D70 + 70-300mm + Tcon17

[expiredyoghurt]

Hi all ... just thought i better ask before i go geta tcon17 to throw onto my 70-300mm .. :S...


i was thinking of doing as above .. mounting a oly Tcon17 on my 70-300mm zoom ... as people have done that before and it makes my 300mm end reach 510mm .. which is pretty nice ...

however i've been warned that the extra weight is not good for the lens (yes i understand .. but how much will it damage the lens?)

and that the AF slows down (yes, given the extra weight ...) but is the AF still decent enough for birding? ...

also someone mentioned the Tcon17 optical quality is good enough that there is little/negligable image quality degradation ...

however someone just PM-ed me on CS and said he had the same setup and the image quality leaves much to be desired ... :dunno:

as for aperture ... they say it does not reduce the light entering ... so no worrys about having to close down the aperture and that there's no vignetting at the 300 end ...

any advice? .. also if anyone has this set up .. could you post some 100% crops with and without the tcon? .. and advise if it's feasible or to throw it out the window ...

[wilis128]

bro.. which version of the 70-300 are u getting? 3rd party or nikon?

my experience 2 yrs bck was using a 300d+tamron 70-300+ some cheap 2xtc.. the quality was so bad little egret looks like purple heron.. ie purple fringing everywhere.. that was how bad the quality is :)

not sure how much would a 70-300 + tcon 17 costs.. but a bit more maybe u can get a 300f/4 2nd hand, a sigma 100-300 f4 etc.. and in time to come u can add on TC.. i believe it would provides a much pleasant results that the setup u're considering.

good luck!.

just my 2 cents

[expiredyoghurt]

already got the nikon 70-300G (yea i know the G lens isn't THAT good ... but yeah) ...

planning on getting an oly Tcon17 to mount INFRONT of the lens ... :S ... yep .. infront of the lens ...

the 70-300G was around $150
Tcon17+step down ring 62->55 around another $100 ...

[wilis128]

already got the nikon 70-300G (yea i know the G lens isn't THAT good ... but yeah) ...

planning on getting an oly Tcon17 to mount INFRONT of the lens ... :S ... yep .. infront of the lens ...

the 70-300G was around $150
Tcon17+step down ring 62->55 around another $100 ...

i see.. didnt read properly.. thought u havent got the lens and just about to buy. :)

[MountainMan]

I will second Wilis' opinion of investing in a better lens than trying to get reach from a lousy lens in the first place. I say lousy because I have this lens and it gives real lousy results...

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See all the chromatic aberation and purple fringing everywhere? And this was taken without any TCs.

If you are serious about taking good wildlife photos (or sports/action photos), you have to invest in a good tele. The 70-300 is a low cost general purpose lens for the masses... which means exactly just that. If you are satisfied with this kind of results, then go for it.

My 0.00002 cents on this

[expiredyoghurt]

hmm ... ok ... so i should just throw the idea out the window huh ?.. yeah ...

then .. any reccomendations for a tele lens? ... pref 400mm+ .. which doesn't burn this student's shorts off .. (let alone a hole in my pocket)

[ParkertR]

tamron 200-400 f/5.6 is a reasonable buy - pretty sharp and contrasty

[expiredyoghurt]

yeah ... haiz .. will hold off for one ...

[joeyao]

After birding for about a year, I have learned the expensive way and perhaps my experience may be of use to you. IMHO, if you have loads of $$$ and very strong and healthy, go for the 600mm f4 lens. If you, like me, who do not have loads of $$$ and not very strong, the minimum I would recommend is the 300mm f4 prime with a 1.4X TC. Do not waste your precious $$$ on cheap zooms, trust me, you will definitely upgrade in future if you are serious into birding. Save up as long as you have to and buy a good prime once and for all. There are very good bargains for second hand lenses in Clubsnap buy and sell forum.

[wheels]

I second Joe on his comments. I do own a 70-300G and it is in my dry box for a long time liao only will bring out unless I want to put on some closeup filters for macros. Bird wise, if you put on a TC for this lens, the picture usually turns out rather "artistic" then anything. :)

[expiredyoghurt]

300mm f4 would be ... 1.6k+ right? ... don't have that kinda cash .. :S ...

what do u guys think of the tamron 200-400? should be reasonable for it's price right? ... besides 2nd hand ... shouldn't lose much when selling off ...

