3x Telephoto Digital Conversion Lens'

[Bagman]

3x Telephoto Digital Conversion Lens'

cheap you of increasing the lens zoom but do they decrease the quality of the picture? Has any one actually seen shots taken with one or used one.

I can t afford a decent zoom lens (currently have Nikon Zoom Digital lens 55-200 VR) and am looking for a cheaper alternative to increase zoom

http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/11256715/Tokina_3x_ Telephoto_Conversion_Lens.html

[Jewmaster]

Depending on the price, It can't hurt to try. I have bought 2x and 4x adapters for my camera but this is more for Macro Photgraphy, I haven't had any expereince with using the 2x or 4x over any distance, Although Im going to give it a go when I get home tonight. I noticed when taking Macro shots that I end up with a rectangle of clear focused view and the rest is blurred, probebly me rather than the lens.
I got a 2x Wide Angle adapter in the pack and took some basic shots, I didn't notice a great deal of difference.

Check out Ebay, thats where I picked up my extra stuff.

[willz]

I don't own Nikon gear but my experience from my Canon gear will be similar.

Here's what you need to consider:

1) Teleconverters from 2x to 3x will degrade the picture quality considerably. I.e sharpness will decrease along with contrast.

2) I would consider say a 1.4 or 1.5x as they don't degrade the image as much, almost neglible if you have good quality lens/glass.

3) Using a Teleconverter will decrease the available light to your lens, hence you will lose 1 to 2 stops of light depending on the TC.

In general a TC 1.4x/1.5x will lose 1 stop of light, while a 2x or more will lose at least 2 stops of light. The biggest impact on this will be Autofocus, depending on the lens you're using most consumer cameras will not autofocus past f5.6. This means you will need to manual focus if your lens is f5.6 wide open.

I don't know what type of photography you intend to do with this but if you're thinking wildlife then losing Autofocus could be a big hinderance.

Hope this helps, if not let me know :)

Cheers
Willz

[Revhed]

Willz has pretty much covered it. (although you can get Canon SLRs to focus below f/5.6 with the strategic application of sticky tape :))

You can get an idea of how the image degrades but having a look through this article at Luminous Landscapes where they compare a 200mm lens with 2x extender and a 400mm lens (pictures included): http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/400v400.shtml

This summary from another of their articles sums up extenders nicely:
While some nature photographers swear by them, others swear at them. What is the object of their attention? 2X Extenders. Most photographers find that camera manufacturer's 1.4X Extenders produce quite decent quality, especially when the lens is stopped down a bit. But with 2X Extenders there is less unanimity.

In my experience 2X Extenders range from awful to just "OK". Few photographers that I know would say that they're ever wonderful. But, there are shooting situations where the need to get tighter outweighs the need for optimum image quality, so most photographers have one in their kit.

[Bagman]

thanks guys!