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11/11/2005 08:41:18 AM · #1 |
| I have a basic question about lenses. Are 2X teleconverters any good? I have a 70-210mm lense and according to the 2X teleconverter it will double the lenghth to 420mm for like $70.00. If I were to buy a single lense with a focal length of 400 I would have to spend around $4,000.00. Now I'm thinking that no on in their right mind is going to spend $4,000.00 on the same thing they can get for $70.00 unless there is something I'm missing. From a practical standpoint, what is the big difference between a 70-210mm lense with a 2X teleconverter vs a 140-400mm lense? |
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11/11/2005 08:44:00 AM · #2 |
From what I've heard the 1.4x Teleconverter for Canon is very good (but still degrades image quality a little bit) and the 2x converter should be avoided. I've only used the 1.4x and haven't really done any comparisions so I'm not giving you opinion, just hearsay.
I do know that they come in handy if coupled with fast lenses but will never equate to the quality and usability you will get by using the appropriate lens...especially long length primes.
Message edited by author 2005-11-11 08:44:46. |
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11/11/2005 09:00:46 AM · #3 |
you lose shutter speed and quality. If you don't mind, then they are good. Really depends on what you are shooting.
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11/11/2005 09:02:42 AM · #4 |
smaller aperature and slower focusing is usually the drawbacks.
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11/11/2005 09:38:10 AM · #5 |
Teleconverters work best on fast primes f/4 or f/2.8, with a 1.4x TC you lose 1 stop of light and 2 stops on the 2x TC. For example a 400mm f/2.8 becomes a 560mm f/4 with a 1.4X TC and 800mm f/5.6 with a 2X TC, most cameras lose autofocus when the maximum aperture gets smaller than f/5.6, for example a 500mm f/4 with a 2X becomes a 1000mm f/8 and can't be autofocused unless you have a 1-series Canon SLR, you can manual focus though. Rule of thumb is if you start with a crappy lens the TC will only magnify its flaws, if you start with a very good prime the degradation is not that bad. In fact the 1.4X and 2X TC's work great with the 300mm f/2.8, 300mm f/4, 400mm f/2.8, 500mm f/4 and 600mm f/4. The 1.4X works reasonably well with the 70-200mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/4. Another rule of thumb is TC's work less well with zooms.
To see the difference between the reach of a 200mm compared to a 400mm Click Here. It's a great little demo.
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