Kenko tele-converter 1.4 Pro 300

[Bukitimah]

Hi, I am sure this is not a new product. I am a Nikon d300 user and I have a Nikon AFS 70-300 mm VR lens. I sometimes find the lens a bit 'short' and wish it is 500 mm.

I read a few reviews about the Keno teleconverter and most are good. I also read bad experiences from users. I do recognize the light will drop a little as long as you use an extension tube. But generally, I would like to hear from users their own experiences and maybe photo will help.

This is a shot taken by my 300 mm recently. I have to crop to zoom in. some say that the tele-converter is almost similar to croping your photo.

 

[Infinite_Day]

I use the same TC on a 300mm f/4 AF-S which yields a 420mm f/5.6 lens. Even though it is f/5.6 I often wish it were a faster lens. It's usable but due to lack of VR it makes hand-held shots in anything but great light a challenge with my not so great holding skills. It still produces fantastic images if you get it right though or have something to stabilize the lens with. I don't have a tripod or remote release either which I need to get. With your lens you will end up with a 420mm f/8 at max focal length. That's going to be a hard lens to use in poor light. It's not impossible but I would imagine the VR might help a good bit. Just a few thoughts for you to consider.

Edit: You may have some focus issues in low light too. It may not be too bad since you're only looking at the 1.4 TC. Just a possibility.

 

[Overread19]

Teleconverters nearly always result in a higher quality when used instead of cropping to get the same field of view on the photo - so a teleconverter is superior to cropping from that aspect.

However you have to consider what Infinite_Day says regarding your aperture. 420mm at f8 is limiting, especially since most zooms are weaker at their longest focal length and that you likely want to stop down at least one stop to claw back sharpness (even without the teleconverter added). Going one stop down from f8 to f11 really strips out what light you have to work with and might even push you to having to use higher and higher ISOs to get proper exposures.

In short its not an ideal situation; for some people the gain is worth the cost, for others the cost in quality is not worth the gain in range and typically speaking most 70-300mm lenses don't take teleconverters very well at all. The best option is to try one out for yourself at a shop; get a real world idea of its effect and then decide for yourself if its worth it for your setup and overall requirements.

 

[Bukitimah]

Thank you for your advices. I think f8 and above is challenging unless the lighting level was great. I will hold and may decide to upgrade my lens if I really need that extra mm. The problem will then be 400 or 500 mm.