I'm looking for a teleconverter to work with the D70 and the Nikon 70-200 F/2.8 VR (which I haven't purchased yet).

According to the Nikon USA site, that means the Nikon TC-14E II. The cheapest I've seen that for is $350. On the other hand, I have also found the Kenko Pro 300 1.4x teleconverter for $169, which claims to be Nikon AF-S compatible and have glass made by Hoya.

Is AF-S all I should be looking for compatability wise?

Does anyone have any experience with Kenko? I have heard that quite a few people have gone this route, and looking at the cost difference I see why.

Any thoughts on purchasing a third party teleconverter?

TIA

 

Oooh, I wish I could help out here.
You might try querying this forum. (you'll need to register but it's free.)

On a different note, what's up with your D70? Get it back yet?

Samy's is having another of their Manufacturer Days type of week. I was at the Santa Ana store yesterday and the Nikon rep almost had me sold on an inexpensive, and not any faster than the D70 kit lens, 70-300mm ED zoom, but I still have Christmas shopping to do so I passed it up. I think they'll be there until tomorrow.

 

Thanks


I talked to Nikon today (friday) and they said the D70 body was done. However, there was still a problem with one of the lenses. So, it'll be a little longer.

Actually I have to complement Nikon. They did hire an excellent person to answer the phones in the customer service area. :smile: She talked to the person who serviced my camera and gave me an update today.


I was at Samy's on Thursday, the Nikon rep was there, and almost purchased a 20D out of frustration with Nikon.

As of tonight I'm back on the Nikon side of the fence and almost purchased the 70-200 VR.

Can you tell I'm going through wild swings with Nikon right now?

 

Egads! To turn one's bum on Nikon!
Good to hear your back on the "correct" side.
That VR looks to be a pretty hot lens.

 

I was reading though some stuff on nikonians.org (another great site that you should check out) and if I remember correctly some of the members actually preferred Kenko to Nikon TCs for image quality. I can't remember for sure so I'll try to find the post, but definately check out the forums on there too. Lots of people very knowledgeable about Nikon stuff!

On a completely unrelated note, my dad mentioned that there was a BMWCCA autocross in LA on Sunday, and mentioned maybe heading out to it to check it out (I'm back home for the holidays), any of you two planning on being in attendance? I figure I'll give my new 70-300G a proper christening.

 

Last I read about this from a fellow SCMMer, this event was cancelled and replaced with their Christmas party. I'd double check on this.

If you want to get pics of a lot of MINIs, all is not lost. If you check out the SoCal forums, you'll see that there's going to be a Toys For Tots run to Camp Pendelton on Sunday. That's where I'll be.

 

If noone here can help you out I'll really recommend dpreview.com's forums!

 

yeah, I'm a lurker over there. I just figured I'd ask over here too.

 

DiD,

There is a really good two page article on teleconverters for digital SLR's in the January 2005 issue of Popular Photography and Imaging (Pages 56-57). It is on newsstands now.

Jbing

 

My TC-17EII showed up today.

The aperture reading on my D70 and N80 both register correctly. The 70-200 F/2.8 VR with the 1.7 becomes a 120-340 F/4.8 VR. The EXIF data from a couple test shots registers the lens as a 70-200 F/2.8, but now the focal length the image was shot at shows focal lengths up to 340mm. All, just as you'd expect it should.

I'll try to get some shots up in the next day or so.

 

Good choice. I look forward to seeing your work with it!

Mark

 

May I ask why you went with the Nikon vs Kenko teleconverter?

 

I was on the fence for a long time about Kenko vs. Nikon, when I was originally planning on getting a 1.4x.

Ultimately, I decided I liked the range on the TC-17E II. Kenko offers a 1.4, 2.0, and 3.0 TC's, but no 1.7.

Going a little beyond the simple answer that Kenko doesn't offer a 1.7, I doubt that even if they had I would have purchased it. Given the higher magnification of the 1.7 and the lenses I'd use with it (70-200VR and some day a 300mm F/2.8), a couple hundred dollars difference to stay all Nikon didn't seem like that big of a deal.

