Cheap 400mm prime or teleconverter?

[Netskimmer]

I have been trying to get great shots of the moon, and may try for the sun once I have the proper filters. The problem is that even at 300mm the moon is so small in my viewfinder that I can't get a sharp manual focus and auto-focus only does so well in this situation. Add to this the fact that I have to crop the heck out of the photo to get the moon to a decent size in the photo and you have a soft photo. I have also wished at times for a little more zoom in the field. It is difficult to get very close to a wild deer or photograph a bird in the tree tops and 300mm often doesn't seem to cut it. These would not be action shots and a tripod would typically be in use, there would also be plenty of light so having a smaller max aperture or losing a stop or two would not bother me. This is not a $900 problem for me, it's more of a $200-$300 problem. So I can either get a cheap, used prime from Sigma, Tamron, ect or a decent teleconverter. The converter would be more versatile (and probably a little cheaper) than the lens and give me a little more reach, but I would assume that a prime 400mm (even a cheap one) would give me better IQ. What do you guys think?

 

[gsgary]

If the converter is for your 55-300 i wouldn't fit one to that lens, i doubt the Nikon will fit but the sigma or Kenko might

 

[480sparky]

If the moon is 'quite small' with a 300, it won't get magically huge with a 400.

 

[jake337]

Maybe a 800mm mirrors lens may be in your budget.

 

[DiskoJoe]

you need like 500-1000mm. ebay son!

 

[tirediron]

There are lots of old T-mount 400mmm f5.6 primes floating around that you can find for <$150; the IQ from them is actually pretty decent, BUT as pointed out, it's not going to be life and death difference between 300 and 400 mm. Nikon TCs will ONLY fit on their 'pro' (Gold-ring) lenses, so if you go that route, it will have to be a 3rd party (Kenko's have a good rep).

 

[AgentDrex]

This is taken with a 75-210mm with severe chromatic aberration issues:

 

[AgentDrex]

Just find a used telescope that has a t-mount and then get a t-mount adapter for your Nikey....

 

[480sparky]

D7000 on a Celestron 2000 f/8, 27-shot stack.

 

[AgentDrex]

Sparky knows what I'm talking about...and practices it unlike me...I'm all bark and no bite...little doggie...

 

[480sparky]

One trick is stacking a series of images. It's similar to focus stacking. Only the sharpest portions of each image are used.

 

[AgentDrex]

Aligning Images in Photoshop

 

[480sparky]

Registax does it automatically, and is free.

 

[AgentDrex]

Thanks for the link man...you rock..........................................................
...............
..............
and roll

 

[Derrel]

500mm f/8 pre-set long-focus lenses, like Quantaray brand from Ritz or Kits Camera, $100 or so.