Converters

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Andy
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Could somebody please tell me the advantages and dis-advantages of converters? Im Going to buy a Nikon d300 soon and want a 300mm or 400mm lens. If I attach a converter will it double the focal length? i.e. would a 2x converter give me a 600mm lens from a 300? or even an 800mm lens from a 400?
 
That is correct your 300mm would be a 600mm, but you would lose 2 stops of light.

Also bear in mind that on a D300 the 300mm lens is effectively giving you a 450mm lens due to the crop factor.

Regards

Nigel
 
you should only really put converters on the pro spec lenses as they have the glass to pull it off,stick a converter on a cheap zoom and it'll be manual focus and poor quality results
 
Apart from the loss of light there is a loss of image quality too. General opinion seems to be that this is minimal for a 1.4x converter but much more noticeable for a 2x.

I have a 1.4x and it's certainly acceptable to me anyway.
 
As already said, only really worth using on top quality glass. I use a 1.4 on a Siggy 100-300 f/4 and cant really notice any quality difference, just a drop in AF speed.
 
Also remember if you use a X2 on a 300 it will be M/F only, better in my opinion.
I only use a 1.4 on my 70-200 2.8 which gives me A/F. :nikon:
 
My 300 2.8 autofocuses with a 2x converter, this is on a 1-series. The 500 4.5 also autofocuses with a 1.4x, albeit centre focus point only. Generally I manually focus with both of these combinations, it's a lot better!
 
You've got the zoom part right, a 2x teleconvertor will double your lens length and a 1.4x will give you 1.4x the length. The thing to remember is that they also lose you some light so a 2x teleconvertor will drop two stops from your maximum aperture size and 1.4x is normally a stop less.

Remember that with a crop sensor you are already getting around 1.6x the lens length.

For example, a 300mm lens on a full frame sensor is a 300mm lens, put it on a crop sensor and you get a 480mm equilavent lens. Add a 1.4x teleconvertor and you get a whopping 672mm equivalent!
If that lens is an f/2.8 then you'll lose a stop so the max aperture available to you is now likely to be f/4. Maybe not too much of a problem if it's bright but if you're in low light and handheld it might limit things a little.

Of course many zooms are not a fixed f/stop throughout (for example I've got a Sigma 55-200mm f3.5-5.6 which allows f/3.5 at it's widest setting but only f/5.6 when zoomed) so if you use a teleconvertor on one of these and zoom right in your f/5.6 will turn into something like f/8 which is really going to start restricting you unless you're on a tripod.
A 2x teleconvertor loses 2 stops so you're going to be at about f/11 which is just too slow for very much - this is why you see a lot of people using a 1.4x teleconvertor and why they recommend that you only use them on good quality (low f/stop) glass.

The posts above are talking about the auto-focus because most systems will only allow auto-focus when there's enough available light - close down that aperture with a teleconvertor and you risk taking it out of the system's abilities and forcing you to maunal focus.

As well as limiting your shutter speed the small apertures will also affect what depth of field you can achieve (as in, it will be very wide, without the nice blury backgrounds you sometimes see) but depending on your goals this might not be a problem.



That all sounded a bit negative didn't it?! You do gain a big increase in lens length but there are these considerations to be aware of. Have fun with your long lens!
 
good advice from all. Thanks. I reckon I will go down the 1.4x converter route!!!
Essentially I think I would only use it for certain shots - Motor racing, birds (feathered kind!!) and hopefully when I visit Mach Loop for the first time. Im looking to get a really good quality 300mm AF lens plus converter which I hope will do the job and get the results I want.
 
Andy I use the TC14E II on a 300AF-S and 200-400VR no problem works really well, even shooting wide open.

I am considering getting the TC17E II, but would expect to need really good light for that.

I would never consider using a 2x converter, except maybe on some real exotic glass, on a really bright day.
 
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