(please bear in mind that i'm a 17+ JC2 student ... ...)

on the other hand ... since a 300 f/4 costs 1.6k+ ... wouldn't a bigma 50-500 give better reach for the price?

[joeyao]

300mm f4 would be ... 1.6k+ right? ... don't have that kinda cash .. :S ...

what do u guys think of the tamron 200-400? should be reasonable for it's price right? ... besides 2nd hand ... shouldn't lose much when selling off ...

(please bear in mind that i'm a 17+ JC2 student ... ...)

on the other hand ... since a 300 f/4 costs 1.6k+ ... wouldn't a bigma 50-500 give better reach for the price?Sorry, I didn't know you are a JC2 student. In that case, perhaps you could state your budget and see how the more experienced birders here can help to choose the best bang for your buck.

[expiredyoghurt]

ahh ... budget ah? .. not quite sure ... probably max $500~ .. (i know it ain't ALOT ... yeah ... =/)

[joeyao]

ahh ... budget ah? .. not quite sure ... probably max $500~ .. (i know it ain't ALOT ... yeah ... =/)Hmm...in that case, just keep your 70-300mm and learn to get closer to your subjects. Forget about the Oly TCON-17. I too started out with the 70-300mm zoom with the Canon 300D and I attached the Oly TCON-17 hoping to get a longer reach but the resulting images from this combo is so soft that it is real crappy. It was so bad that I deleted all the images and do not have any to show you. If you are able to get close to your subjects, the 70-300mm can produce quite decent images. Here are 2 taken with the 70-300mm zoom:

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[Sree]

Hmm...in that case, just keep your 70-300mm and learn to get closer to your subjects. Forget about the Oly TCON-17. I too started out with the 70-300mm zoom with the Canon 300D and I attached the Oly TCON-17 hoping to get a longer reach but the resulting images from this combo is so soft that it is real crappy. It was so bad that I deleted all the images and do not have any to show you. If you are able to get close to your subjects, the 70-300mm can produce quite decent images.

Joe has given excellent advice. Save yourself some money for now and develop the skills to get closer to the bird. An experienced nature pro once said along the lines of "no matter which lens you get it's always going to be 200mm too short!".

MM is right, the 70-300G lens is not such a great lens. But it is a start. My son has one too. Go for the bigger birds first whilst improving your photography and stalking skills.

Keep the $100 for something good. The 50/F1.8 is only $180 and it is an excellent lens. My son has that too and I borrow it from him ocassionally. Its a really sharp lens and has amazing zooming ability (called feet :lol: )

[joeyao]

MM is right, the 70-300G lens is not such a great lens. But it is a start. My son has one too.

The 50/F1.8 is only $180 and it is an excellent lens. My son has that tooHey! Sree! If I call you dad, can I have your D2X? :D

[wkcheah76]

Hhahahha.. Sreee suddenly will have many nikonian children!

How about selling everything and get a Arthur setup? It is light, f/2.8, really good at low ISO, a super duper long reach for that price, and it lets you move really stealth. When you are more financially sound, then think of big glass. And I say: snatch the biggest glass you can afford first, the rest will fall in line.

[expiredyoghurt]

Hmm...in that case, just keep your 70-300mm and learn to get closer to your subjects. Forget about the Oly TCON-17. I too started out with the 70-300mm zoom with the Canon 300D and I attached the Oly TCON-17 hoping to get a longer reach but the resulting images from this combo is so soft that it is real crappy. It was so bad that I deleted all the images and do not have any to show you. If you are able to get close to your subjects, the 70-300mm can produce quite decent images.


yep i know the 70-300 can get decent pics ... infact most of my bird pics in CS were taken with it ... posted a few over here before too ... anyways selling off my 70-300G for the tamron 200-400, and cos i don't have the time to go shoot birds till after my A levels (i think, and don't need the temptation either ...)

Joe has given excellent advice. Save yourself some money for now and develop the skills to get closer to the bird. An experienced nature pro once said along the lines of "no matter which lens you get it's always going to be 200mm too short!".

MM is right, the 70-300G lens is not such a great lens. But it is a start. My son has one too. Go for the bigger birds first whilst improving your photography and stalking skills.

