Nikon TC20E and Nikon AF 300mm 2.8

[hughes]

<p>Can someone explain why this TC the Nikon TC20E works with a Nikon AF1 lens but not an AF lens I've found one at a reasonable price but it seems it will only work with an AF-I or AF-S lens and I have an AF lens. So my question is will it work and if not why not?<br>

Steve</p>

[franklin_polk]

<p>The TC-20E will mount and meter with regular AF lenses, just not autofoucus. It lacks the drive pin to pass through the AF screw drive to regular AF lenses. Since AF-S/I lenses only need electrical contacts to AF, they will work fine, as the TC has the required electrical contacts. </p>

[ShunCheung]

<blockquote>

<p>The TC-20E will mount and meter with regular AF lenses</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Any TC-xxE teleconverter will not mount on "regular" AF lenses; i.e. AF lenses that are neither AF-S nor AF-I.</p>

<p>Unless those lenses are long teles, typically 80-200mm, 300mm/f4 or longer, there is not sufficient clearance on the rear end of those lenses. Moreover, those TC have an extra tab to block the user from mounting them on non-AF-S lenses. Some people file off that extra tab themselves.</p>

[joseph_wisniewski]

<p>Shun is correct. The procedure is not for the faint of heart. You have to remove the front mount from the converter.</p>

<p>The screws that hold the front mount on the TC-14E and TC-20E are set with some sort of "loctite" style adhesive that makes it very easy to strip the screws. The standard Nikon repair method of removing these screws is to heat each screw head with a soldering iron (tip ground to a nice, clean cone) for 60 seconds, and then remove the screw with a JIS screwdriver. Nikon uses JIS screws, they may look like Philisp screws, but the angle and width are wrong and a Philips screwdriver will often strip the head.</p>

<p>The Kenko PRO-300 1.4x and 2x converters will work with all Nikon lenses: AF, AF-S, AF-I, and even manual focus AI and AIs. They will preserve all functions: AF, metering, VR. The results you will get with a good prime are typically surprisingly good, <strong>if you treat the resulting combination like a really big, long lens, and use your best long lens technique.</strong> The main reason teleconverters get a bad name is that people mount a slow 200, 300m, or 400mm lens on them, then go out and try to shoot on a wobbly little 3 pound tripod, or even hand held.</p>

<p>Have you used a real 600mm lens before, or watched a pro do it? (And, of course, if you've got a 1.5x crop digital camera, you need to use it like a 900mm lens). You need to use:</p>

<ul>

<li>A remote release.</li>

<li>A whopping big, sturdy tripod. The old one pound per 60mm rule applies, a 10 pound tripod is good for a 600mm.</li>

<li>Use mirror lockup. Give the lens a couple of seconds to settle down after the mirror fires before firing the shot. </li>

<li>A surprisingly affordable and useful remote release.</li>

<li>A beanbag or two, or even a small shot bag or two, draped over the lens. Beanbags not only add mass (which lowers the amplitude and frequency of vibration), they add dampening, they turn vibration into heat as the beans or shot grind together. I know a photographer who hikes with five pound ankle weights (and a backpack that I can't lift) and when he gets where he's going those ankle weights become 10 pounds of shot bag draped over the lens. My bag of trail mix (2 pounds of cashews, dried cherries, dried pineapple, hulled pistachios) gets draped over my lenses, too. </li>

<li>Spikes on the tripod feet.</li>

<li>A cable release, which will let you fire the camera without touching it.</li>

<li>Solid ground. You may have to test a spot or two, and move your tripod a bit to get the "non-bouncy" spot. </li>

<li>Breath control: inhale, hold it, flip the mirror, fire the camera, exhale.</li>

<li>Ballast. If your tripod has a hook for the camera bag, hang it from the column. On a bigger tripod, you can probably hang a 30 pound backpack from a lock lever on the spider.</li>

<li>And, of course, a cable release.</li>

</ul>

 

[doug_santo]

<p>I have the same Nikon 300/2.8 lens. I use Tamron 1.4x and 2x teleconverters. I purchased the teleconverters on ebay at seperate times each for less than $50. The teleconverters work great and maintain autofocus and metering. The 1.4x is the better of the two and causes little or no loss of sharpness. With the 2x you lose some sharpness, but results are still generally acceptable. The biggest problem with the teleconverters is in high contrast or backlit scenes where the teleconverters increase chromatic aberrations. Another problem is that the camera is not aware that a teleconverter has been installed so exif data does not record the correct focal length and aperture. Normally the D700 has in-camera processing to control CA's, but it does not control teleconverter magnified CA's. I use a manfrotto 475B tripod and 3031 head. These give a solid foundation for the lens. I also regularly use a cable release. I don't often use mirror-up shooting with the 300mm/teleconverter setup. I own a Sigma 150-500 OS. The sigma lens racks-out as the focal length increases. This combined with the relatively low weight of the sigma lens changes the camera/lens balance on the tripod and can cause micro-vibration unless mirror-up shooting is used.</p>

[Michael R Freeman]

<blockquote>

<p><em>" ... will it work and if not why not?"</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>This is the "why not", :-)<br>

<em>(TC-17E, but all the TC-xxE converters have the same tab)</em></p><div></div>

[Michael R Freeman]

<p>And a TC-20E that I modified to fit non AF-I/AF-S lenses (specifically an AI 400/3.5 IF-ED) . Not very hard to do, but as Joseph noted the screws are treadlocked and a bitch to break loose. A simple job, but even when modified it will *not* autofocus AF or AF-D lenses.</p><div></div>

[hughes]

<p>Thank you gentlemen</p>

<p> most informative, I have a great Tamron 1.4 afs I will look for a Tamron 2x thanks again<br>

Steve </p>

[joseph_wisniewski]

<p>If you go for the Tamron, look for the SP-AF model. That's the one with the highest quality optics: a rebadged Kenko PRO-300...</p>