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Which teleconverter....300-S or 300-L ?


david_degilio

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Hello. I have am early eighties Minolta XG-M 35mm SLR.

 

The only lenses I have are the standard 50MM F1.7 and I am waiting

on a 300MM MC F4.5 tele-rokkor HF.

 

I have an old brochure that shows Minolta MD 2X 300-L and 300-S tele

converters. It says the 300-S is used with 300MM or shorter focal

length lenses and the 300-L is used for 300MM or longer focal

lengths.

 

If I am not planning on getting a greater focal length than the

300MM f4.5, which tele converter should I get-the 300-S or the 300-L?

 

Thanks,

Dave

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Oh, just to consider, the 300-S and L are both quite expensive - about $140 on ebay. You may wish to consider a 7 element macro teleconverter like this one <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3342&item=7500186966&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW">Vivitar 7 element macro tele converter</a>. It is cheaper (about $50 new in box) has a good reputation, and gives you macro coverage to 1:1 with your 50mm lens.<p>Cheers, <p>Antony<br>www.rokkorfiles.com
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I agree with Antony. The Minolta manual TCs are very good but very expensive. A good 7-element third-party TC like the Vivitar or the Tamron SP will give practically equivalent results for a fraction of the cost. Also out there is the Kiron 1.5x TC - cheap if you can find one, good quality and you only lose one stop as opposed to two with the 2x TCs.
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Excellent recommendations. I personally use the Vivitar macro TC, and find it to be more than sufficient for my purposes. Of course if money is not an issue, y ou can't go wrong with the Minolta.

 

Regarding 1.5x TCs, my theory is that there was only one model of 1.5x TC ever made for the Minolta manual focus system, which was sold under various different brand names. I have yet to find a TC which disproves this theory, which means when you buy one of these things, the brand name really doesn't matter. They are hard enough to come by without this restriction ;-)

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<P>Frank, this is straying off topic but there are at least two different versions of the Kiron 1.5x TC. I had some correspondence with Mike Gammill regarding fitting this TC to the 250mm Reflex Rokkor, and his TC fits fine, but mine has the front element too far forward, so it would touch the rear filter in the Rokkor if fully mated.</P><P>Apologies to David, you probably didn't want to know this!</P>
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My Kiron 1.5X is called a Match Mate. It may have been made for certain Kiron fixed or zoom lenses which do not have protruding rear elements. It is always important to see that a telecpnverter fits a lens without elements touching. In some cases a lens will fit a teleconverter when the focusing ring is set at infinity but as you turn the ring away from the infinity mark the rear element hits the front of the teleconverter.
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Brian - very interesting! Looks like there goes my theory down the drain ;-)

 

I don't think I have ever tried to use my 1.5x TC with my RF 250mm 5.6. I still have the TC, but unfortunately I have sold the lens, so I can't check out anymore which version of the TC mine is.

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