Teleconverter or Telephoto

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Grasshopper

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John
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Im planning a safari and I am looking at getting a new lens for my trip. I only have an 18-105 on my D90 at the moment but do enjoy sports and wildlife photography so have been looking at a better lens for a while. As an amateur would I be best going for a Telephoto lens like the Sigma 150-500 or saving my money and just get a Teleconverter for the lens I have and take the dip in range? Any advice would be really appreciated.
 
I doubt that a TC would even be compatible with the 18-105. Even if it fitted without the rear element of the lens hitting the front element of the TC you may well have quite a bit of trouble with the autofocus. Autofocus and TCs generally don't play well together unless you're using f/2.8 or less lenses.

Besides the largest (practical) magnification you can get with a TC is 2x which would turn your lens into a 36-210. You'd be far better off getting a cheapo 55-200mm than a 2x TC. The lens would autofocus reliably and the image quality would be better.

So, the 150-500 you're talking about would probably be your best choice for safari in the absence of super telephoto hyper expensive primes.
 
A TC would be disastrous with the 18-105mm... it wouldn't autofocus properly and you'd get shaky, blurry, horrible pics due to the crippling step down. Sorry.

As slaphead said the 55-200 would give far superior results! If you've got a bit more money the Nikon 70-300 VR is nice for such things, and not TOO expensive compared to the alternatives. Your next step up is the bigma... the beast that it is. Though personally as I recommended in another thread, an old second hand 80-200 f/2.8 and a TC gives you choices (You can carry the 80-200 for normal day to day shooting... whereas the Bigma needs a donkey to carry it to walk everywhere with you)
 
Thats great, Thanks for your responses. Apart from the weight then, is there any other reason I should not go for the Bigma or is it a pretty good lens?
 
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