Munzir - sorry for the late reply. Haven't been on this forum as regularly as before...anyway, personally, I have not used the 500 AFS-I. I have used the 600 AFS-II in the past. Overall, nikon TCs are not as good as Canon's counterparts. If you must, I would go with the 14etcii. For distant subjects, the 17tc is pretty much a waste of money.
AF with the 600 AFS-II and 14TC on d300 slows down quite a bit. Take lots of pix and you will get some keepers. For BIF, it's a hit/miss kind of setup. Go bare w/o TC if all possible.
Regarding the 17TC, I did get a chance to use it with my former 600 AFS-II as well as my current 600 VR (D3, D300, D800)...again, for distant subject, it's a waste of money.
While I do not the 500 f/4 AF -S1, I do have the 500 f/4 AF-S VR II. I have tried several times using with the Nikon 1.4 TC and not at all happy with the results. I even sent the TC into Nikon to be checked thinking something must be wrong with it. I have no problems at all using the 1.4 TC on the 300mm F/4, but can not use it on the 500mm.
I am most disappointed by that.
I have the D300 and the D7000 and still have AF functionality with the TC.
I hope your experience with the TC is better than mine
Munzir, I own the 500mm VRII version and the tc-14eii and tc-20eiii. I absolutely love the results with the 1.4 when stopped down to 7.1 and the 2.0 is useable at f/10 or so (although AF is not great - definitely not for birds in flight).
I think that when shooting at these high focal lengths technique really becomes important. When I first had the lens, my keeper rate was very low and I questioned the lens and camera. Now that I have the hang of it, I find it hard to delete photos sometimes!
All of the images below are shot at 700mm (500 + 1.4)
and here are some with at 1000mm (500 + 2.0). I would also add that post processing can definitely help bring out a lot of details in an image. I've found that reszing for the web and then using Nik Sharpener Pro plug-in really does a fine job of bringing out the details. I'm still playing around with the settings and, as always, there is a steep learning curve.
Thank you mrpalaviccini for images .. they all look excellent, i will see my experience and will post once i shoot out with the combo ....
bemyzeke, this is what exactly Thang said that the 300mm combo works better than 500mm with TC's i will still need to see to believe from my own experience, that will prove either the 500mm Vr/EDII/ED-I has issues with copies in terms of sharpness or its a ground reality with all users when they use TC's someone said stopping down might help more after and on f8 .... Thank you all for your support....
I have all the respect in the world for the late Mr. Ronnie Gaubert! He was the master at his craft, bar-none!
Note my statement regarding TC with "distant subjects" Munzir. I should have also added "small birds" to go along with that phrase. For me, stop down to about f/10 with 14ETC will regain most of the sharpness. But that's pointless especially when one shoots late/early in the day.
Several factors have to be considered when one gives their opinions to your questions - 1. personal preference/level of criticality. Some might be satisfied with a shot but to others, that same shot might not be good enough... 2. Skills, as someone has stated.
100% agreed with you that the best way to find out is to try it yourself. Something I have said repeatedly many times here and at dpreview....
Thang wrote:
I have all the respect in the world for the late Mr. Ronnie Gaubert! He was the master at his craft, bar-none!
Note my statement regarding TC with "distant subjects" Munzir. I should have also added "small birds" to go along with that phrase. For me, stop down to about f/10 with 14ETC will regain most of the sharpness. But that's pointless especially when one shoots late/early in the day.
Several factors have to be considered when one gives their opinions to your questions - 1. personal preference/level of criticality. Some might be satisfied with a shot but to others, that same shot might not be good enough... 2. Skills, as someone has stated.
100% agreed with you that the best way to find out is to try it yourself. Something I have said repeatedly many times here and at dpreview.......Show more →
(monkey) (Thang)
