Teleconverters

keeweeman

keeweeman

Messages
920
Name
Col
Edit My Images
Yes
Morning all,

I am after a little advice regarding teleconverters. I am looking to buy a 70-200 lens later this year (probably the new sigma sport, possibly the tamron g2 to be used with a d750) and would quite like to get a 1.4 teleconverter at the same time, my question is are they brand specific? So do sigma tc's only work with sigma lenses and tamron with tamron? Likewise as the nikon one by rights should just be an extension of the camera (they all SHOULD be i feel) does it work with a greater selection of lens brands or is that just far too logical and wishful thinking on my part?

Cheers

Col
 
Some Nikon lenses will not fit on Nikkor teleconverters (70-300 VR for a start) but will fit on some 3rd party telecons (I have a Kenko 1.5x that does accept the lens). IIRC, Sigma lenses work better with Sigma telecons than Nikkors - not sure about Tamrons.
 
Nod said:
Some Nikon lenses will not fit on Nikkor teleconverters (70-300 VR for a start) but will fit on some 3rd party telecons (I have a Kenko 1.5x that does accept the lens). IIRC, Sigma lenses work better with Sigma telecons than Nikkors - not sure about Tamrons.
Click to expand...

so the logical thing to do then would be go sigma tc which should work well with the 70-200 and if i eventually go for say a 160-600c then it will work fine with that too but may restrict me to buying the sigma version as opposed to either that or the tamron?
 
Personally, I wouldn't stick a telecon behind a 160-600 (or even 500). Possibly behind a relatively fast prime but the AF and IQ will be compromised due to the telecon magnifying any shortcomings of the lens (impacting IQ) and the hit to the maximum aperture (1 stop for a 1.4x telecon, 2 stops for a 2x) making AF a bit hit and miss (not too bad on the D750 but not quite as fast as the "naked" lens would be.) Behind the 70-200 it should work OK. If I was looking at a 70-200 and a 1.4x telecon, I would buy matching brands. (The 1.5x Kenko was a cheap way to extra reach - now, I usually crop into a 300mm shot rather than use the telecon on the Nikons but I do use a Fuji 1.4x telecon behind their 100-400 [I have a 2x for that system as well but almost never use it since the AF is a bit too hit and miss!])
 
I had a Sigma 1.4 TC and it fell apart ,so did the replacement. Personally I would not touch a sigma TC again
 
realspeed said:
I had a Sigma 1.4 TC and it fell apart ,so did the replacement. Personally I would not touch a sigma TC again
Click to expand...
I had one that didn't fall apart and worked a treat.

I would suggest using the same brand TC as the lens if at all possible. There will be a list somewhere on-line of which lenses Nikon's TCs are compatible with.
 
Cheers Nod, i was thinking that would be the case with the longer lens but as a last resort it strikes me as being a useful option to have available. Makes sense to me about the matching brands side of things also.

Realspeed, did you find that it was a known issue or was it just yourself that had built quality problems? Which generation of the 1.4 was it?

Cheers for the help guys
 
Not a fan of teleconverters why do you need one especially on a crop body. It cuts out most of your focus points and makes the lens slower.
 
Wave the d750 is an fx body not a crop. It isn't something i would be using all the time but on occasions it is quite nice to have a bit of extra reach where absolute image quality isn't the be all and end all (zoo trips and the like). Like everything it is a tool for a job to be used on the right occasion.

Rob your blog is informative thanks but unless i have skimmed past it then it doesn't really answer the question i asked originally which was about the cross compatibility of a tc with multiple lens brands, you linked to a nikon compatibility chart but the link didn't work. I could very well have skimmed past it though so by all means correct me if i am wrong :)
 
keeweeman said:
Rob your blog is informative thanks but unless i have skimmed past it then it doesn't really answer the question i asked originally which was about the cross compatibility of a tc with multiple lens brands, you linked to a nikon compatibility chart but the link didn't work. I could very well have skimmed past it though so by all means correct me if i am wrong :)
Click to expand...

