Teleconverters for AFS 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX

<p>I just recently purchased the D90 and have 2 lenses;<br>

AFS 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED VR DX <br>

AFS 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR DX<br>

I'd like the get some more reach out of the 55-200mm lense. I was looking for a teleconverter on BH Photo but got a little confused. Can anyone recommend a converter that works well with this lense?<br>

The reason I'm shopping for a teleconverter is obviously price compared to getting a better telephoto prime lense. <br>

Thank you for any feedback, I appreciate it. <br>

<br />~ Alain</p>

<p>I don't think you will get good results using a TC on the 55-200. AF might suffer at f8 and image quality drops when a TC is used sometimes needing an extra stop or two. If you can find a used Nikkor 300mm f4 AF-D that should give much better results and can be used with a TC if your body has a focus motor built in other wise look for a 70-300 zoom.</p>

<p>Your lenses are too slow for using teleconverters unless your shooting f8 in bright sunshine, autofocus will be difficult in anything but the brightest light.</p>

<p>In terms of price, you'd be <em>far</em> better off getting a used 70-300 zoom than you would deteriorating the performance (and greatly slowing down) your existing kit lens. Those slow, variable focus zooms simply don't lend themselves to use with a TC. You would be very disappointed with the results, even with an expensive TC (and as Carl says, you would be unlikely to get AF to work at the longer focal lengths).</p>

<p>That's what I was afraid of. I'll save some money and search for a good used 300mm lense. <br>

Thank you all, I appreciate the responses. </p>

<p>Save your money. No converter really "works well" with that lens. The 55~200 is just not a good candidate for a teleconverter. However, if you must insist, then limit it to 1.4X and go with a high quality TC such as the Kenko Pro 300 or Tamron SP-AF. Expect autofocus to be iffy (or fail altogether) and image quality wide open will suffer.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, "more reach" usually does not come cheap. You will probably get just as good a result by cropping an image shot with the 55~200 as you will by combining that lens with a TC. Carl's suggestion of a used AF 300/4D is a good one (a truly superb lens, albeit with slow AF), or alternatively trade in your 55~200 for the AF-S 70~300 VR.</p>

<p>Moderators, perhaps we should put a sticky at the top of our page that says "Warning! Don't use TCs on slow lenses!" Seems to be asked by a lot of people lately...</p>

<p>Nikon AF systems are designed to work with apertures of max 5.6 or greater. since you lose at least one stop with a 1.4x TC and two with a 2x TC, teleconverters work best with constant aperture lenses. if i just needed a bit more reach and didnt want to spring for a 300 prime lens or the 70-300 VR, i'd look at the 70-300 G: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-70-300mm-4-5-6G-Nikkor-Worldwide/dp/B00008B0Z6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1240611918&sr=8-7</p>

 

<p>I don't think you can even use Nikon teleconverters on those two lenses, because some of optical elements pretrude into the back of the lens, and only certain fact telephoto lenses are designed with that in mind. (there will be no point of using a teleconverter on the 18-55 anyway) I think the only teleconverter you can use are those kenko teleconverters. They're not all that good...</p>

<p>The AF speed will be slow to non-responsive; the lens will become very soft; metering could be off; there will be more distortion...</p>

<p>Teleconverter? Forget it. Sorry.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>