Poor results with TC 14E II on new Nikon 80-400

merv

merv

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Mervyn
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tried this combination today at our local airshow and found far too many images soft with the Nikon D810. Trying not to blame the tools but is this camera/lens/converter a bad mix for planes. Used to have a D4 to recently and felt it gave better results
MERV
 
How are you judging sharpness when you're comparing the D810 to the D4? If you're looking at the images at 100% magnification then you shouldn't expect the D810 to be as good, because it has a much higher pixel count.
 
You can't stop the D810 down as far to restore sharpness as you can the D4.
For instance, with my 400/2.8 +2x there is no difference in sharpness between f/8 and f/11 on the D810. But there is an increase in sharpness at f/11 on the D4.

I think your problem is that the lens is already a 560/8 wide open and stopping down is only putting it farther into diffraction rather than improving IQ. So, maybe it is not a great combination the way it was used. With testing you may find it's better at different zoom settings/apertures (common), it will be somewhat subject dependent, and it will depend on output image (viewing) size/cropping.
 
Thanks guys this is getting technical for me. Admittedly my opinion is subjective and not scientific. When I scroll through my images I get the impresion they're mostly soft. A lot of them were shot at full reach as planes like the typhoon and the Reds tend to stand well offshore. It's maybe not a good combo, 80-400 plus TC at 560mm all the time. Would be better with my 300/2.8 plus 1.4 or 20TC III and use the 80-400 just as it was designed to be used, on its own!! However less flexibility
 
merv said:
Thanks guys this is getting technical for me.
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It needn't be. Hang in there for a minute...
merv said:
When I scroll through my images I get the impresion they're mostly soft.
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OK. How big are the images when you're scrolling through them? Are you looking at the whole image taking up the whole screen of your monitor? Or are you looking at magnified portions of them, and if so how much magnification?

If you're not sure of the answers, take a screenshot when you're looking at an image that you think is soft, and post it here. Then we'll be able to see what you're doing.
 
merv said:
Would be better with my 300/2.8 plus 1.4 or 20TC III and use the 80-400 just as it was designed to be used, on its own!! However less flexibility
Click to expand...
In short, yes.
TC's are meant for 2.8 lenses... anything else is pushing things. But I doubt the 1.4x + 300 would be notably better than the 80-400 *w/o* a TC... a little faster max, ability to use 300/2.8... It's all a trade.
I used to use a Sigma 300-800/5.6, now I use a 400/2.8 + TC's... it's just different compromises.

Even w/ the D810's f/8 AF capabilities (the best there is currently) the system is still significantly handicapped compared to f/5.6.
 
I'm guessing the D4 will have a much sharper AF system being a pro body

Plus that's a big zoom lens to be expecting sharp images out of with a TC attached

Any sample shots
 
Just some comments. It could be that the lens/telecon is not a great combo, but other significant factors also include:

The AF could be out and needs recalibrating with the telecon.
Increased focal length magnifies camera-shake - shutter speeds need to be HIGH.
Increased shooting distance puts a lot of atmosphere in between camera and subject - can have a major softening effect.
Cropping destroys sharpness.
Or a combination of all of these things!
 
HoppyUK is right. Further, I have found the following:
I found the TC14-III to be slightly better on the 80-400mm than the type II. For a while I had both but have since swapped the TC14-II for a 17-TC-II, using the latter with other lenses.
AF with the 80-400mm alone on my D7200 is spot on but with the TC attached it front focuses substantially and needed micro-adjustment to +14
For best sharpness I need to stop it down to around F10 or F11 and use a shutter speed of at least 1/400s
For fast moving subjects any TC on this lens is a waste of time.
With slower moving or static subjects, unlike the 80-400 on its own, the hit rate isn't anywhere near 100% but probably closer to 70%. As the speed of the target goes up so the hit rate goes down.
The combo can give results with quite good detail with the above limitations, but edge sharpness, or acutance, loses out. This means I have to sharpen it up in post. ACR's raw sharpening and noise reduction sliders can give 100% crops that look good for web display.
The following is a substantial (but not 100%) crop hand held using the combo on a D7200. Click on the link or the image for a bigger image.

DSC_0370 by Mike D, on Flickr
 
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I love my 80-400 for aviation photography but have to say that its too much of a compromise with any TC fitted if you want to keep up with fast jets.
 
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