Teleconverter for Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300mm F/4 D Lens

Seems to be a lot of options for this but which one in your experience is good for this lens without losing any image quality. Was looking at the TC 14ll, whats the difference with the TC 14 lll? thanks

The TC-14E and TC-14EII only differ in their outward appearance; their optics are identical. The TC-14EIII cannot be used with the AF-S 300/4. I cannot recommend using the TC-17EII or any of the TC-20 versions with that lens.

 

I used the TC-14E and the TC-17EII with that lens - mostly on a D200 and D300. A TC will always have an effect on the optical quality - usuallly a 1.4x does OK but anything with higher magnification does not. Even if the optical quality of the resulting combo is still OK, generally AF speed suffers and often times, the combo misses focus but just a bit. AF speed of the AF-S 300/4 is already quite slow (for an AF-S lens); any TC mounted behind it will reduce it even further.

 

AF-S Teleconverter Compatibility

Edited February 29, 2020 by Dieter Schaefer

The performance of your camera body's AF will also impact how well the combination works together. Many bodies will function only marginally, at best, given the effective maximum aperture. Do some research on this issue before making your purchase.

D750 and D300s

D750 and D300s

Neither should have trouble with the TC-14E/EII. With the TC-17EII, the D300S will struggle, the D750 should be OK (allows AF with f/8).

As Dieter points out, the TC-14E III is for G (including E) lenses only. This lens with an aperture ring is not compatible, although you can mount it.

about whats my DoF at F8 with this?

I use my 300D on a D610 and D7000. These two cameras use the same autofocus system. How important the effects of a teleconverter are on image quality depends very much on what you do with your images. If you want to print 24X36 inch posters, then a 1.7X TC isn't for you. I print my images in coffee table books I have printed online, where the image size is limited to no larger than the 11X13 inch page. Under those conditions, I find my TC14EII and TC17EII do just fine. I even have images using the the 1.7X and then cropped to 650 and 700 mm field of view that print well in the books.

 

Images using the TC14EII are indistinguishable from the bare lens itself, although there may be discernible differences in images printed larger than I do. I also find that autofocus typically works as well unless shooting is rather low light where the difference between f4 and f5.6 makes for a significant issue. The 1.7X has a distinctly larger effect on autofocus. Both cameras take longer to lock focus, even in solid daylight, and using it in low light like sunrise or sunset requires patience and care. Frankly, I find I usually skip using the 1.7X in low light because I get more reliable focus using the 1.4X, and cropping to get the framing I want has proven more reliable for me.

 

In general, I find using the 1.4X for birds-in-flight to be as successful as the bare lens, but the 1.7X does poorly with subjects where the distance to the subject changes quickly. I find the 1.7X does splendidly shooting vintage car races, as the distance from me to the car doesn't change as abruptly.