl, Idaho

Hi Gang!

I love both outdoor, wildlife and high school sports. To those ends, I bought a Nikon 80-200 f2.8 two ring version lens. While the 200 will do most of what I want, having additional reach for wil be something I will want sooner or later.

The question is, do I spend $150-$200 for a quality Tele extender or save up and buy something what will go to 400mm like the Nikon 80-400 or Sigma 120-400? Both can be bought for around $700-800 used on ebay.

As always I value your opinions greatly.

Dana

TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ

If you are willing to risk $150-$200 and have problems with focus in your type of photography you describe, then go for it,
on the other hand, if you are not the adventurer and want a sure fire deal, then go for the longer zoom ! :)

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

How soon do you want to be shooting at 280mm ?? In consideration of image quality with your dated lens - I would only recommend a 1.4X - But you do need to be saving up for a later lens with faster AF - for what you are doing !

Sheila Loc: Arizona or New York

If you use a 1.4 telextender you will lose 1 f stop. the max will be f 4. The Sigma and the Nikon 80 to 400 have variable f stops depending on the focal length. Greater focal length means higher value (over 6) for the most open f stop. I have the Nikon 80-400 older version not VRII. It is useful in some circumstances but tends to hunt a little for focus especially in low light situations. The VRII version is more expensive than the older version was.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

I would recommend saving up. I have a TC and seldom use it. I probably would never use it at a sporting event.

Dana C wrote:

Hi Gang! br br I love both outdoor, wildlife and ... (show quote)

LaoXiang

Buy the long lens ... and Then save up for the TC.

For sports and wildlife you can never have too much reach, and if you went with the TC and still found yourself wanting more, you'd be that much further (savings-wise) from affording the lens.

Someone who knows told me that the 1.4 TC doesn't degrade image quality noticeably but the 2.0 might (though he has a finer eye than I) and also, you lose an f-stop with the 1.4 and two or three with the 2.0, which could push you to using higher ISO and further compromise quality.

It really comes down to whether 280 mm will get you the shots you need, or if you need the extra 100+ mm.

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

canon, Nikon, and sony have "G" quality lenses and in house tc's. if you can match their best, you'll get great images with both the 1.4 and 2.0.

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

TucsonCoyote wrote:

If you are willing to risk $150-$200 and have problems with focus in your type of photography you describe, then go for it,
on the other hand, if you are not the adventurer and want a sure fire deal, then go for the longer zoom ! :)

I only use my Teleconverter for static shots because of the AF issue.
I almost always, on a Long Zoom Lens, can't get an AF lock on a moving subject in medium to low light.
Craig

Bozsik Loc: Orangevale, California

Dana C wrote:

Hi Gang! br br I love both outdoor, wildlife and ... (show quote)

It will be quite difficult to find a quality Nikon tele-converter for 150 bucks. One the other hand, the new 80-400 is a great lens. The older was fine optically, but the focus for sports and wildlife wasn't there.

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Bozsik wrote:

It will be quite difficult to find a quality Nikon tele-converter for 150 bucks. One the other hand, the new 80-400 is a great lens. The older was fine optically, but the focus for sports and wildlife wasn't there.

Be careful what lenses you want to put Nikon Teleconverters behind.
The following AF-S and AF-I NIKKOR lenses can be used with the AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E III
AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED*
AF-S VR Nikkor 200mm f/2G IF-ED
AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II
AF-S VR Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G IF-ED
AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED II
AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
AF-I Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED*
AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8G ED VR
AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8D IF-ED
AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8D IF-ED II
AF-I Nikkor 400mm f/2.8D IF-ED
AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/4G ED VR*
AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF-ED II*
AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF-ED*
AF-I Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF-ED*
AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR*
AF-S Nikkor 600mm f/4D IF-ED II*
AF-S Nikkor 600mm f/4D IF-ED*
AF-I Nikkor 600mm f/4D IF-ED*
AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II
AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D IF-ED
AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED*s.

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

imagemeister wrote:

How soon do you want to be shooting at 280mm ?? In consideration of image quality with your dated lens - I would only recommend a 1.4X - But you do need to be saving up for a later lens with faster AF - for what you are doing !

The optics of that "dated lens" are superb: it doesn't have VR: and depending on the model doesn't have silent wave motors: but is still a fine lens.

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

CraigFair wrote:

Be careful what lenses you want to put Nikon Telec... (show quote)

But, you can use the Kenko Auto Pro extenders on almost every Nikon tele, especially the ones without silent wave motors.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

romanticf16 wrote:

The optics of that "dated lens" are superb: it doesn't have VR: and depending on the model doesn't have silent wave motors: but is still a fine lens.

IQ relating to fast AF is what I meant to reference.....

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

romanticf16 wrote:

But, you can use the Kenko Auto Pro extenders on almost every Nikon tele, especially the ones without silent wave motors.

Also the Tamron Teleconverters can fit all the Nikon lenses.
Which is better the Tamron or the Kenco Teleconverters???
Craig

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

CraigFair wrote:

Also the Tamron Teleconverters can fit all the Nikon lenses.
Which is better the Tamron or the Kenco Teleconverters???
Craig

For all practical purposes they are identical. The Tamron, being on the market longer than Kenko, is more available used.