Brandmic Loc: Alabama

How can you determine if a particular lens (Nikon) can be used with a teleconverter? Can most zoom lens be used with them? Is their use restricted to zoom and telephoto lens?

jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ

Go to Nikon's support site and ask about teleconverters and lens compatibility. The list of lenses that work with teleconverters will appear.

Brandmic Loc: Alabama

I'll give that a try. Didn't know that.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

My general rule of thumb is that if a lens costs less than $2000, forget the Nikon TC's. Nikon did that intentionally so you can't get super zoom ability for cheap while then have $5000 lenses for sale. Some third party converters can be used with the lesser Nikon lenses, but the image quality is not always good.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

Minor point here. We're assuming you're talking about Nikon teleconverters. In that case, yes, the shortest zooms they work with are some of the 70-200's and 80-200 and primes from 200 mm on up.

Third party TC's that will work with shorter lenses generally use an additional lens that is not to Nikon quality.

The Fonz Loc: Queensland, mate!

A lot of teleconverters hate slow lenses as well. I have an old Kenko 2x and AF only works reliably on my F2.8 or faster lenses, but I don't want to generalise too much; that statement isn't true across the board.
In many cases, cropping a bit is actually easier....
Anyway, we all know that the image quality with converters varies from lens to lens. Some combinations are excellent, others are crap; but even stacking converters can give decent results and is fun, although manual focus is the preferred modus operandi there. Buy one secondhand and if you don't like it...sell it on without much loss. Put it all together carefully, as done don't physically match, but I've tried over 100 combos over the years and never had anything damaged (and I don't want to overstate the incompatibility either, almost all consumer lenses are actually totally ok). A lot has been written about these things on the web. Trying out stuff is fun of course, but most manufacturers have incompatibility lists anyway. Using a TC with a wide lens is a rubbish idea in most cases anyway. (One exception, I've put a TC-16a between my Samyang 8mm MF fisheye, turning it into a 13mm full frame AF fisheye that works on my F4 and underwaterhousing combo!)

accuseal Loc: Cleveland, Ohio

Here's a good resource with a compatibility chart

http://www.nikonians.org/reviews?alias=nikonians-tele-converter-compatibility-table

oldtool2 Loc: South Jersey

What lenses are you concerned about, and what size TC's? I have had good luck using a third party 1.4X TC, Tamron in particular. I shoot Canon but also have a few Sigma lenses and have yet to have a problem with that TC.

Jim D

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

You may have a point.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

A 1.4X or 1.5X teleconverter "costs" one stop of light. In other words, a 1.4X added to a 200mm f2.8 lens you end up with an "effective" 280mm f4 lens.

A 2X teleconverter "costs" two stops of light. So adding one to the same 200/2.8, you end up with an "effective" 400mm f5.6 lens.

This loss of light to the TC is one reason your AF will not perform as well. Cameras can only AF down to a certain level. Dunno about Nikon, but my Canon are good to f5.6. Any lens or lens/TC combo that gives an aperture or an effective aperture smaller than that, the camera turns off AF. Now, if the camera doesn't know the TC is there, it might still try to focus... but will be slower and hunt more at best, might fail in low light/low contrast situations.

And, in general terms of image quality, teleconverters work best with prime lenses... not so much with zooms. Zooms are typically far more complex optically and it's next to impossible to design a TC that can give optimal image quality throughout the range of focal lengths found in a zoom. However, there are exceptions. There are specific combos that work pretty well.

I use both 1.4X and 2X TCs with my Canon lenses. I rarely use even the weaker 1.4X on any zoom, even the ones that support it. I will not use a 2X on any zoom, since the loss of IQ is just too much. I use the 1.4X most often on 300/4, 300/2.8 and 500/4 prime lenses. I use the 2X most often on the 300/2.8, but occasionally on the 500/4 (which requires focusing manually).

There are myriad possible combinations of teleconverters and lenses. Some work well... some don't. you pretty much have to ask about using a specific TC with a specific lens, to get any kind of useful help. Just because a manufacturer says it's compatible, doesn't necessarily mean the results will be worth it.... And, there are combos that the manufacturers call incompatible, but still work or can be made to work better than you might expect.

So, ask your question again, with specifics about both the lens and TC you are considering using together.

Swamp Gator Loc: Coastal South Carolina

They will not work with "most" zoom lenses they will however work with some.