Keep the $100 for something good. The 50/F1.8 is only $180 and it is an excellent lens. My son has that too and I borrow it from him ocassionally. Its a really sharp lens and has amazing zooming ability (called feet :lol: )

got a 50mm/1.8 already (well ... technically it's not mine .. but i'm free to use it cos the owner is in thailand) haha ... but got a 28-70/f2.8 so never used teh 50mm before ...

speaking of stalking skills ... i think i can get pretty close to a couple of birds ... like sunbirds, cockatoos, bulbuls, parakeets, starlings, even a bee eater when they're armound my area, basically been stalking the birds near my house ... but the king fisher keeps spotting me before i spot it .. :S ...

Hhahahha.. Sreee suddenly will have many nikonian children!

How about selling everything and get a Arthur setup? It is light, f/2.8, really good at low ISO, a super duper long reach for that price, and it lets you move really stealth. When you are more financially sound, then think of big glass. And I say: snatch the biggest glass you can afford first, the rest will fall in line.

haha .. i think i should call Sree 'Dad' too :lol: ...

anyways i assume arthur's setup is the fz10+raynox 2.2x? well ... already got a d70 ... and lovin' it .. not gonna part with it anytime soon ...

snatch the biggest glass? ... well .. atm the biggest glass i can reach would be the tamron 200-400 ...

[fuse]

haha arthur bro has always been my inspiration, u not bad liao JC2 can buy D70

me Uni Yr 2 not even close, in any case, u can borrow my Tcon-17 to try out if u want, no problem at all.

ask WK bro about stalking birds and he'll let his mean blue machine do the talking, experienced it myself, can even stretch and pat the swallow on the head......... haha

cheers
alex

[expiredyoghurt]

haha arthur bro has always been my inspiration, u not bad liao JC2 can buy D70

me Uni Yr 2 not even close, in any case, u can borrow my Tcon-17 to try out if u want, no problem at all.

ask WK bro about stalking birds and he'll let his mean blue machine do the talking, experienced it myself, can even stretch and pat the swallow on the head......... haha

cheers
alex

heh ... arthur's set up blew me away the first time i saw it ... cos i didn't know a true 2.2x tcon existed mah ... but fz10+2.2x ... impressive ...

btw, thanks for the offer ... but i trust all the pros here .. haha ... dun need to try lah .. confirm damn poor quality ... so i've thrown the idea out the window ...

and well ..WK must be damn pro lah? .. haha ... rech out and pat the swallow on the head? .. must learn from you =P

[kcuf2]

actually yoghurt dude i m having exactly the same problem with u... i m also using d70s and i also have that nikkor 70-300g lens and the problem is the 300mm reach is too little and also similar to u, i m also a student(except that i m in uni not jc, and also cant afford those 300/f4 and 300/f2.8 lens)
hence i am also thinking of the 70-300g + kenko teleplus 2x teleconverter combo.
the 300mm simply doesnt allow me to capture those details of the feathers, and what i get is mostly just a bird that occupy about 10-15% of the photo, except for some birds like sunbirds which i can get >70%.
Regarding the purple fringing and chromatic abberation, suppose i dun take the bird against bright sunlight, it should be ok rite?
And also, i know the consequence of using 2x tc is that it will become f11 at 600mm thus, i will be always using my tripod..

my concern is that many have been saying tat the picture that comes out from using the teleconverter with this lens is no good, but could anyone post a pic for me to assess?
Because the pics from this 70-300g lens can be very decent, thus i was thinking adding a 2x teleconverter shouldnt affect it much..
Actually, if from the photo i still can get the feather and all other details, i feel its quite ok..

[Ender]

I would said this lens 70-300mm is more bad than good...i used to have it 2 year ago when i having my newly bought S2Pro...take some photo when travelling in Tasmania and australia 2 years back. First and second Image is also due to hand shake too cos i add a 2x MC4 Kenko TC for the shot...However EXIF didnt show the correct length maybe i using a lousy TC maybe... But this TC is good with old manual 55mm super sharp marco lens ..TC dont works well with zoom lens for sure. Listen to pro birder here they give sound advise.

S2 Pro + 70-300mm + 2X TC
1/500s f/5.6 at 299.0mm iso400
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S2 Pro + 70-300mm + 2X TC
1/750s f/5.6 at 299.0mm iso400
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S2 Pro + 70-300mm (Taken in bird sanctuary)
1/60s f/8.0 at 252.0mm iso400
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S2Pro + 55mm macro + 2x TC
1/60s iso100 with Flash
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