telecoverter or big lens

[DAVEG]

So is it best to have a small lens with a telecoverter x 2 or a big lens with better focal lenghth. I have found that using a 210 with a tele give quite good results and it makes for a neat small package, but as the focal length reaches its maximum are you just magnifying this.
With a much bigger lens and more focal distance to be gained photos should have greater clarity and depth .So whats best big lens or smaller lens and telecoverter. Answers on a postcard please or just pop them on the forum.

[Aanything]

it depends on what lenses and tc.
I have had very good experience with tamron sp lenses and matched teleconverters: often lenses become a bit slow, but iq was much better than what I would get from a crappy super long lens.
So if you have a very good and quite fast lens, using it with a tc will probably be better in terms of iq than a cheap longer lens, and much cheaper (and space-saving) than buying a very good longer lens.
If sheer IQ is the primary goal, and cost and weight are not issues, buying an excellent longer lens is the way to go.

[frenched]

I agree that a matched tc would work best, even though you'd still lose 2 stops and quadruple your exposure time generally.

I'm planning a trip to east Africa next year and struggling with the same issue -- either get a 2x for my Zeiss 200/4 or just rent a Canon 400/2.8 L and bring that instead. Trouble is, that thing would add 11 pounds to my luggage and I wonder if the extra weight and expense would be worth it in terms of better photos. I'd rather use what I own.

[norland]

[cooltouch]

I agree with frenched and Aanything. The biggest issue you will face will be the two stops of light you're gonna lose if you use a TC. If you have a reasonably fast long lens, then this isn't as big of an issue. Take a 300mm f/4 for example, which is fast for 300mm. That lens, with a 2x tc is gonna be a 600mm f/8. Same as a few mirror lenses out there that do quite well at f/8, so that's still doable and even hand-holdable in some very narrow situations. But most 300mm lenses are f/5.6, so you'd be looking at a 600mm f/11, which is not so desirable, but still useable with a tripod or monopod.

I agree that the Tamron TCs are good -- but they can be used only with Tamron lenses. The best 2x that I've used, which comes in a dedicated mount, is the Vivitar macro focusing 2x. Those by Komura and Kiron are also excellent.

Also if you can pick up a 1.4x or 1.5x, do it. They are not all that common and are worth having for mild increases in focal length and minimal losses of light.

[DAVEG]

I have just been out and tried my new lens the miranda 75-300 mm which with the crop effect gives me a 600mm lens and a 1200mm lens ok I lose 2 stops but in manual mode and ISO 200 got off some great shots with it its an OLYMPUS OM so I got a matched tc and on a tripod its usable with the 2 sec timer and I have not got a cable release for my EPL1 plus they don't make a remote either as its disabled in firmware.I would post my results but I'm not sure how to decrease the size of my photo to put on the forum . Any help in this area would be helpful please so you can see my good or not so good shots.

[luisalegria]

Depends entirely on the prime lenses in question, and your budget.

I have tried this a few times. In the end I concluded that many cheap longer lenses are definitely better than using a TC, at least for the kind of shorter lenses I collect.

I agree that a very, very good shorter larger aperture lens could give equal or better results than a mediocre longer lens wide open.
But that shorter lens is likely to be rather expensive. If we are speaking of 180-200mm's, we are considering an f/2.8 lens, and just the best ones in that category. We are considering a lens worth $200-500 at least.

There are many excellent 200mm f/3.5 or f/4 lenses that are reasonably cheap ($30-60); there are plenty of 400/6.3 primes that are VERY cheap ($20-30). Stick even an excellent TC (Kiron 7-element or Komura) on those 200mm primes and, wide open, you get an f/7 or f/8 400mm, that is not quite good. Stop it down one stop (f/5.6 effective f/11) and it is reasonably sharp.

But the cheap 400/6.3's are likely to be sharper at f/8 than the 200mm's on TC wide open.

[frenched]

[Farside]

[DAVEG]

Thanks for the upload tip gimp I could not get the hang of tho.

