Teleconverter choice

[Dana C]

I have an 80-200 f2.8 Nikon lens but what to get more reach. I have heard many of you talking about using them for various things and I was hoping you could give me some brand suggestions. I know there is Nikon but rather spendy for me currently. Is or are there a more economical brand that will still produce sharp wild life photos?
Thanks for your help.
Dana

 

[Rick50]

Kenco 1.4x. The 2.0x is not that sharp but neither are others from what I can tell.

 

[Rick50]

Meant Kenko:
THK Photo Products, Inc.

 

[bratkinson]

From what I've read, Kenko makes a good teleconverter.

Just don't waste your money on cheapo screw-on teleconverters or wide angle converters. Perhaps 4 or
5 years ago, I bought a matched pair for about $40 on ebay. In testing the first one, the lens couldn't auto-focus and my manual focus shots turned out terrible. The teleconverter itself disassembled while I was unscrewing it, so I tossed both of them in the trash.

 

[gsgary]

Kenco 1.4x. The 2.0x is not that sharp but neither are others from what I can tell.

yes a 2x is awful look how bad this one is

 

[Derrel]

Research is needed to make sure that, on a Nikon 80-200, that the lens's rear element does not make physical contact with the front elements located inside the teleconverter's barrel. You can search around and find posts done by people with your lens and specific converters. Kenko used to have a regular and then a "pro" grade model.

My guess is that Gary's 2x converter sample was made with a 300mm prime lens, not a zoom. "MOST" 2x converters have pretty severe quality loss issues when used on zoom lenses. Still, on subject matter where the subject is in the center of the frame, and the edges of the frame are open sky, or open water, or are obscured by panning, or are wayyyy out of focus, the loss of image quality away from the center might not even be noticeable. The motorcycle panning shot above is a good example: there's no detail even in focus away from the centrally-located rider, so it doesn't matter how the corners look. Same goes for bird photos in many cases; central subject, background/edges of no importance, or not even in-focus (sky backdrops, water backdrops, for example).

OTOH, I bought a Nikon 2x AF-S converter a few years ago. OMG, it was soooooo bad on my 200 and 300 primes, and on my 70-200 VR that I returned it...I just saw some of the tests from it the other night as I was searching for some old photos. WOW-it was utter GARBAGE! it was used...perhaps it had been damaged, but it was ***horrible***.

 

[gsgary]

Mine was with the Kenko pro 300

 

[Derrel]

LOOK at this utter rubbish from a TC20e and Nikkor 300mm lens f/2.8 AF-S Mark II lens: one of the best lenses I own! Nikon D2x, 12.2 MP camera. Shutter speed? 1/3000 second! Robin sitting atop a western red cedar tree.

And this silhouette of the Douglas fir tree was done one stop down from wide-open, or f/8 effective, and shot at a FAST speed of 1/6400 second to ensure against shake...

 

[Derrel]

This one

is a FANTASTIC example of how shoddy a 2x converter can look! Check out those God-awful edges! This is with the superlative Nikkor 200mm f/2 AF-S VR-G Nikkor prime lens and the TC20e, Nikon 2x converter.

 

[Braineack]

I think you meant to post in the lens baby thread

 

[Derrel]

I think you meant to post in the lens baby thread

I know what you mean, dude! On the 200 f/2, that TC20e looked as CA-filled as the Lensbaby Original model does with the f/5.6 aperture disc installed....I mean the thing was utter RUBBISH!!! It created a very soft all-ovcer the frame fuzziness, a very strong veiling. Look at the Chromatic Aberration on those shingle edges! A semi-sharp center, and then garbage edges! A LOT like the original Lensbaby model looked, yes! The thing suuuuuuuucked! it wasn't quite as bad on the 300/2.8, but it still suuuucked! I mean--it was just, totally NOT useful.

Now, the 200/2 with the Nikon TC14e, the 1.4x AF-S converter, makes a pretty close to 300mm/2.8 quality lens substitute...AnNyway, I returned the used TC20e to ProPhoto Supply for a full refund. I really did think that perhaps it was damaged...but then again...it was semi-okay on the 300, but rubbish on the 200 wide-open...regardless, the results were sucky.

 

[Derrel]

A couple more "gems" with Nikon's best-ever 200mm lens and a TC20e 2x converter...

Window on the house across the street, just a ways below the cedar shake roofing...

My brand-new cedar back yard fence...

 

[dannylightning]

A while back I had one of those 20 dollar screw on wide angle lens things, kind of reminds me of the photos I got with that thing,

 

[Mr.Photo]

I own the Kenko Pro 300 DGX 1.4x teleconverter and an older 80-200 (push pull) lens. The image quality I get with the 80-200 and 1.4 combo at 280mm is very close to the image quality I get out of my old Tokina 300mm f/4 prime lens even wide open.

 

[JH Foto]

Another vote for the Kenko 1.4 DGX Teleplus, it works very well with my Tamron SP 70-300.