Options
Kenko TC ... can't find an answer to my question
Matt336
Registered Users Posts: 303 Major grins
Alright here's the list of my equipment:
Nikon D3
Nikon 70-200 VR
Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6
Sigma 28-70 f/2.8
Nikon 50 f/1.8
I bought a Promaster 1.7x TC from a "local" (3 hours away) store. Well it turns out that the AF doesn't work with my D3 as all my photos are OOF with it. I am returning it and all the store can get in is Nikon TC's which I feel are overpriced.
I am looking at the Kenko 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300, Kenko 2.0X Pro 300 , and Kenko 1.5x. I plan on using the TC with my 70-200 as well as my 10-20 (which makes it look somewhat like it did on my D200).
My question is this. Will these TCs work with both the 70-200 and the 10-20? Which one do you prefer? Obviously the 1.4 is going to have the better IQ than the 2x but is the extra reach of the 2x worth it? I shoot sports and find my 70-200 to be too short for football and soccer. I like the price on the 1.5x but I worry about IQ with that price tag. I also wonder how fast/slow the AF is with these TCs as it seems everyone has a different opinion.
To summarize MY findings:
Kenko 1.4x: $200 + shipping, not as much reach but good IQ.
Kenko 1.5x: $86 + shipping, haven't found much information on it.
Kenko 2x: $220 + shipping, more reach would be nice but IQ (from what I've read) is not as good as 1.4x.
Any help is appreciated!
Nikon D3
Nikon 70-200 VR
Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6
Sigma 28-70 f/2.8
Nikon 50 f/1.8
I bought a Promaster 1.7x TC from a "local" (3 hours away) store. Well it turns out that the AF doesn't work with my D3 as all my photos are OOF with it. I am returning it and all the store can get in is Nikon TC's which I feel are overpriced.
I am looking at the Kenko 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300, Kenko 2.0X Pro 300 , and Kenko 1.5x. I plan on using the TC with my 70-200 as well as my 10-20 (which makes it look somewhat like it did on my D200).
My question is this. Will these TCs work with both the 70-200 and the 10-20? Which one do you prefer? Obviously the 1.4 is going to have the better IQ than the 2x but is the extra reach of the 2x worth it? I shoot sports and find my 70-200 to be too short for football and soccer. I like the price on the 1.5x but I worry about IQ with that price tag. I also wonder how fast/slow the AF is with these TCs as it seems everyone has a different opinion.
To summarize MY findings:
Kenko 1.4x: $200 + shipping, not as much reach but good IQ.
Kenko 1.5x: $86 + shipping, haven't found much information on it.
Kenko 2x: $220 + shipping, more reach would be nice but IQ (from what I've read) is not as good as 1.4x.
Any help is appreciated!
0
Comments
The best teleconverter compatability chart:
http://blog.nikonians.org/archives/Nikonians%20Teleconverter%20Table.pdf
The best converter for the Nikkor 70-200mm is the TC-14E. Many people are also pleased with the TC-17E. Most are not pleased with the TC-20E.
There are some test images with the 70-200mm and 1.4x and 1.7x converters here:
http://photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00G5ff
I do not recommend any converter to be used with a super-wide lens, especially not a super-wide zoom lens. The resulting quality is really not worth the effort. (Yes, I've tried it.) The edges and especially corners are "very" soft and chromatic distortion is very evident. The reason is that zoom lenses in general are designed with a specific" convergence, and adding anything in between the lens and camera affects the convergence angles reducing image quality. In simple terms a teleconverter is really designed for longer focal length lenses, long primes in particular. It is a blessing that they work as well as they do with the 70-200mm zooms.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Here is a comparison of teleconverters (Sorry text is in German, but it has labeled pictures):
Part1 , Part2
― Edward Weston