2x Teleconverters, opinions on these three

I am looking to purchase a teleconverter. Out of three brands which

would you choose and why, please? The three are Tamron, Kenko, and

Vivitar. They are each about 90 USD, so I want to choose the better

of the three. Growing up, Vivitar was a good low priced product to

buy, I wonder if that still holds true. I have read about as many

pros as cons about Tamron, and absolutely nothing about Kenko. I'm

not really interrested in the AF aspect since I mostly do things

manually. What I most care about is glass quality in the price range

of the three afore mentioned teleconverters. I know I won't get the

same quality as I would with the more costly converters, but these

are the ones I'm looking towards, so please don't compare to the

higher priced models. Thanks in advance.

I can't say for absolute sure, but I think if all three are the 7 element versions then they

are actually the same teleconverters. Just the Kenko is white while the other two are black.

I used the 7 ele Vivitar S1 version in Minolta mount and it worked fairly well with a 200mm

2.8 lens. I wouldn't say it could compare to the name brand version but then again I never

tested it side by side. I admit I wasn't dissatisfied with the results though. Build quality

was alittle weak though...

I have used the Tamron for years. Canon's 2x TC isn't nearly as nice as their 1.4x, and

these third party converters actually perform quite admirably. Side by side on the 300 f/4

L IS and 70-200 f/4 L lenses the Tamron matched the sharpness of the Canon, with

slightly less contrast and a slight cold color cast (NOT CA).

 

All in all I think the less expensive 2x TCs offer a good bargain. If you want the best

quality possible, get the Canon 1.4x II. No 2x will give results even near that TC.

You can't compare 1.4x and 2x converters to each other, they are completely different animals. If you can afford it the Kenko Pro and Tamron SP (only the WHITE ones) are said to be manufactured by the same company and said to be the best other than Canon's. Good luck!

John, I brought up the point about 1.4x TCs to caution Stephen about TCs in general.

 

Many would assume that adding a 2x TC to a 200 f/2.8 lens would about equal a 300 f/4

lens with a 1.4x TC. It might not be entirely obvious to everyone that the 300 + 1.4x

would perform better than the 200 + 2x.

<p> Which lens do you have? Have you read <a href="http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/lenses.html#tc">this</a>? <p>

 

 

<p>Happy shooting,<br>

Yakim.</p>

I've swapped about and owned nearly all of these for a short test period.

<br><br>

The only ones which are any good at all are :

<br><br>

-Canon Extenders,<br>

-Kenko Pro 300 / Tamron Pro (same TC, different branding)

<br><br>

Avoid the kenko teleplus mc4, mc7 / Cheap Tamron. You will get better quality from cropping and interpolating.

 

Cannot speak for the Sigma.

Thanks guys, I think I'll squeeze the cheeks a bit harder and fork out the extra hundred for the 2X Kenko Pro 300. I was leaning in that direction anyhow, so the extra push in that direction just confirmed what I kinda knew anyhow.