 Justin G. |
Teleconverters: Worth it or not? As some of you might have noticed, I sit here at work bored with nothing to do but read and ask questions on this site! Anyway, I read the description of a teleconverter and it sounded too good to be true. I don't believe much, so I need some advice before I shell out $300. Are they too good to be true? What I read was that I would double my lens. I have a 75-300mm. I don't want to spend thousands right now on a 500mm lens, so this teleconverter looks like the right thing to get me up to 600mm. Is this correct? What are some pros and cons ... and should I buy one? Thanks for your time.
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John P. Sandstedt |
You lose two stops with a 2X converter ... but if you have a good 75-300mm zoom and can match it with the manufacturer's 2X, it's a good temporary solution.
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Justin G. |
Thank you. A little confused but I'll ask to correct. I'll lose two stops? What exactly does this mean. Again, I'm new to photography and terminology isn't the strongest yet. Could you please explain? Thank you John.
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Terry R. Hatfield |
Hi Justin!Go To This Link It Has Some Good Info On Tele's,You Need My Job Never A Dull Moment:-) http://www.photo.net/learn/optics/tc2/
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Jon Close |
I'm assuming your 75-300 has maximum aperture of f/4-5.6. Adding the 2x teleconverter makes the lens effectively 150-600mm (2x longer) and f/8-11 (2 stops slower). f/8-11 lets only 1/4th the light through to the film/image plane and viewfinder. Most autofocus systems need f/5.6 or brighter, so your camera will not autofocus with the 2x teleconverter. The viewfinder will also be much dimmer, making manual focus difficult. Some teleconverters can only be used with a few specific lenses. Notably Canon's EF 1.4x and EF 2x, and Sigma's APO TCs. These TCs have an extended front element that fits into the back of the mated lens. On a non-compatible lens, it will collide with the lens's rear-most element. There are only 4 zoom lenses that can be used with the Canon TCs: Canon's own EF 70-200 f/4L USM, EF 70-200 f/2.8L USM, EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM, and EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 IS USM. See http://www.sigma-photo.com/lenses/lenses_tele.php for the list of lenses compatible with Sigma's TCs. The TCs made by Kenko and Tamron do not have the extended front element and can generally be used with just about any lens longer than about 50mm.
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Michael McCullough |
Kiron made at one time some very very good teleconverters,look around the used market place,I picked up one for Nikon & one for Minolta manual, total cost $40.00,like I said Very good performance from this line of TC.
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