ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

I recently purchased this legacy lens and have been attempting to try a TC 14II Teleconverter with it. The Nikon compatibly chart, if I am reading it correctly, indicates that it should work, but my AF does not operate with this combo. The AF works fine without the TC on my D500. Since this is a D lens, I move the aperture ring all the way to 22. Is there some other setting or trick I am missing?
Thanks in advance for your collective words of wisdom.

pesfls Loc: Oregon, USA

No, the TC 14 E II will not provide autofocus with that lens. Is the lens push pull version? The old 14B is the right one but mf only.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I do not use tele-converters and I do not own the lens you are referring to but, I know Nikon does not make a tele-converter for the D lenses that work with digital cameras.
My advise is to check with Nikon. They surely have the right answer for you.

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

Sorry, I wasn’t clear. This is an AF-S lens, but with an aperture ring.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

The correct teleconverter is the Nikon TC-14E II. If that’s the one you have and it’s not working, consult a repair technician.

There is no connection between the D chip and aperture control.

According to the chart, the TC-14E II is correct. And there never was a one-ring version of the OP’s lens.

Every autofocus Nikkor made since 1992 is a D lens, and of course Nikon makes teleconverters that work with digital cameras.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Call Nikon at 1-800-645-6687. Ask for tech support. Next time, call them AHEAD of purchase, this will help greatly.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

I posted this on another thread, but it applies to your D500 as well. In the Shooting Menu there is a setting choice for DX and an in camera crop of 1.3X. There is no light loss/F-stop increase like with a converter, since it is a crop. There is also no change in pixel density, no compaction or other effect. On the D7xxx series you go from 24 X 16mm (24MP) to 18 X 12mm (15.3 MP), since the D500 is 20.9MP, the same drop would probably yield something like 18 X 12 (13.x MP). You would not be cutting the light, so AF should still work fine, it does on my D7100.

It would give the "perceived view" with a 300mm lens of appprox. 585mm (actual reach is 390mm, 300 X 1.3 = 390, plus the inherrent 1.5X crop factor of the D500) and no light loss or IQ loss like you'd have with a tele-converter. However, with a really good tele-converter, you could bump the reach even more, if you don't mind the losses. Give it a try, it's free and if you don't like it, no harm no foul. Just another tool in the electronic tool box.

Fotomacher Loc: Toronto

The "D" designation refers to the addition to the chip that provides distance information to a compatible speedlight to more accurately illuminate the subject. And yes, every lens made since 1992 has this feature. Since it is no longer "new" Nikon decided that they no longer need to mention it.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The only TC that I have found that works with this lens is the Kenko brand. I like the Teleplus Pro 300. It works just fine with all of my Nikon bodies - but it won't work with bodies that don't have the AF drive screw in them - like the 3XXX and 5XXX series, and some of the older bodies. It should be no issue at all on the D500.

[edit] sorry, I went back and read the post and title and realized you were talking about the AF-S - which would need, as others have stated, the TC II. My comments apply to the AF-D.

You do realize that the lens' weak point is the AF-S motor, and Nikon is no longer fixing them because this part is no longer made.

Robert Bailey Loc: Canada

Personally, I only use teleconverters with prime lenses, not with zoom lenses.
You will invariably lose some quality whenever you use a teleconverter
and zooms already have enough quality problems without compounding the issue.

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

To close out this conversation for the moment, I went ahead and purchased a Kenko Teleplus DGX 300 1.4x on eBay, and this seems to work on the lens. I realize that there are lighter options to get to the 300mm range and I don’t see myself hauling this monster out in the field, but I just wanted to see if it was possible. Thanks to all that commented. Happy shooting.