dyximan

I have a nikon D 500 and the nikon 18 to 300 lens and the Tam on 150 to 600 G2 lens, I read an article I believe it was by Steve Perry who talked about using a tele converter on the 18 to 300, I recently looked online and see that Nikon or others have a 1.4 a 1.7 and a 2.0 Tele converters. I would use the converter on either one of the Previously mentioned llenses, any suggestions, I would be using this primarily for birding and/or obviously very distant objects in the daylight hours. I'm sure you can direct me to comparisons which are helpful but am also looking for practical and personal experiences.
Thank you

torchman310 Loc: Santa Clarita, Ca.

Just remember a teleconverter will cut your light (aperture). Ex, a 2.0 converter will turn an F 4.0 into an F 8.0
Choose wisely.

dyximan

That is why I was asking I've heard the 2.0 is extreme was more curious about the 1.4 and/or the 1.7/ But am interested in all replies and personal experiences

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Forget the 2X on the Tamron. The 1.4 will will put your aperture at F9 and most likely you'll want to manually focus. Images aren't bad, but I think I wasted my money for the most part.

traveler90712 Loc: Lake Worth, Fl.

First of all you should know what Nikon Lens will work with a Nikon tele-converter;

https://cdn-5.nikon-cdn.com/Assets/Common-Assets/Images/Teleconverter-Compatibility/EN_Comp_chart.html

Your 18-300 does not!

For your Tamron you must use a Tamron TC for Nikon.

https://www.tamron.jp/en/product/lenses/telecon.html

Yes you have a loss of light when using a TC.

I use, on my D500 and the 200-500, the 1.4 and love it. Great for birding and wild life in general.

hahersh Loc: Burlington, ON, Canada

The Nikon teleconverters will not fit on either of your lenses. Tamron makes a 1.4x teleconverter that will work with your 150-600 lens. There are several reviews on the B & H website.

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

A teleconverter is intended for very sharp prime lenses, not an wide angle->tele zoom. The TC with the least impact will be the 1.4X - you will loose a stop. Putting that on an 18-300 is a bad idea, and I doubt SP would have suggested that. Aside from rendering the AF mostly nonfunctional and providing a viewfinder that is F8 (or F9 depending on which 18-300 you have), you may also cause damage to the optics of both if you accidentally zoom to the short end.

This chart tells the story of what NIkon TCs Nikon recommends to use with what Nikon lenses.m The 18-300 is NOT on the list. You'll also notice that it shows nearly all their fast zooms have AF limitations with even their 1.4X. Aside from mechanical concerns, the optical quality at 300 is pretty soft - adding a TC would only make it worse.

https://cdn-5.nikon-cdn.com/Assets/Common-Assets/Images/Teleconverter-Compatibility/EN_Comp_chart.html

Tamron is another story. The G2 is a very sharp lens, BUT at F6.3 not very bright. While the D500 can autofocus at F8, the lens is actually F9 and through the magic of lens firmware it reports to the camera that it is F8. The firmware doens't improve AF performance.

These two links should dissuade you from going down the TC path with either lens - though you "may" get better results with the 1.4X TC that Tamron makes for their lens.

https://dustinabbott.net/2017/04/tamron-150-600mm-g2-second-look-aps-c-tcs/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=40&v=M4ZLR-ZKuWM

Oh, and you can forget about hand holding a D500 with a 600mm lens AND a TC - ain't gonna happen.

dhroberts Loc: Boston, MA, USA

There's a lot on the web about teleconverter performance. Opinion seems to be divided as to whether TCs are worthwhile, especially on high pixel count cameras such as the D500, where cropping (or DX mode) can be very effective. As noted above, TCs are intended for prime lenses (e.g., for Nikon the 300/2.8 VR II (or longer ones)), not for zooms, even the best ones such as the 70-200/2.8 VR II. I used the older model of the Nikon TC1.4 with my 300/2.8 and a D700 with some success. However, it did not seem to be helpful with the same lens and a D800E - cropping produced sharper images. I have yet to experiment with my new Z 7.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Just wondering when the 20MP D500 became a "high pixel count" camera????

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

dyximan

When referring to SP I certainly could have been mistaken he may have been talking about a 300 prime

dyximan

As mentioned it appears that the opinions are varied and diverse I will look into the various suggestions and perhaps just rent the TCs recommended and see what I like or not I want to thank all of you for your time and effort

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Just remember- There was never a teleconverter invented that improved the optical acuity of a good lens.

dyximan

That I know just curious as to people's experience with various tele converters and lenses. They're just a bit cheaper than buying 800 prime lol

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

A tele converter will not work on your 18-300.
There has not been a tele converter made that IMPROVES image quality, in fact, the opposite happens.