Comments on Nikon TCE2

[Gill]

I'm thinking about getting a TCE2 teleconverter for my 4500. I'd be very interested to hear other people's experiences with it. Also any advice on settings to use with it would be greatly appreciated.

[JCW3]

Well first off I will say it straight up, my use with this converter is slim to none since I mostly use high zoom cameras which need larger converters.

But what limited use I have had with it, I have found it to do a good job. OVer all sharpness is very good and the weight is very nice in my eyes. I did find a small amount of corner softness with this lens, but the over all sweet spot was very nice.

As far as settings go I have found the biggest go is to get the most light to the camera. I mean the converter really does not rob any light, but the magnification is much higher than without it.

I would recommend dropping over to a simi-manual mode such as A-priority. Then set it to the brightest f-stop you have (2.8 or what ever it would be) This will allow you to get the fastest shutter speed possible at the ISO setting. I know alot of people use the S-priority which also works, but I personally find A mode to be a little more logical.

Good focus is big thing when useing these converters. DOF will be shallower than normal, so its not a guessing game. Take your time and get good focus and make sure you have a good stance. I will admit in normal daylight you should not have no problems with shutter blur, but if your not use to it, its possible.

Alot of people will often say you will get 8x zoom or say 12x with the TC3. Over all this is not true. 8x is actually a ratio of the zoom range. So to get the actual max focal range you must take the focal length you shot at and then times it by the power of the converter. This will give you a close idea. I have to admit though that companys power rating are usually off, but thats not a big deal.

Once you get it you will quickly see that its a very useable and worthy item to have.

[Gill]

Thanks JCW. Your reply was very helpful. I've got the remote shutter release. So, hopefully , if I use that and a tripod I should be OK. Interesting comment about A priority rather than S priority. I'll try that when I get the TCE2.