Do I get a teleconverter or not?
Apr 25, 2016 12:14:27 #
Need a little help. I've got a Nikon D7100 with an AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm 1:5.6E ED VR and am thinking of getting an Nikon AF-S TC-14E III Teleconverter.
From everything I've read I know that it will work, but my question is how well.
Do I take the plunge or not? Please give me your experience with this setup.
From everything I've read I know that it will work, but my question is how well.
Do I take the plunge or not? Please give me your experience with this setup.
Apr 25, 2016 12:24:36 #
I have teleconverters. You lose some sharpness, it is more noticeable on the 2x.
Apr 25, 2016 12:30:33 #
diggerdag wrote:
Need a little help. I've got a Nikon D7100 with an AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm 1:5.6E ED VR and am thinking of getting an Nikon AF-S TC-14E III Teleconverter.
From everything I've read I know that it will work, but my question is how well.
Do I take the plunge or not? Please give me your experience with this setup.
From everything I've read I know that it will work, but my question is how well.
Do I take the plunge or not? Please give me your experience with this setup.
What I recommend is keeping your lens's f-stop as fast as possible with a crop frame sensor and thereby maintaining your AF speed and accuracy with lower ISO also.
You can crop to reduce your field of view and use well applied pixel enlargement techniques/software to maintain image quality with good results !
Apr 25, 2016 13:02:09 #
mas24
Loc: Southern CA
I wanted to purchase a 1.4X teleconverter for two of my Nikon DX lenses. The Nikon Brand is selling for $496.00 for 1.4 and 2.0X. I looked into an aftermarket brand at B&H for about $100.00. Out of stock for weeks. Still waiting. Maybe not as good as Nikon, but definitely less expensive.
Apr 25, 2016 13:34:33 #
I enjoyed the 1.4 on the 200-500 and my D7100. I don't feel that there was any major image degradation,but I think that Jim and Imagemeister have messages that warrant consideration.
Apr 25, 2016 13:51:42 #
I have sony ff and pentax medium format tc's in both 1.4x and 2.0x. I use them at the drop of a hat, even when I have to manually focus them. my results have been stellar.
Apr 25, 2016 13:51:48 #
I used the Nikon 1.4 on the original AF-s 500mm for well over 10 years with no issues. I recently gave them both to my niece. She and her family are thrilled with the comb.
I do believe you 'usually' get what you pay for.
As for cropping, that wasn't as much of an option 10 years ago. Today we can discard a bunch of pixels via cropping. But we can still do that after shooting with a good lens and converter, maybe not as much.
If you can achieve what you want in post processing, save your money. Otherwise go for the Nikon 1.4 tc.
I do believe you 'usually' get what you pay for.
As for cropping, that wasn't as much of an option 10 years ago. Today we can discard a bunch of pixels via cropping. But we can still do that after shooting with a good lens and converter, maybe not as much.
If you can achieve what you want in post processing, save your money. Otherwise go for the Nikon 1.4 tc.
Apr 25, 2016 17:27:15 #
diggerdag wrote:
Need a little help. I've got a Nikon D7100 with an AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm 1:5.6E ED VR and am thinking of getting an Nikon AF-S TC-14E III Teleconverter.
From everything I've read I know that it will work, but my question is how well.
Do I take the plunge or not? Please give me your experience with this setup.
From everything I've read I know that it will work, but my question is how well.
Do I take the plunge or not? Please give me your experience with this setup.
The TC14E III will add one stop to the lens. It may slow the focus in poor light. You will loose some image quality. It extends the lens focal length to 280-700mm with the 200-500mm. The 1.4X is the best of the lot but there are compromises.
In my opinion, they have their uses but its a last resort option. Whether you should get it or not is your choice.
Apr 25, 2016 17:41:32 #
I also have a D7100 and the 200-500mm lens. I bought a used, good as new, Nikon TC-14E II instead of the III version. The older II is optically the same and is compatible with many more older lenses. I paid $250 from an eBay seller.
The TC works fine with no noticeable loss of sharpness. I've been using it a lot lately for a hawk nest that is 450 feet from my front yard. 500mm with cropping was just not enough magnification to get good image quality. I really need the 700mm that I get with the TC. But for less extreme magnification requirements, I find that 500mm with cropping is just as good as using the TC.
So if I don't need 700mm, I usually remove the TC. Sharpness is not the issue. With the 1.4x TC, my f/5.6 lens is now f/8 requiring higher ISO or longer shutter time. And at f/8, the autofocus on the D7100 is somewhat limited. AF still works great but you only have the center AF point available.
The TC works fine with no noticeable loss of sharpness. I've been using it a lot lately for a hawk nest that is 450 feet from my front yard. 500mm with cropping was just not enough magnification to get good image quality. I really need the 700mm that I get with the TC. But for less extreme magnification requirements, I find that 500mm with cropping is just as good as using the TC.
So if I don't need 700mm, I usually remove the TC. Sharpness is not the issue. With the 1.4x TC, my f/5.6 lens is now f/8 requiring higher ISO or longer shutter time. And at f/8, the autofocus on the D7100 is somewhat limited. AF still works great but you only have the center AF point available.
Apr 25, 2016 17:43:30 #
Apr 25, 2016 17:54:09 #
Apr 25, 2016 18:17:21 #
diggerdag wrote:
Need a little help. I've got a Nikon D7100 with an AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm 1:5.6E ED VR and am thinking of getting an Nikon AF-S TC-14E III Teleconverter.
From everything I've read I know that it will work, but my question is how well.
Do I take the plunge or not? Please give me your experience with this setup.
From everything I've read I know that it will work, but my question is how well.
Do I take the plunge or not? Please give me your experience with this setup.
This shot was taken with the Canon 1.4X on the 100-400 lens, I would assume that on your 500mm lens it would have come out better. If you down load it and expand the image you can see the quality, I know that I could not get the same result with the lens alone.
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-382446-1.html
Apr 25, 2016 18:20:40 #
Math78 wrote:
I also have a D7100 and the 200-500mm lens. I boug... (show quote)
By cropping instead of TC, you are also less likely to have motion blurs and the subject will be easier to find in the VF and easier to keep within your intended composition.
Apr 25, 2016 18:39:47 #
imagemeister wrote:
By cropping instead of TC, you are also less likely to have motion blurs and the subject will be easier to find in the VF and easier to keep within your intended composition.
Here is an example of Sony's pixel enlargement "Clear Image Zoom" software done in camera - shot as a JPEG, Sony A77II, Sigma 100-300 @300 and f4 (wide open) 1/500, ISO 320 from my bodypod - 1.8X CIZ - effective 540mm - and reduced from the slightly cropped 58.6 MP file for viewing here. PP in Elements 9 only.
Apr 25, 2016 18:48:03 #
imagemeister wrote:
Here is an example of Sony's pixel enlargement "Clear Image Zoom" software done in camera - shot as a JPEG, Sony A77II, Sigma 100-300 @300 and f4 (wide open) 1/500, ISO 320 from my bodypod - 1.8X CIZ - effective 540mm - and reduced from the slightly cropped 58.6 MP file for viewing here. PP in Elements 9 only.
Ooops, put the full resolution version here by mistake !
here is the reduced version .......
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