srivers

Hi, I am a long-term amateur photographer but just recently shifted to a DSLR--I have a Nikon D90 body and a Tamron 18-270 zoom lens. I am primarily interested in bird, wildlife and landscape photography, am not wealthy and I usually hand-hold or use a monopod so weight is an issue. I am trying to decide whether to bite the bullet and buy a 400-600 mm zoom lens or to try using a teleconverter with my current lens. What do you think of teleconverters and what are the pros and cons--I know light is one of the issues, especially when shooting birds in forests or jungles. I will appreciate any advice. Thanks

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Zoom lens, widest/fastest you can afford ;)

A 1.4 TC may be useable, but a 2.0 TC will cut the the light too much.

AF can also be affected depending on the aperture reduction by the TC.

marsdad Loc: NE Florida

I am using a Kenko Pro 300 1.4 with a Nikkor 70.-300 , AF-S lens and getting some pretty good shots, also use it with a 55-200- Nikkor. I bought it new at Adorama for $147.00 but you can pick one up for less used.

BigBear Loc: Northern CT

A TC will not likely work on your Tamron 18-270 anyway.
So if you want something longer then you don't have many choices. I'm a Canon shooter so I can't offer any Nikon recommendations unless you care to switch over.

stevef.stop Loc: west London

if you can get hold of a 300mm 2.8 manual lens and a 2x converter you will be able to shot some great bird pictures, but you will have to learn to focus manually , it works check out my bird pictures on here all taken with said set up...you could pick up the lens second hand for around $500- $600 or £400-£500 and maybe 50 -60 for the converter

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I have a Tamron 18-270 lens which I use with an older Kenko 2X teleconverter on an elderly Canon Rebel. The Kenko device doesn't report its presence, so my Rebel doesn't know that it can't focus, so it focuses rather reliably. However, bird in forest pictures will often require manual focusing anyway, since bird and branch may seem equally interesting to the camera's focusing mechanism. As usual, your mileage may differ.

DaveHam Loc: Reading UK

The problem with the tc is loss of image quality. With a 1.4 this is about 5% sharpness, not really noticeable, but with the 2.0 it can be over 10% depending how you shoot. The 2.0 will also be manual focus on the D90 with F4 aperture lenses.

An option may be to look at the used market for the 400mm F4's, which offer quality and good reach affordably particularly if you look at some of the non - Nikon brands, though do your research if you go non - Nikon as some of these are very poor.

A lot of good comment is made about the Sigma 150-500 which has come down in price after the latest 600mm telephoto offerings have come on the market.

Marilyng Loc: Lorain,Oh.

[quote=srivers]Hi, I am a long-term amateur photographer but just recently shifted to a DSLR--I have a Nikon D90 body and a Tamron 18-270 zoom lens. I am primarily interested in bird, wildlife and landscape photography, am not wealthy and I usually hand-hold or use a monopod so weight is an issue. I am trRying to decide whether to bite the bullet and buy a 400-600 mm zoom lens or to try using a teleconverter with my current lens. What do you think of teleconverters and what are the pros and cons--I know light is one of the issues, especially when shooting birds in forests or jungles. I will appreciate any advice. Thanks
I had a Sigma 150-500 lens but it was just to heavy for me so I had to sell it.I also love to take photos of birds & other wildlife & was not happy with my 300 lens so with good advice from this forum I purchased the Kenko 1.4 T/C.I have a D7100 & I am very happy with that combination!

eshotwell Loc: Eaton Rapids, Michigan

Good Morning!
I've got an older Kenko 1.4 TelePlus TC for Nikon. It does work with my autofocus on my D810. It is outdated these days but should work on your setup. If anyone wants it for the cost of shipping in the US just drop me an email.

Ed Shotwell
edward@crgdirectories.com

eshotwell Loc: Eaton Rapids, Michigan

The TC is off to a good home. Thanks for all the replies. Freebie stuff goes mighty fast! -ED

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

With a teleconverter you lose three things: light, image quality and autofocus performance.

I don't have the Tamron 18-270 and can't say for certain, but I doubt it would work very well with even a good quality teleconverter. For one thing, the Tamron 18-270mm I see selling on Amazon is an f3.5-6.3 lens. Adding a 1.4X teleconverter to it will make it an effective 25-378mm f5.0-9.0 (one stop less light). Combine it with a 2X teleconverter and the combo will effectively be a 36-540mm f7.1-12.6 (two stops light lost).

Even if image quality is acceptable... your camera's autofocus is unlikely to work well, or at all. Plus, your viewfinder will be darkened too, making even manual focus difficult.

A good quality teleconverter costs at least $150 and most go for around $250 to $450. They are primarily designed for use with prime lenses, not zooms. There are just too many variables with zooms, generally speaking.

The image quality of the lens alone also is a factor. If it is very high to start with, then the loss of, say, 5% to a good 1.4X, or 15% to a stronger 2X may still leave adequate image quality. There can be a particular combo that works reasonably and acceptably well, but it may take some experimentation to find it.

All in all, you might be better advised to just start saving toward a longer zoom lens. Sigma is heavily discounting some models currently, probably discontinuing them or coming out with a new model. For example, I saw the Sigma 150-500mm f5.0-6.3 OS HSM being offered for $870, which is about $200 off the previous selling price (probably is discontinued in favor of their two new 150-600mm that are being offered). In fact, right now it's selling for less than their 120-400mm OS HSM.

Alternatively, the Tamron 150-600mm f5.0-6.3 VC USD is being offered for about $1070, also a really good value. The new "consumer" (C) version of the Sigma 150-600mm likely will be selling for about the same, while the more robust "sports" (S) version of that lens costs $2000. Most other lenses with these focal lengths are more expensive... often a whole lot more expensive.

Teleconverters can be good. I use 1.4X with 300/4, 300/2.8, 500/4 frequently, and occasionally with 135/2 and 70-200/2.8. I also use 2X, but mostly just with 300/2.8 and occasionally 500/4. I will not use 2X on 70-200/2.8, for example, because the loss of image quality is unacceptable to me.

Unfortunately there are few "cheap fixes" when you start looking at really long focal lengths.

terrild53 Loc: Now in The Villages, FL

terrild53 Loc: Now in The Villages, FL

I use a TC with my Tamron 18-270 & it works fine, although not a huge difference but fun to use. The AF does work, but I usually shoot in manual mode anyway. I bought a longer better zoom lens, so don't use the TC much now.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Yes, I already stated above that my Tamron works as well with a TC as without ... but the urban legend continues and people continue to confidently report the contrary regardless of actual experience of actual people

Tracyv Loc: Del Mar, Ca

amfoto1 :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: