telecoverters ??? whats the deal???

[trishaw317]

Hello All,

I am trying to decide on what lens to buy before I move to Costa Rica. I all ready have a 55-200 Nikkor. I was wondering if getting a good teleconverter would be an option to get to 400mm. I am wanting to keep the lens cost under about $500 so for surfing and wanting more distance for the $ should I just get the doubler now and save for a good lens later after I learn how to shoot the sport period! thanks for any suggestions.

TIA

[ldelacruz]

Not a good idea with your lenses. You need the best glass with an aperture of 2.8 or 4 to add TC's and get good results. The lenses you would need are $1500 and up. Your better off using your 55-200 for portraits and getting one of the lenses I recommended in your other thread for your surfing pics. Buy used and save.

Check this Sigma out. Currently in the buy/sell.
http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...kon-mount.html

[TXAvi8tor]

No. You're up against the laws of physics. A 2.0 TC with your 55-200 will make a _bad_ 110-400. Too slow (f/11 wide open!) & not sharp enough Even the least powerful TC (a 1.4) isn't going to provide the results you desire.

Cheap, fast and good are corners of a isosceles triangle. "Fast" and "good" can be close to each other, but "cheap" is always far from the other two; YOU CAN'T GET ALL THREE OF 'EM AT ONCE. Having said that, I own and shoot some 'cost-effective' solutions, but also know where to pick my battles.

A 400mm lens needs to be at least f/5.6 wide open. Faster is better, and more expensive.

Your best bet imo is an older Nikkor 300mm f4 AF. Good ones are sharp, excellent mechanically and as reasonably-priced as you're gonna get at around $500 (7th and 8th listings).

Adding a quality used 1.4X TC later will cost you from $150-400 depending on brand and yield a 420mm f/5.6 with 'decent' sharpness. Let's see what other posters come up with. I think you'll not get more bang for the buck any other way.

hth,

Larry

[revjvegas]

I have a 70-200 2.8 VR II, and this past weekend I rented the nikkor 1.4 and the 1.7 TC to test drive.

While I'd say the images I got using the 1.7 were acceptable, I would go with the 1.4 for the better image quality and only 1 stop loss.

That's my .02.

And I too second that you really don't want to put a TC behind a slow piece of glass.

[Wes]

I agree with those that are trying to steer you clear of getting a TC to use with your 55-200. The resulting lens would be too slow.

For the record, I use the 1.4TC with my 200-400 f/4 zoom. Outstanding results, but I started with good glass to begin with.

[trishaw317]

Originally Posted by TXAvi8tor

Your best bet imo is an older Nikkor 300mm f4 AF. Good ones are sharp, excellent mechanically and as reasonably-priced as you're gonna get at around $500 (7th and 8th listings).

Larry

Thanks Larry, I looked at then lens, however, will it autofocus on a D5000?

[TXAvi8tor]

Originally Posted by trishaw317

Thanks Larry, I looked at then lens, however, will it autofocus on a D5000?

No, it won't. I didn't check your other thread to determine which body you have; my bad You would have to go with the AF-S version, and that will nearly double the cost.

[trishaw317]

how can I tell when looking on Amazon if it will AF on my camera body???

[Flores]

lens rental instead of buying a teleconverter? probably end up costing you the same.

[KenJulio]

Paul - Rental is not an option as she's moving to Costa Rica, so renting would cost a lot more :)

Trisha - you'll need a AF-S lens for your D5000.

[ualymerej]

as ken mentioned, you need AF-S lenses - that means the lens itself has an autofocus motor built in. This is required for autofocusing since the D5000 does not have a drive motor to turn the focus of regular AF lenses. All nikon lenses will distinguish if it is AF-S (sometimes it will refer to the motor as SWM - silent wave motor). A lot of the third party lenses have been updated to include a motor, so if you look at websites like B&H and adorama, they will tell you in the description that it autofocuses on ALL DSLRs. Typically though, the used market will be filled with non AF-S third party lenses since usually those are a few years older before they updated their lenses to include the motor.

[ldelacruz]

Ouch! Would upgrading the body make sense for the long term investment on glass? Do you think being able to buy good used lenses would pay for the body upgrade? Just a thought!

[KenJulio]

Lonnie - In either case, she'll need to purchase a decent lens on top of that a body. If I had a choice in Trisha's situation, if I could pull off the 300mm f4 AF-S used(there's one in the buy and sell forum), I would do that. And even if she got a TC on a D5000, I'm not sure if the AF will work on a AF-S lens. I'm sure someone will correct me on that if I am mistaken.

[KenJulio]

If you're looking at third party, for Sigma, if you want to have AF, you'll need to look for the HSM designation for the lens.

Here is a link to the sigma 100-300 which someone had mentioned.

100-300mm F4 EX DG APO HSM - Telephoto Zoom Lenses - SigmaPhoto.com

Some real life samples
Sigma 100-300 f4 on FX - img heavy - NikonCafe.com

[trishaw317]

Ok I think I am close to a decision...I have finagled some reward points to cover my tripod and and extra memory card (which I ALSO needed). I am going to forget about the flash for now. So here are my choices I think...


The Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras...

Amazon.com: Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo

The Sigma
120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Nikon-f

OnpointElectronics.com

AND the Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD VC (Vibration Compensation) Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens with Built in Motor for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

the Amazon.com: Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD VC (Vibration Compensation) Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens with Built in Motor for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo

Please let me know what you guys think. You have been awesome so far in helping me with this.