teleconverter: I have a Sigma 50-500mm lens and would like to extend the magnification. Will you give me some suggestions on what to think about as far as a teleconverter is concerned?

Davet Loc: Fort Myers, Florida

I have a Sigma 50-500mm lens and would like to extend the magnification. Will you give me some suggestions on what to think about as far as a teleconverter is concerned? I will be shooting with a Nikon D300.

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

Davet wrote:

I have a Sigma 50-500mm lens and would like to extend the magnification. Will you give me some suggestions on what to think about as far as a teleconverter is concerned? I will be shooting with a Nikon D300.

No! This lens is too slow for any tele-converter! even 1.4X converter, it will make the lens almost f9, it will make your D300 to have hard time to focus.

Davet Loc: Fort Myers, Florida

Thanks

Old Timer Loc: Greenfield, In.

I have the Tamaron 150 600 and Kenco 1.4 tc and tried it one time, just put it on and tried to get it to focus. It would not. I have not tried any thing since as I know I would be loosing at least one stop. I use the TC on Canon 300 prime and get decent results. But there is a loss of image quality even with it. Some seem to come out better than others. It seems that conditions variations can cause more noticeable loss of IQ. Over all I would not buy one again and unless I could try it out for few days and different light and weather condition. I would suspect the Canon TC would do a better job, but just tried one at the photo store one time. Not extend use or out in the field.

agillot

F9 in sun light is not bad , you can always hand focus .i use a D 300 with f11 /16 lens , it is not that hard .

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

I use the Kenko Pro 1.4 with my Sigma 150-500mm lens and it works great. Yes you need good light. This is the one I have:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/674566-REG/Kenko_PRO3001_4XDGXN_Teleplus_PRO_300_DG.html

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

I use 1.4 and 2.0 tc's that render some of my lenses to f 16, as I only use them in daylight, I have no trouble focusing. if you can borrow or rent one for trial. if you have a foto store near you and they stock a compatable one, they may let you shoot a few outside.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Davet wrote:

I have a Sigma 50-500mm lens and would like to extend the magnification. Will you give me some suggestions on what to think about as far as a teleconverter is concerned? I will be shooting with a Nikon D300.

Don't even think about it.

Marilyng Loc: Lorain,Oh.

wingclui44 wrote:

No! This lens is too slow for any tele-converter! even 1.4X converter, it will make the lens almost f9, it will make your D300 to have hard time to focus.

I had the older version of the Nikon 300 lens & used the Kinko 1.4 teleconverter & it took awesome pictures! The lens was to heavy for my bad shoulder so I sold it & no longer need the t/c.

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

Marilyng wrote:

I had the older version of the Nikon 300 lens & used the Kinko 1.4 teleconverter & it took awesome pictures! The lens was to heavy for my bad shoulder so I sold it & no longer need the t/c.

Yes, if your 300mm is the f4.0 it's fine using with the 1.4x converter, I do use the same Kenko converter on my Nikon 300mm f4 AFs-D, it works fine. We are talking here about the Sigma 50-500mm f4-f6.3. which is no good for using any converter.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

I'll add my voice to most of the others to warn you that you'll probably be disappointed using a TC with that particular lens.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Davet wrote:

I have a Sigma 50-500mm lens and would like to extend the magnification. Will you give me some suggestions on what to think about as far as a teleconverter is concerned? I will be shooting with a Nikon D300.

While in some small way it may be possible to use a 1.4 TC with this lens - it will be very challenging - and the results will reflect that challenge ! How much AF you get ( if any) will depend on your exact camera body and the strength of your lighting.

The best thing I can tell you is instead of a TC , just crop your image and use properly/well applied softwares for sharpening and to enlarge your pixel count. That way you do not loose any light to the TC.

RRS Loc: Not sure

Davet wrote:

I have a Sigma 50-500mm lens and would like to extend the magnification. Will you give me some suggestions on what to think about as far as a teleconverter is concerned? I will be shooting with a Nikon D300.

Yes you can! You will loose your AF but it will work in good light but you will have to manually focus the lens. Try it with a 1.4 and if you are happy you can try the 1.7. It will all depend on what you are photographing. In the end you may find that you want/need a faster lens. I know a professional wildlife photographer that combines a 1.4 with a 2.0 on a 600mm f/4.0 lens and shooting slide film produces some of the best shots I've seen in a long time. Remember that conditions have to be right to pull it off.

Bill MN Loc: Western MN

imagemeister wrote:

While in some small way it may be possible to use a 1.4 TC with this lens - it will be very challenging - and the results will reflect that challenge ! How much AF you get ( if any) will depend on your exact camera body and the strength of your lighting.

The best thing I can tell you is instead of a TC , just crop your image and use properly/well applied softwares for sharpening and to enlarge your pixel count. That way you do not loose any light to the TC.

:thumbup: Good advice.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

A lens of this nature is not really designed for use with a TC, especially if you want autofocus. Doesn't mean you can't use one, but it might require manual focus, which may be harder to accomplish as you will be focusing through a dim F-stop. Even if autofocus works, it will be very slow. TCs are really designed for use with faster glass! That being said, the best TC is usually the one designed for the lens in use. The best way is to go to the OEM, Sigma in this case, and select a TC which lists this lens as being compatible, although there are other possibilities. When selecting an non-oem TC, be careful to determine that there won't be any damage caused when connecting the two pieces. Best of luck.