TC vs Clear Image Zoom

Big R · Joined: 29 Nov 2010 Posts: 42

So since I got my shiny new nex 3n i thought why not try some older, cheap lenses. Got a RMC Tokina 135 2.8 for 20€ incl. shipping from eBay and just for fun I got me a teleconverter, too (Komura Telemore 95 II 7KMC 6,50 € incl.). Both Minolta MD mount and mounted by cheap adapter.

The nex does provide a Clear Image Zoom feature that, as Sony claims, does'nt degrade image quality (yeah, sure) and can therefore double my focal length. TC on the other hand often are said to degrade the quality quite heavily and only high-priced TC should be used on ecually priced prime lenses.

I had 1 hour time to beat, my camera, a (not very stable) tripod (and unfortunately an overcast day).

So here's my absoloutely stunning scientific comparison:

First: RMC Tokina 135 f2.8 wide open:

Quite soft. At f4 the quality vastly improves and is quite good at f8, so I will be testing at an aperture of f8:

Let's see what CIZ does at f8:

Crop:

I think it's obvious we're looking at a crop, so: surprise! image quality has degraded by my book.

So how does the tc handle it?:
TC at f8:

Crop:

Secound surprise - that's better than I would have thought.

All Images jpegs straight of the sd-card, no PP applied.

Your thoughts?