How the teleconverter works. Teleconverter Soligor AF PRO 1.4x review

Teleconverter - This is a special device that helps to increase the focal length of the lens.

Teleconverter - article from Radozhiva

Teleconverter - article from Radozhiva

In fact, the focal length of the lens is a physical quantity and it simply cannot be increased. But due to the fact that the lens with the converter behaves in a completely different way, it is convenient to say that the tele-converter changes the focal length of the lens.

What is a teleconverter for?

The answer is very simple - to increase the focal length of the lens. For example, you have a 55-200mm telephoto lens, and desperately need a stronger zoom. There are two ways out: either buy a new lens or buy a converter. With a teleconverter with a magnification of 2x, you can achieve a focal length of 400mm with the same lens. It is very comfortable. Teleconverter can be used with any lens. If you have several lenses, then you can increase the focal length of any of them.

How does the teleconverter work?

The teleconverter actually enlarges the image from the center of the picture (from the center of the lens). This results in a visible increase in focal length. Teleconverter mounted between camera and lens. Usually, I install the tele-converter on the lens, and then install the resulting bundle on the camera. On the one hand, the teleconverter has exactly the same bayonet connector as the camera. On the other hand, it has exactly the same mounting connector as the lens.

The difference in focal length is 1.4 times. The place from which they filmed is one and the same.

The difference in focal length is 1.4 times. The place from which they were filming is the same.

Magnification factor

Teleconverters are mainly characterized by a magnification factor. For example, the most common teleconverters have a multiplicity of 1.4X, 2X, 3X. This means that when using a lens with a converter, the focal length of such a bundle will increase 1.4 or 2 or 3 times, depending on the tele-converter.

Example of use

If I use a tele-converter with a magnification of 1.4x and with a 50-200mm lens, the result is a lens with a focal length of 70-280mm. And if you use a 2X converter with a 70-300mm lens, you get a 140-600mm lens. And 600mm is already really impressive.

Attention, keep in mind that by increasing the focal length, you thereby decrease the value of the relative aperture. If the teleconverter has a magnification of 2x, then in addition to doubling the focal length of the lens, the aperture value will increase by 2 times. And attention, the catch is that the difference in power will not change 2 times, but 2 stops - that is, 4 times.

Therefore, a teleconverter with a magnification of 1.4x reduces aperture 2 times (Exposition ceteris paribus falls by 1 stop). A teleconverter with a magnification of 2X reduces aperture 4 times (Exposition ceteris paribus falls by 2 stops). A teleconverter in 3X reduces aperture 9 times (Exposition decreases by more than 3 feet). It turns out that with a teleconverter with a power of 3x, the focal length increases by 3 times, but aperture falls 9 times. The aperture drop is equal to the square of the teleconverter multiplicity, for example, with a multiplicity of 1.7X aperture decrease by 1.7 * 1.7 = 2,89 times (actually 3 times, because 1.7 approximately corresponds to the square root of 3). Such subtle tricks can rarely be found anywhere, because carefully consider the loss of aperture when buying a teleconverter.

I will explain in more detail. We wanted to shoot the moon, so we took a 2x tele-converter and hooked it onto a 300mm F5.6 lens, after which the lens turned into a 600mm F11.2. If we shot the moon at 300mm F5.6 and at any one ISO value, let them have a shutter speed of 1 / 80s. Shooting the same moon at 600mm F11.2, we get an exposure of 1 / 20s. Difference in shutter speed is 4 times, and the difference in focal length is 2 times. And for a long focal length it is very critical and we cannot do without a tripod. About the importance excerpts at large focal lengths, you can read in the article how take pictures with hand.

View of the lens with a dressed teleconverter

View of the lens with the installed teleconverter

Types of Teleconverters

Converters for cameras are mainly of two types - with autofocus support and without autofocus support... Both types can be used equally well for photographing. The only thing is that converters without autofocus support will not allow you to get autofocus with your lens. Nikon has another type of converters that support the communication of the camera with the lens, but for lenses with autofocus but without a focus motor, they cannot provide autofocus. Also, good teleconverters write in EXIF image data the increased value of the focal length and aperture, because the camera understands that the aperture is quite small when using the tele-converter, and the focal length is large.

