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I use a 2x Kenko t/c on my 80-200mm F2.8 I don't have autofocus issues. I think I get better quality than using a Sigma 150-500mm (not had a good chance to compare shots yet).

Duques, bert, should we start a new thread in the Camera Club forum to discuss under and over exposing?

to see the effect of the converters take a look at the 400mm shootout listed on www.ejphoto.com it is interesting to see the result of this dollar test.

I have had long hard thoughts about this and spoke to allot of people.The canon 100-400 is a better lens than the Sigma 150-500 but the canon costs allot more so for the price of the sigma its more worth it how can I say its more value for money.Think the Canon almost R10 000 more expensive than the sigma and the sigma doesn't produce bad shots.
If I were you get the Sigma or if financially possible the Canon and if you not happy then get a converter.

joshilewis , i am slowly moving discussion threads to the camera club thread
Will make one with all the under-and over exposing topic i can find
Will move all technical discussion to the Camera Club
More suited

Hi everybody,

We are going to Kruger in July 2011 and I have read a lot about converters.
I have never used one before and would like to have some advice about this issue before we leave.

Should I buy a converter for my kit(Nikon D7000 with Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105/3.5-5.6G VR and
Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Zoom)?

I heard that the range of the zoom is normally 105-450mm with a Nikon DX D-SLR

Would this mess up the pictures or would it extend my range to 600mm using my zoom


Thanks for the advice

Greetings,

Gert-Jan

Gert-Jan, you can use it, but!
The 70-300, which is the only lens you should use it on, will become a f/8 lens with the converter on. Not a problem, except for autofocus. Your camera will not AF with f/8 lenses, so it's manual focus only.

It does mess up pictures a bit, as in that faults in the lens will be enhanced. I'm not using Nikon, so have no idea of the quality of that 70-300. Simple guideline, if it cost less than 1000 euro you might indeed see less quality.

Borrow or hire one, and go birding in Holland. I know quite a few good spots! That will show you what the quality and the handling will be like. Just don't go for herons, they stand still mostly. Try for Gaaien, rietzangers and such. That will be much like photography in Kruger.

@DuQues: Thanks for the tip....I don't know if it's possible to hire a converter in Holland?

Don't want to spend too much money on a converter but an Converter Kit for the Nikon costs 200,- euro by Kenko....better to buy a good Flashlight for this money I think

The 70-300mm lens is a good Super-zoom lens of course a xx-500mm would be nicer but you must have the budget and the time to visit places like Kruger more often unfortunately we don’t have that opportunity

Which spots do you recommend for birding?

PM sent.

Can anyone please tel me what a 2x extender lense do , reason why I ask, a friend of my FIL told him that when you use a 2x extender lense on his 300 mm lense it will be like a 600mm lense

That is exactly what it does.

But. You can only use them on certain lenses, usually only L series but not all of them. And you will loose two F-Stops, making the lens a lot "slower" e.g. on a 2.8 rated lens you would loose 2.8 and 4 so the best F-Stop you would get would be 5.6.

Correct, but there are downsides to it;
- it shows all the faults of the lens.
- autofocus will be slower, or be switched off entirely
- switching it in and out can let dust onto your sensor

Have a look at this page. It is a good appraisal.
On my 100-400 I do use the 1.4, but I do not have AF then, as my 7D will not use AF above f/5.6.

But if you have a good lens (L-series) and you really need the longer lens it is a great tool.

I am in the process of buying a better camera (in stead of a good "mik en druk" ) for the first time, and I have decoded on the Canon 550D, the best deal I could find in my budget- and I have seen a number of good reviews also on this forum.

I am looking for a teleconverter to use with the canon 55-250 lens? Which would you recommend?

To be honest I would recommend none.

Your camera will use autofocus up to f/5.6. The teleconverter will take 1 (1.4x) or 2 (2x) stops of light which means that in combination with your f/4-5.6 lens you will have to use manual focus all the way.

If you decide to buy one anyway I would go for the Canon 1.4, that one does not degrade the image quality. With the 2.0 version you will see the IQ going down.

Hi Gekophobe,

The advice given so far is probably spot on - the reason is that the lens you have is a kit lense - and by the way a very superb one at that. My wife has one of those lenses with her D400 and she gets fantastic pics - in fact I have a 70 - 300 lens that is hugely more expensive and I have to say that it does not give that much better pics.

If you go to a much better lens as I feel sure you will want to do eventually then you can consider a converter and the best one is the 1.4.

Can I add - you will lose about 2 stops on the lense but in the really bright light we have here it does not make that much difference - you should be able to get really good shots - look for a photographer called Gary Parker on the web - his pics are superb and he uses a 1.4 with his 100 - 400 lense.

KR

KC

Thank you for the good advice. I have now actually started playing around with the new camera - taking pictures of everything I see:). It is an awesome experience! I have to admit that I have a lot to learn and I have been thinking of taking a course or two. In addition, there is so much useful info on the forum. Can't wait for my next Kruger trip which is unfortunately only in July next year! In the meantime we have atrip to Golden Gate planned-so I will have time to practice.