Nikon FX 300mm f/4D IF ED AF-S Lens with Nikon 1.4 X teleconverter

Brecksbirder

Brecksbirder

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Richard
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I have the Nikon 70-300mm tele lens but I find this very soft at 300mm. Also I really need a bit more range to get shots of a lot of birds who shy away quickly.
All the reviews I have read rate this lens and tele converter combination very highly with the only negative being the collar.

Do you have this set up and if so are you happy with the results. Camera is a Nikon D5100. I really need to be sure before shelling out in excess of £1300.

Many thanks in advance for any replies.
 
I am using both 1.4x and 1.7x with my AF-S 300 f/4. They work very well as far as image quality is concerned. AF is notiveably slower with both converters and particularly the 1.7x Contrary to specs I found that the 1.7x works even on D700 when light is good. It is much more reliable with never bodies that have official f/8 AF capability (D4/D600/D800/D7100).

The 1.4x converter is safe.
 
Brecksbirder said:
All the reviews I have read rate this lens and tele converter combination very highly with the only negative being the collar.
Click to expand...

I have the 300/4 AF-S ... wonderful lens, I have used it with the 1.4 and 1.7TCs and always been happy with the results. The 1.7TC is probably best used in good light as at f6.7 the AF can hunt when the light goes, but it will still AF.

It has a close focus distance of 5 feet which makes it a useful lens for Butterfly and Dragonfly shots.

The standard collar is fine.
 
Fantastic lens I use it a lot with 1.4TC and with no discernible quality reduction. Works really well with Canon 300d close up lens.

I have swapped the collar and it does make for a more stable combination but only at very slow (<1/30) shutter speeds. The RRS collar has better balance if you use it with a longer TC on a gimbal head. The the difference is only marginal, I am not sure I would do it again.
 
is the 300mm F4 with the 1.7 TC any better on the new generation of Nikon cameras than the Older ones? D800/D600 VS D700?
 
Id did. On my D700 and D600. The IQ (details) is obviously much better on the D600 due to much higher resolution, less noise and better DR, but this has nothing to do with the lens or converter.

As far as AF is concerned. On the D700 the 1.7x converter is usable only in very bright daylight and only in AF-S mode when using central point on a contrasty subject. The lens doesn't focus in AF-C mode. Tracking doesn't work no matter what mode you select.

On the D600 the 1.7x coverter on AF-S 300 f/4 it works in all modes. AF-S performance is OK. AF-C is slow, the lens hunts a lot. Tracking performance is poor, but is usable for slow contrast subjects if you manage to keep your subject covered by 15 central points. Obviously when the light is not good, everything is much worse.

On both bodies, the picture in the viewfinder is dim so manual focus is hard as well.
 
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Some very useful replies. Many thanks to all of you who have taken the time and trouble to reply.
 
mpe said:
Id did. On my D700 and D600. The IQ (details) is obviously much better on the D600 due to much higher resolution, less noise and better DR, but this has nothing to do with the lens or converter.

As far as AF is concerned. On the D700 the 1.7x converter is usable only in very bright daylight and only in AF-S mode when using central point on a contrasty subject. The lens doesn't focus in AF-C mode. Tracking doesn't work no matter what mode you select.

On the D600 the 1.7x coverter on AF-S 300 f/4 it works in all modes. AF-S performance is OK. AF-C is slow, the lens hunts a lot. Tracking performance is poor, but is usable for slow contrast subjects if you manage to keep your subject covered by 15 central points. Obviously when the light is not good, everything is much worse.

On both bodies, the picture in the viewfinder is dim so manual focus is hard as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Just wondering whether the better focusing system of the D800 will make any difference?
 
mpe said:
As far as AF is concerned. On the D700 the 1.7x converter is usable only in very bright daylight and only in AF-S mode when using central point on a contrasty subject. The lens doesn't focus in AF-C mode. Tracking doesn't work no matter what mode you select.
Click to expand...

Works fine on my D700 in AF-C mode, I do use back button focus (not that it should make any difference), I only ever use the central point with long glass so have not explored the other options.

This was taken using my D300, 300/4 AF-S f7.1 ISO 3200 (so not that bright a day), it managed to lock on the bird and was not confused by the twigs in front and behind the bird.

 
Thats at 3200? :gag: Amazing - time I pushed my D3 beyond 400 then! Old habits die hard and when you grow up thinking Fuji 400 is FAST (which it is after Velvia 50!) and anything beyond is muddy as hell......you get used to using lower film speeds.

Can you give me a few pointers as ot what you did with it to keep it so clean at that kind of film speed. I am amazed.:thumbs:
 
I was also looking at that combo the 300mm/1.4tc in fact in can be had on special @ digitalrev for £980 delivered and as far as I am aware grey lenses are fully nikon coverered in the UK?

unfortunatly I realy need a zoom so for me I am plumping for the sigma 150-500 for this summer with view to looking at that combo next year.

lovely bird picky
 
Lensflare said:
Thats at 3200? :gag: Amazing - time I pushed my D3 beyond 400 then!

Can you give me a few pointers as ot what you did with it to keep it so clean at that kind of film speed. I am amazed.:thumbs:
Click to expand...

I will happily use my D700 at ISO6400 (12800 at a push), the D300 up to ISO3200.

At the high ISO settings avoid under exposing and you should be fine, that shot above would have been run through Noiseware on default, which cleans up the background a touch.
 
I had the 300 f4 and 1.4 for a number of years and it's a sharp sharp lens even with the converter on it. If you look on my flickr stream for photos taken last year, most of them will be with this lens. I have the f2.8 lens now which gives me more options, but I don't think it is any sharper than the F4.

As for the collar, I bought mine second hand and it came wit a Kirk collar, which it much better, but isn't cheap. That said almost all of my photo's are taken hand held, so the collar wasn't really an issue for me.
 
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