More nuances

There are converters that are installed in front of the lens as an attachment. Most often, such converters make a wider viewing angle. Often used on camcorders. Converters can be installed on the lens sequentially and you can achieve a super huge increase in focal length. Also, many cameras cannot focus properly with apertures below 5.6 - read about this in the specifications of your camera. For instance, Nikon D4 can focus on apertures up to 8.0

Useful Tips

A good teleconverter is quite expensive, because it can change the focal lengths of all your lenses. Sometimes it’s better to buy a good telephoto lens right away than a cheap telephoto lens and a cheap teleconverter. Typically, a teleconverter enhances the disadvantages of lenses, especially you need to watch to enhance aberration and sharpening. Also, the teleconverter can change the settings white balance - change the color range that the lens gives. But, at the same time, the teleconverter can save the image from the lens from excessive distortion.

How much the teleconverter affects the quality of the photo, let's look at a real example of a teleconverter

Teleconverter Soligor AF PRO tele-converter AFd 1.4x N / AFd review

Teleconverter Soligor AF PRO tele-converter AFd 1.4x review

Teleconverter Soligor AF PRO tele-converter AFd 1.4x review

Let us now familiarize ourselves with the work of the tele-converter in practice, and at the same time draw for ourselves several conclusions about the quality of my Soligor 1.4X AF / D APO. This teleconverter showed good picture quality when working with different lenses.

Two test shots on Soligor tele-converter 1.4x

Two test shots on Soligor tele-converter 1.4x

Below are the crop (cuttings) of the parts of the image in the proportions of 1 to 1, so that you can judge the sharpness and HA.

Crops of pictures for the test of the tele-converter

Crops of pictures for the test of the tele-converter

The test was carried out with a tripod, focusing through Live View, several test shots were taken and the best ones were chosen to achieve the most objective output. The shooting was done using the remote control ML-L3... As you can see, the sharpness has suffered. Also, keep in mind that when you change the focal length, the composition of the frame and metering change. exposure will be different, because automation can show a decrease excerpts not exactly 2 times, but more or less.

Virtue This teleconverter is the fact that with it it will focus almost all lenses without a built-in AF motor, and all lenses with a built-in AF-S motor. I used this teleconverter with a non-motorized lens without any problems Nikon 50mm F1.8D AF. The teleconverter has practically no effect on the focusing speed, just like on the correct focusing. The teleconverter also transfers the desired value from the camera through the diaphragm jump lever. The converter very easily becomes and is removed from the lens and camera, well assembled, small and weighty.

The disadvantage This teleconverter is not the ability to multiply the focal length and aperture by 1.4 to transfer them to the camera, because the camera sees that it simply has a native lens installed without any converter. Also, the lenses give off a slightly yellow color, this distorts the native color rendition of the lens.

Here are the prices for the 'native' teleconverters:

All prices on TC-20E

Conclusions

Teleconverter - very useful tool for the photographerthat needs long focal lengths. You need to remember, in addition to increasing the focal length of any lens, the teleconverter reduces aperture the lens. Teleconverter Soligor 1.4X AFD APO (from this review) allows you to automatically focus on any Nikon AF and AF-S lens and has good performance.

If you have a question - ask in the comments. Thanks for attention. Arkady Shapoval.

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Comments: 87, on the topic: How the teleconverter works. Teleconverter Soligor AF PRO 1.4x review

  • Sergei

    I agree! I would also like to know more about them.

  • anonym

    please tell me, is it possible to use the 1,5 converter to mount a lens designed for crop on the FF camera?

  • Andrei

    Put on, put on a teleconverter!

    • Arkady Shapoval

      fixed.

  • Denis

    Tell me, how does the teleconverter affect the background and bokeh? in the sense that if you put on X2 for fifty dollars - will you get a full-fledged weaving with the same diaphragm or will it just be an increased crop from the central zone of fifty dollars?

  • Victor

    Good day. Please tell me which covers you can use with the Nikon 55-300mm f / 4.5-5.6G DX AF-S ED VR HRI Nikkor lens. I'm interested in physical compatibility.

  • Victor

    Hello Arkady. You wrote that the converters are slightly yellow. Is this a property of absolutely all converters?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      No, not all.

  • Victor

    thank you

  • Eugene

    I couldn’t physically connect the sigma 150 2.8 Macro with the Nikon ТС 14 ЕII converter, the lens just didn’t fit into it because of the inconsistency in the mounting dimensions. And the converter itself, as it turned out, doesn’t support many native lenses, from my park only 70/200 2.8 made friends with it, and bought it in general, though in the hope that Sigma 150ya will work with it.
    So compatibility is an important thing when choosing a teleconverter!

    • Eugene

      And for the sigma you have to look for a native :)

  • Sergei

    Isn’t it easier to make a crop frame in a rav converter? Something tells me that the result will be better than with a tele-converter, since there will be no additional distortion and loss of sharpness

    • lech

      just tested a 2x Kenko teleconverter in conjunction with the Nikon DX55-300mm. I took a little photoshop. in particular, added sharpness and contrast to both photos. first photo without a converter.