 

I will throw my .02 in.....if you're going to put a teleconverter on a piece of glass like the 70-200 2.8 or a 300 2.8 - it makes no sense to go with anything BUT Nikon. The glass & construction are going to be better. The same goes for the filters. Either Nikon, B+W or Heliopan.

 

Well I'm screwed then as I'm a Canon guy :-( I was looking at the Sigma, Kenko, and Canon teleconverters but couldn't find much on them.

 

Actually no...you aren't screwed. Canon calls there teleconvertors "extenders" and currently produce both a 1.4 and 2.0 version. As with Nikon convertors the 2.0 is 2 stops and the 1.4 one stop. The 1.4 is considered the best while the 2.0 is fuzzy.

Here is a review of the 1.4

Here is a review of the 2.0

One nice thing is that these run in the $250-300 (if you shop around) range.

As soon as I can get some of my recent Canon gear purchases taken care of I'll be ordering a 1.4 for myself.

Hope this helps!

Mark

 

I spent part of my lunch hour today taking pictures near LAX. As you can see from the photos, it wasn't the best day in terms of haze. I would like to go back and spend more time photographing at this location when the sky is clear.

All of the following photos are taken with the following equipment:

Nikon D70
Nikon TC-17E II
Nikon 70-200 F/2.8 AF-S VR

All images were shot RAW, with VR ON, and either hand held or with the monopod mounted. RAW conversion with Nikon Capture.

- The first image in each pairing is a simple resize with a crop in height only. Due to the resize, an USM of 20% was used.

- The second image in each pairing is a 100% crop of the image above. NO USM has been performed.



Photo Paring #1: Monopod Mounted, F/6.3, 1/800, ISO 200, Focal Length: 340mm (200mm x 1.7)




Photo Paring #2: Monopod Mounted, F/6.3, 1/500, ISO 200, Focal Length: 260mm




Photo Paring #3: Monopod Mounted, F/10, 1/250, ISO 200, Focal Length: 195mm




Photo Paring #4: Monopod Mounted, F/4.8, 1/1000, ISO 200, Focal Length: 340mm




Photo Paring #5: Hand Held, F/7.1, 1/800, ISO 200, Focal Length: 340mm





Photo Paring #6: Hand Held, F/5.6, 1/1000, ISO 200, Focal Length: 210mm




Photo Paring #7: Hand Held, F/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 200, Focal Length: 125mm




Photo Paring #6: Monopod Mounted, F/5.6, 1/800, ISO 200, Focal Length: 300mm

 

Very sharp, David. Thanks for posting those. I haven't seen 100% crop pictures with that combination. I'm impressed with how good the handheld shots are, too, even at 340 mm. Obviously the VR works very well.

Mark

 

Dave - nice work. I really like the 747 shots. I've never been out to LA, I'm just curious as to where you were you shooting from? I know in the NY/NJ area, photographers using longer glass might get a visit from the police...I know I did. I've always loved shooting planes...just not quite as easy as it once was.

 

I'm guessing off westchester parkway or pershing. Looks like some of the shots are towards El Segundo. Pretty amazing you can take pics like that as cops stop people on those roads. The best place to shoot LAX from a no harassment standpoint is from the park in El Segundo off little Imperial. They even have benches to sit on when you are watching.

 

I was taking pictures from the park in El Segundo, facing North. Like you say they have benches and even have a couple spotting scopes there for people to get a better view.

There use to be a great vantage point off of Pershing, but that was fenced off and closed after 9/11.

 

As far as the sharpness goes, I was quite happy with to see the results.

Also, as you point out, hand held at 340mm the results were still very good. I'm chalking that up to VR and the shutterspeed (1/250 being the slowest). Hand held with VR I have had good results down into the 1/20 second range with the 70-200 and no TC.

 

The haze cleared today, so I went back and shot a few more. All hand held.