p.1 #1 · Any experience using Nikon Teleconverter with the 180-600 lens and possibly the 24-120
I shoot wildlife and birds and wonder how the image quality is using 1.4 teleconverter and or info on the 180-600 without teleconverter. I am switching from Canon and I just purchased the Z8. I am trying to wrap my head around the menu system and purchased setup guides from Jan Wegener and Steve Perry and they are quite long, but so far it appears to be a GREAT CAMERA... Thanks
p.1 #3 · Any experience using Nikon Teleconverter with the 180-600 lens and possibly the 24-120
Grampy wrote:
I shoot wildlife and birds and wonder how the image quality is using 1.4 teleconverter and or info on the 180-600 without teleconverter. I am switching from Canon and I just purchased the Z8. I am trying to wrap my head around the menu system and purchased setup guides from Jan Wegener and Steve Perry and they are quite long, but so far it appears to be a GREAT CAMERA... Thanks
All I can tell you is that they are compatible. Personally, I would rather live with a DX crop than add a 1.4x to my 180-600mm lens. The loss of a stop will result in a significant reduction in AF speed and the image quality and contrast will suffer at the long end.
The 180-600 is a great lens for the price, but it is designed with compromises to reach that price point. The lens lacks Nikon's best coatings and glass; thus using a converter will just magnify the flaws in the design. OTOH, if your goal is to "get the shot" for identification purposes or InstaGram posts, I doubt that anyone would be able to tell the difference from a photo shot with a converter or fixed focal length 800mm lens.
p.1 #4 · Any experience using Nikon Teleconverter with the 180-600 lens and possibly the 24-120
Great info Bruce
OwlsEyes wrote:
All I can tell you is that they are compatible. Personally, I would rather live with a DX crop than add a 1.4x to my 180-600mm lens. The loss of a stop will result in a significant reduction in AF speed and the image quality and contrast will suffer at the long end.
The 180-600 is a great lens for the price, but it is designed with compromises to reach that price point. The lens lacks Nikon's best coatings and glass; thus using a converter will just magnify the flaws in the design. OTOH, if your goal is to "get the shot" for identification purposes or InstaGram posts, I doubt that anyone would be able to tell the difference from a photo shot with a converter or fixed focal length 800mm lens.
p.1 #6 · Any experience using Nikon Teleconverter with the 180-600 lens and possibly the 24-120
It works fine if you need the mag and can tolerate the sluggish focus and loss of stop. Probably not the greatest solution for BIF and small birds hopping like crazy from branch to branch, but fine for large mamal and birds.
p.1 #7 · Any experience using Nikon Teleconverter with the 180-600 lens and possibly the 24-120
I've lately been using the 180-600mm zoom on my Z8, with and without a 1.4x teleconverter. In terms of image quality, I don't see much of any degradation imposed by the converter.
What gives a much bigger difference--and this on the improvement side--is stopping the lens down half a stop--sharpens the image noticeably and nearly eliminates CA.
The one-stop loss from the teleconverter, plus this half stop of reduced aperture, does make a slow lens even slower, which I make up for with a higher ISO. This of course increases noise, which I suppress easily enough in post.
No free lunch, unfortunately. But I'm enjoying this lens a lot. It's very freeing compared with my old 600mm f/4, which was so big and heavy I hardly ever took it out. (The newer ones are better in this regard, but still somewhat big, somewhat heavy, and more than somewhat expensive.)
Even with the teleconverter, for small birds, I'm likely cropping anyway--so I prefer to make the subject as big on sensor as possible.
p.1 #8 · Any experience using Nikon Teleconverter with the 180-600 lens and possibly the 24-120
Grampy wrote:
I shoot wildlife and birds and wonder how the image quality is using 1.4 teleconverter and or info on the 180-600 without teleconverter. I am switching from Canon and I just purchased the Z8. I am trying to wrap my head around the menu system and purchased setup guides from Jan Wegener and Steve Perry and they are quite long, but so far it appears to be a GREAT CAMERA... Thanks
Hi Grampy,
I'm a recent convert to Nikon this year (Canon>Sony>Panasonic>Nikon, over the years) and the 180-600 has been on my radar since making the switch, as well. This based mostly on shooting side-by-side with a fellow birder and her Z9/180-600 combo vs my current Z6III/Z50II 28-400mm/EF Sigma 500mm f/4.5 mix-and-match setups. Her testamentary is that I will not be disappointed in acquiring the 180-600 for my shooting style for when I'm ready to go fully-native, despite her having lightened her own load with a Z8/600PF combo.
FWIW, from what I've seen of her work methinks the following "lab" tests are spot-on in regards to that lens's (optical and AF) performance both bare and with 1.4x TC, first from YTer Alan Stankevitz...
Nikkor Z 180-600 Resolution Test & Comparison of the Sony 200-600 & Nikon Z 800mm lenses - YouTube
...and from YTer Scott over at Wild Alaska...
Nikon Z 180-600 - How does it perform with the Z 1.4 Teleconverter in the Field? Bird Photography ! - YouTube
(I have zero affiliation with either linked party.)
Hope that's helpful, keep us posted on what you decide!
p.1 #9 · Any experience using Nikon Teleconverter with the 180-600 lens and possibly the 24-120
I used my 189-600 with the 1.4tc once accidentally on my Z9. I'd be using the rc with a 100-400 and I quickly swapped to the 180-600 to shoot some turtles sitting out in the sun. I was surprised at how good the combo worked, very sharp.
p.1 #11 · Any experience using Nikon Teleconverter with the 180-600 lens and possibly the 24-120
I use my Sony 200-600mm f6.3 + TC 1.4 quite often, including adapted to my Z8. As long as there is enough light, I am happy with the results. My understanding is that the IQ with the 180-600mm + TC 1.4 is quite similar, which is why I have stuck with the Sony, since I had it from before the Nikon 180-600 was announced.
Also, this is a good video to watch on TC sharpness:
?si=Qznz4NwSJ1XOZyCh&t=129
p.1 #12 · Any experience using Nikon Teleconverter with the 180-600 lens and possibly the 24-120
I personally wouldn't use a TC at all with it. Yes, technically in lab conditions a TC is better than cropping, but the loss of a stop for AF plus the fact that you also sacrifice quality when you encounter situations where you don't need to crop make a TC not worth it at all. I guess if you're always cropping in good light, then a TC makes sense....but then you have to wonder: if you're always cropping so much such that a TC always makes sense, it might mean you need to improve your fieldcraft instead and go to locations or use techniques that make cropping less necessary, rather than get a TC.
p.1 #13 · Any experience using Nikon Teleconverter with the 180-600 lens and possibly the 24-120
If you live in a place like Florida where the birds are tame, you can follow the advice of the purists and not use a TC.
On the other hand, if you live where the wildlife is less tolerant of close approach, and you can't afford an 800mm lens, the 1.4x TC works great on the 180-600mm f5.6-6.3 lens. No one will ever be able to tell the difference from images you post images online.
Jimmy G