Sorry I didn’t have time earlier to explain in more depth. I didn’t include cross compatibility in the blog as I’ve never had first hand experience of teleconverters other than the Nikon teleconverters I listed. I dont like to put third hand info down if can help it.

As far as I’m aware Nikon teleconverters have a tab on them that means they only fit compatible Nikon lenses. The reason for this is many Nikon lenses that aren’t compatible have a rear glass element that comes too far back and will hit the teleconverter front glass element. The tab stops teleconverters fitting onto non compatible lenses. As far as I’ve read and heard Nikon’s teleconverters physically wont fit on other manufacturers lenses. This Cameralab review (see lens compatibility section) explains that whilst sigma teleconverters may fit onto a Nikon lens they can create communication errors between the lens and camera, and autofocus inaccuracies too. This is another reason why teleconverters are often said to be brand specific (mentioned in the review). That said the only exception Im aware of is kenko teleconverters. I gather they fit on Nikon lenses and some lenses that Nikon list as non compatible with Nikon teleconverters. Ive seen many on here report they work well. One thing I have heard it the kenko teleconverters arent weather sealed and therefore potentially affect the weather sealing of the camera and lens due to the mount opening could potentially let water and dust into the lens and camera.

Regarding the chart, Nikon have changed the web address slightly. I thought I had change it a month or so ago when I found out but it doesn’t seem the edited version updated. The chart can be seen in the link below.

https://cdn-5.nikon-cdn.com/Assets/...eleconverter-Compatibility/EN_Comp_chart.html

Whilst I can see your point that it would be great from a users point of view that any teleconverter would work with any lens regardless of manufacturer you have to see it from the manufacturers point. The manufacturers don’t care if their product is compatible with another manufacturers. As long as it’s compatible with their products that’s all they care about. Spending more R&D money ensuring third party lens compatibility doesn’t make much business sense and is also a cost they don’t need to stump up. It would potentially mean more users would buy third party lenses rather than their lenses or cheaper third party teleconverters to fit their lenses. We have to remember third party lenses are reverse engineered rather than the camera manufacturers providing detailed information to ensure compatibility. I see to remember signs and others had to release a lens firmware update when Nikon made changes to incorporate electronic aperture control into their cameras.
 
Cheers for clearing that up Rob much appreciated. I completely get that regarding the manufacturers priorities in terms of cross brand compatibility I just find it odd that an f mount adapter doesn’t fit all f mount lenses but then I’ve never really considered the position of the glass at the rear end of a lens may sit further forwards or backwards depending on the lens (never really thought about it to be fair)
 
keeweeman said:
Cheers for clearing that up Rob much appreciated. I completely get that regarding the manufacturers priorities in terms of cross brand compatibility I just find it odd that an f mount adapter doesn’t fit all f mount lenses but then I’ve never really considered the position of the glass at the rear end of a lens may sit further forwards or backwards depending on the lens (never really thought about it to be fair)
Click to expand...
The reason will likely be down to the cost of manufacture and teleconverters are only useful for longer telephoto lenses. Many lenses like variable aperture f4-5.6 are likely designed to keep costs low and until recent years haven’t had the camera technology to auto focus at f8. Teleconverters were originally designed to be used with fast f2.8 or f4 lenses where performance wasnt reduced to unacceptable levels. Nikons compatibility list shows this quite well. It’s only recent that they have advertised lenses such as the 200-500 as teleconverter compatible. There are still many lenses that shouldn’t have or ever need teleconverters fitting as they are either too short or will perform poorly IQ and AF wise. The problem is everyone has differing acceptable level of AF and IQ performance.
 
Apologies for the delay in replying Rob, been a hectic weekend and i've not been online much. That makes a lot of sense really, I think in reality if i were to go down the route of the 70-200, 150-600 and a tc in the bag as well then for me that should cover the bases i want it to in terms of not having to carry the two heavy zooms on the occasions that i can get by with the 70-200+tc and not suffer too much. Means i can keep the 150-600 for when i really need the extra reach and in all likelihood those are trips i'll be planning to use the bigger zoom for the bulk of the trip anyway. Just makes it a flexible system but I would just have to accept there is a bit of a penalty for using the tc. Thanks for the advice matey!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top