buy a long lens or a good TC

[juanjo_viagran]

Hi,

I'd like to add some extra reach on my lenses.

The longest I have is a 80-200mm 2.8 AF-S.

Here is the question..

 

Should I buy a 300mm f:4 AFS (had it and love it) about $850

 

or

 

a Nikon TC-14EII or 17EII for my 80-200mm AF-S, about $400

 

 

the f stop is going to be about the same, but will I get the same picture

quality as with the 300mm f4 AFS and same AF speed...!??

I don't have much experience with TC's.

 

Thanks in advance,

Juanjo

[RaymondC]

The 300mm is regarded sharper.

TCs generally takes a compromise as well. No pain no gain.

A good tradeoff is a 300mm + TC. Well can you afford a 400mm :D or a 300/2.8 :D

[raymond_petty1]

"Will you get the same picture quality and AF speed?"

 

No.

 

Will you notice the difference?

 

Depends on how picky you are. You'll get well-reasoned arguments from both sides. You'll get a larger number of arguments against from more experienced photographers.

If you did go with a TC, most would recommend nothing more than 1.4X. Additionally, it would be recommended to close down at least one stop to effective 5.6 f-stop for optimal performance.

So now you're comparing a 300/4.0 AF-S to a 280/5.6 AF-D performance (the TC slows down the autofocus).

 

If you could afford it, the 300/4.0 would be the better choice.

[eleary]

I've been in your shoes...Bought the 2x TC...don't know why they even make it...then got the 300 F4...Outstanding lens and tried a 1.7 X and it did fine but pushing it...I'd spring for the 300...it's worth it

[Matthew Brennan]

Forget about matching any zoom to a TC- I have the 300 AF-S f/4 and the TC-17EII which works very well in all but the poorest of light. Buy the 300 f/4 now and save for the TC - you will not regret doing so.

[dan_brown4]

I'm inerested in this too. I have the 300/4AF-S and its a great lens. But I'd like a bit more

reach shooting some birds here in Texas (everything from bluebirds to great blue herons)

and was wondering between the 1.4, 1.7, 20.?

[derek_boocock]

Matthew, have you 'adapted' your 1.7 TC to work with the 300? I have the older non-VR 300mm and this will not work with my 'adapted' TC.

[ShunCheung]

This is simply a quality vs. convenience trade off. If you are demanding about image quality, don't even bother to consider putting a TC onto a zoom:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00CZeE

 

Since I originally posted in the above thread 2.5 years ago, I have quoted it like 30 times. In other words, this is a frequently discussed topic:

http://www.photo.net/search/?sitesearch=Photo.net&client=pub-1734703147688622&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&safe=active&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23CCCCCC%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3ADDDDDD%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BLH%3A45%3BLW%3A225%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fphoto.net%2Fv2graphics%2Flogo.gif%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.photo.net%2F%3BFORID%3A11&hl=en&q=00CZee#918

 

If you are going to use a TC on the 80-200mm/f2.8 AF-S or 70-200mm/f2.8 AF-S VR, I would suggest no more than the TC-14E and stop the lens down to f4 for an effective f5.6. Optically, the zoom + 1.4x TC becomes much better when you stop down.

[juanjo_viagran]

Thanks a lot for the inputs..

 

TC out of the picture,

just bought a 300mm f:4 AF-S from national graphic supply for $595 including shipping.. HURRAY..!!

 

thanks again and HAPPY HOLIDAYS.. ;)

[liljuddakalilknyttphotogra]

Juanjo - -

 

easy answer. Get the 300mm f/4. I paid $ 750.00 on eBay about one year ago for one used. You should be able to get one at a great deal.

 

JMHO

 

Lil

[juanjo_viagran]

Lil,

 

thanks, I just bought one today, $595 shipped.

 

almost the same price as the Nikon TC.. :D

[ShunCheung]

Juanjo, a new and gray market 300mm/f4 AF-S is $960 at B&H; a Nikon USA one is like $200 more. The $595 price seems to be really low for a used one assuming in good condition.

[davebecker]

Not if it's the older AF version. You'll find the optics good on the older one however the AF is very slow.

Dave

[dcraton]

What Dave said as I have the 300mm/4 AF--extremely sharp and AF is moderately quick. I even use it with sports and have found the Kenko Teleplus Pro far superior to Nikon's TC's. Have both the 1.4 and 2.0. All functions with the lens work, including AF on my D200s.

 

I have used the AFS version and the only 2 reasons to buy it are that it does AF a bit faster and will focus down to 5 ft. rather than 9 ft.

 

Hope you enjoy your lens. Mine is silly sharp. Hope you have a nice monopod as well.

[juanjo_viagran]

Thanks,

 

is the AF-S lens, I sold mine two weeks ago for $800, this one was a good deal, I know the lens and I really like it.

 

and David have a good point about the focus, is very impressive how close this lens focus for a 300mm..

 

I just need to find a good "beast" and I'm ready again.. for a little wile...;)

[ntv666]

i got one 300/f4. recently. The sample pic was shot through the steel wire fence covering the zoo. It is very sharp lense. That too with the same lense collor came with the 300mm AFS .<div></div>

[joseph_smith3]

Please note that the older Nikon 300mm AF f 4.0 takes a different tc than the newer Nikon 300mm AF-S f4.0: tc 14B vs the TC 1.4EII, respectively. Both lenses produce wonderfully sharp images both with and without the 1.4x tcs. As noted, the older one has slower AF which may or may not be a factor for you. The older ones comes with a much better tripod collar mount than the newer one. Joe Smith