[DAVEG]

taken TODAY using miranda 300mm and a matching OM TC.Miranda cost £20 gbp and in mint condition .with the crop effect it s600mm on my EPL1 and with the TC its aound 1200mm. How do you Improve on detail and sharpness, or is it the limitation of the lens.

[philslizzy]

I think thats pretty reasonable for the set up you have. Good one. Of course cheapo store brand TC's arent goung to be as good as a matched one but useful anyway.

[DAVEG]

Again this is taken using a Prakticar 70-210mm and amatching x2 converter this was also shot at full zoom while the next shot of the bird was without the tc.
because the subject was not that far away the standard gave a pretty good result. Sometimes its not always a nessessity to get a close up shot when you could be near the limitation of the lens. Any suggestios on improving the shots .Stopping down more etc.

[DAVEG]

The Telecoverters I have are mostly lens branded so I have Olympus OM for all the Olympus fit lenses and a PRAKTICAR TC Plus I got a PRINZ GALAXY TC M42 to match the lens.Of course paid less than atenner for each one I love ebay.

[DR.JUAN]

I have a TC Makinon (bad thing, I think), with 6 elements.
Not 7 ones.

It produces loss of contrast (a lot) and some CA.

I used it with the Minolta MD 300/4,5 IF.

Now I use it with the macro 3,5/50 minolta MC. It produces a cheap 100 mm macro lens.

The best I can do? Gift this.

[norland]

[kido]

[hifisapi]

[miran]

[anktonio]

[DAVEG]

I have had some really acceptable shots with Tc's and whilst its true getting nearer to the subject is best in some circumstances that's not possible on a cliff wanting to get some shots of a lighthouse for instance and need more focal range than you have with you then they can be an ideal way to get the shot , as for magnifying aberrations and purple fringing most of my lenses are in mint condition and have had very little use and stand up well I have had some slight purple fringing with the Miranda but nothing too severe. Birds sometimes bugger off before you even set up your tripod and sometimes can't get close enough even then so trade off with tc or the big lens starts so that's why I got the Prinz galaxy f 6.3.

[visualopsins]

[Billou]

These 400/6.3 are great if you find one for less than 30-40 euros. I did some great shots with the Prinzgalaxy.

[Lloydy]

I've dragged three TC's out today and given them a 'real world test', we're off to Canada next week and will be going whale watching one of the days, so I want something 'long'. My lens will be a Canon FD fit Vivitar Series 1 70-210 / 2.8 - 4 on my NEX 5
In my box of TC's and tubes I found three FD fit TC's.
Vivitar MC 3X-4
Teleplus MC 2X CFE
Teleplus MC7 Macro 2X CFE

Here's the pictures. It's chucking it down with rain so I set the tripod inside the back door and used the church tower to focus on. The pictures with titles have been adjusted for levels and sized but nothing else. There's a picture from each TC at f8 that has been quickly PP'd but not sharpened. I basically removed the fringing and adjusted the colours and levels - from the originals.

This is the view taken with a 28mm lens.



With the TC's.
Vivitar MC 3X-4






f8 shot edited


Teleplus MC 2X CFE






f8 shot edited


Teleplus MC7 Macro 2X CFE






f8 shot edited


I will concede that these shots are not super sharp, the pixel peepers might well take it as confirmation that TC's are not worth bothering with. But I think they miss the point, any one of those TC's has produced pictures under very poor conditions, you can see the falling rain in those pictures. But many of the pictures can be salvaged with PP, which we probably do anyway.
I think a TC can make the difference between getting a shot of a whale that looks like a small blob on the horizon, or a shot of a whale you can recognize. I shall certainly have one - the Teleplus MC7 Macro - and possibly the Vivitar X3 when I'm afloat.

[DAVEG]

Yes I kind of like a TC or two especially when you can get them for as low as £4 delivered to your door off the bay. My old PRINZ galaxy with the hazy rear lens (moved it on ) still produced some natural looking shots with a TC chucked on it I got 1600mm with the crop effect from my EPL1 and the shots were pretty natural and usable. New one arrives tommorow so I will get some shots with it and post pre TC and of gourse with TC.