Forums > Back > The 70-200 nikon lenses an interesting observation.

06-21-2014, 08:51 PM

Dear Photozone,



I have both 70-200’s the F4 and the F2.8.

I did some tests on the D800e and Surely the F2.8 is sharper.

However when I added the TC1.4 on these lenses the F4 clearly won. somewhat surprising don’t you think.

This is done with the TC1.4II,.. not sure how it will go with the new TC1.4III.



Is this something that could be interesting to investigate for your site?



I am a bit torn as I don’t want to take both on my shoots.

So a good scientific test of these 2 with tc's would help me and probably also others.



I also tested the 1.7 TC and this one is now sold! upsizing the 1.4 TC shots was clearly better in terms of resolution



Best regards,

Mark den Hartog

06-22-2014, 06:54 AM

I also found that initially, the 70-200 II with the TC-14E II was quite disappointing. (I found out only after I went and shot a whole day of an event that I was asked to cover).

Then I had a "stroke of genius" and re-did the AF Fine Tune with the tele-converter on my D800.

The value needed was NOT the same as that was just for the 70-200.

Now, it's pretty good. It's not great at f4 but quite good one stop down.

I find that unless I really need something more than 300mm I leave the TC- 14 off and just shoot in DX mode. I'm certain that the TC-14 does degrade the IQ and it is noticeable on the D800.

JJ_SO · 06-22-2014, 08:04 AM

Every TC bites a piece off IQ. Some a very small one, others noticeably and as they change the whole system, your idea was in fact a stroke of genius. Is that combination appearing as a separate position in the AFMA register?

I certainly agree, the D800 has enough reserves to crop as if a 1.4× TC is used - without the additional downside that the shortest FL with converter might not be short enough, but that depends if the situation needs it.

Now, this could be the answer for Mark, too. Just think of the possible combinations with TC of all lenses Photozone already tested. Canon offers two Extenders, Nikon 3, Sigma another 2 and I'm sure there are more 3rd party products which "should be tested, because this combination is so perfect...". It's always easy to ask for tests - at least, easier than doing them. With some of the devices one looses quite a bit of comfort - AF not possible, and not every body-TC-lens combination will let the camera's AF work properly. And of course, zooms need to be tested at different FL - the workload you're asking for is exorbitant. And getting the results and saying, we did it, but no combination was better than the prime? I don't know, I rather see the testers being happy than bored ^_^

Except the ones some long lenses have in the package as standard accessory and are meant for just this lens, the rest of them is sort of a deal.

In another post Klaus mentioned it's pretty difficult to test a 600mm as the whole stability of tripod, tripod collar, camera-shutter and aerial pollution starts to become difficult to control.

Sometimes I was on the edge of getting a converter. My colleague, a "birder" always asked me "are you sure you want to carry it and change one more thing between lens and body?" He has all three TCs, so a grain of wisdom will be in his question.

06-22-2014, 09:11 AM

Hey Guys,

I did fine tune these combo's.

Off course I understand that the TC-Lens combo's are sort of infinite but still decided to post this because it's being uses a lot this way. I also think there are many serious photographers who once had a 2.0 converter and ended up selling it and sticking to 1.4.

1.4 seems to be the best trade off.. I am truly impressed with the 70-200F4VR combined with the TC1.4II. as in almost no loss of IQ.

and Yes a 300mm will beat a tc-70-200 Tongue

but the weight is a huge difference especially since I need the 70-200 anyway.

cheers,

Mark

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