Two ways to skin a cat

[chuasam]

Given the choice, would you put a Teleconverter to get longer reach or would you mount the same lens on a DX/EF-S body?

It staggers me when people put a teleconverter on a long lens when they could probably have gotten far better results with the same lens on a crop sensor body.

 

[table1349]

You need to read this carefully: BC SPCA
Skinning cats is illegal in British Columbia.

As for a TC or not, it all depends.

 

[robbins.photo]

Given the choice, would you put a Teleconverter to get longer reach or would you mount the same lens on a DX/EF-S body?

It staggers me when people put a teleconverter on a long lens when they could probably have gotten far better results with the same lens on a crop sensor body.

I guess it sort of depends. I use TC's - but for me it makes sense. I use them in conjunction with a 70-200mm 2.8 lens. I don't own a crop sensor body and even if I did I can't get one that would come close to matching the lowlight performance of my full frame without spending a lot more than what I spent to get the full frame in the first place.

The TC's give me a relatively inexpensive, very portable option that increases the flexibility of my current setup quite a bit. They do have some limitations, but as long as your aware of them they can be compensated for easily enough in most cases.

 

[goodguy]

If my Tamaron 70-200mm 2.8 VC could take a TC I would mount it on my D3300 and a TC to get even more reach

 

[tirediron]

Given the choice, would you put a Teleconverter to get longer reach or would you mount the same lens on a DX/EF-S body?

It staggers me when people put a teleconverter on a long lens when they could probably have gotten far better results with the same lens on a crop sensor body.

Chalk and cheese; putting a TC on a lens of 'X' focal length will increase the magnification of the lens and make the object appear closer/larger. Using a crop body will reduce the FoV, but will not increase the apparent size of the subject.

 

[snowbear]

^This.

 

[PaulWog]

Given the choice, would you put a Teleconverter to get longer reach or would you mount the same lens on a DX/EF-S body?

It staggers me when people put a teleconverter on a long lens when they could probably have gotten far better results with the same lens on a crop sensor body.

Chalk and cheese; putting a TC on a lens of 'X' focal length will increase the magnification of the lens and make the object appear closer/larger. Using a crop body will reduce the FoV, but will not increase the apparent size of the subject.

????

Let's say there is a 1.4x crop sensor body.

The image will look almost identical between the crop body and the 1.4x teleconverter on ff.

 

[tirediron]

The field of view will be the same, or at least similar, I agree.

 

[limr]

I'd shrug and say, "Oh well" and move on to take a different shot.

 

[Netskimmer]

Given the option, I would use a DX body. This option doesn't sacrifice stops of light or image quality as a TC would. When shooting wildlife I often do both. Using my D7000 + my TC-17II + my 70-200 VR II produces great image quality and is still fairly fast. If that still isn't long enough, I have my Bigma to fall back on.

 

[coastalconn]

Here's my take on it. If you are focal length limited, I will take a DX body every time. I personally do not like TC's although I will use them occasionally on my 500 F4. If you compare same FOV, a 1.4x makes you loose 1 stop, so there goes the advantage of full frame. You also take a slight hit in AF speed and sharpness. With a consumer zoom, forget about it with a TC.

If you are not focal length limited then a FX will give you better image quality. Of course if you have a big 150-600, and you fill the frame at 600mm on a FX, and compare it to 400mm on a DX, the DX may actually still win because those lenses get softer at the long end.

But then I say I can still put a 1.4x TC on my D500 and stop down to F8 and get this..
Snowy Egret 7_5 Landing by Kristofer Rowe, on Flickr
To get the same FOV on a FX you would need to use the 1.7x TC that eats 1.5 stops of light and according to photography life takes a 23% hit in IQ and even slower AF..

I posted a comparison on another website of the D500 vs D600 with a 1.4x on the 500 F4 on the D600. At higher ISO the D500 still resolved more detail and retained color better as the comp was at 1600/3200 and 3200/6400. If anyone wants the link, send me a PM. I don't think I am supposed to post it here..

 

[Solarflare]

I kinda would do both ?

I wouldnt want to use more than a 1.4x extender and I wouldnt want to use more than a 1.5x crop factor, in order to still have best possible image quality in the end.

I guess I would first use the 1.4x extender and then switch to the crop body, given the choice.