      • Rodion

        Wild sharpe and zero sense

    • lech

      the second with a converter.

      • Igor

        Not bad happened

  • Kate

    Tell me, please, how much can I buy a converter MS K-1 2 * M42 * 1 Zenit? Offer for 300 UAH.

  • Sasha

    Is the teleconverter useful for video recording and in what cases !?

  • Eugene o

    For the price of a good teleconverter, you can buy a Nikon 1 system camera with an F-mount adapter and get a 2.7 increase in the price of noise at high ISOs. At the same time, all the goodies will remain: stabilization, correct EXIF, native aperture, etc.

  • Alexey Koshin

    Sorry for archeology, but one question torments.
    What if I use a lens without an aperture (EVL), how to correctly calculate and reflect in EXIF ​​the reduction in aperture ratio for 3 teleconverters?

  • begemot83

    I bought a canon 1.4x II executor, attached it to a canon 70-200 4L - the aperture became 5.6, and the camera shows it that way. The image quality has not changed, at least I do not see any loss of clarity, or HA, or other post-effects. Great thing!

  • Novel

    Stumbled upon your article. Write about the falling aperture from the converter. This is not true. She does not fall at all. Those that are placed on the lens. I did experiments. I have a fixed f2,8 lens and a 1,7x tele-attachment. So neither the brightness nor the exposure did not change at all. Only the focal length has increased and, accordingly, the blur of the backdrop has become stronger. I can show examples with exifs.

    • KalekseyG

      Telenade and teleconverter wrecked things.

      • Novel

        Well, strictly speaking, the tele-converter is the tele-attachment to the lens. And what is placed between the lens and the camera is called a tele-extender.

  • Novel

    Without converter (full size)

    https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/98619/11304747.62/0_8fa91_298f2410_orig

    with converter

    https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/98645/11304747.62/0_8fa8f_349d20dc_orig

    A small vignette is cropped only.

  • Andrei

    Help, pliz, decide. The Pentax K-5 camera, for the stabilization to work correctly when installing manual lenses, you manually enter the focal length of a specific lens. And, now, the question arises — if the lens is placed with a tele-converter, is it necessary, for the stabilizer to work correctly, to introduce a focal multiplied by the converter multiplicity? The focal doesn’t change, the converter simply increases the central field

    • Michael

      In theory, yes. Hand exposure options do not depend on the focal at all. They depend on the angle of view, and you reduce it, so the picture will tremble more.

      • Andrei

        Yeah, maybe thanks for the answer.

  • Alexander

    And how will the teleconverter nozzle work on the lens? Will auto focus correct metering? Nozzle example: http://ali.pub/2j27aa

  • Andrew

    It will work terribly. The soap is strong, especially around the edges and still crop in the corners. Check out the reviews on YouTube. I wouldn’t buy one.

  • Andrew

    If you really want a decent teleconverter, then you better buy this one: http://ali.pub/39pbwc
    Cheap and cheerful.

  • Sergei

    Will the DX lens through a teleconverter fully work with a full-frame carcass? Those. without vignetting,

  • Sergei

    Hello! I’m looking for an answer for a long time, apparently not there. Please tell me which is better, the extender 1.5 (2) or sprinkle in lightroom, if the lens is normal and the sensor is 36mp?

    • Nicholas

      I understand, a year and a half has passed ... but today it really burned for me.
      In the beginning, what I use (this is important) - Nikon z7-II / lens - 70-200 / 2,8 S. We are talking about them.
      Not so long ago I tried to photograph birds (geese, ducks, deer), far away, 100-150 meters. Used lens 200-500 / 5.6. At home I was unpleasantly surprised - I can't even crop 100%. Crap. The next day I went to the same place with 70-200 / 2,8S and, lo and behold, the crop with 200 mm was better than the picture with 500 mm of the same scale or size of the object. I drove both lenses at home under the same conditions - I sold 200-500 as a result. Since there are no Z lenses in this range yet, I decided to buy Teleconverter TC-2x
      At the moment the only lens with which it can be used is the z70-200 / 2.8s. (100-400 have not yet gone on sale) Ie. it was designed for this lens. (unless it's a marketing ploy for time wasting)
      Drove at home - crap again. Everything is as it should be - 2 times longer and 2 times darker, But
      The clarity of the picture remains the same. A 200mm crop at 100% looks the same (or better) than a 54% crop at 200x2 i.e. 400mm.
      Those. or a stupid 50% increase in software (with the loss of pixels, but maintaining the luminosity) or a 2x increase with a converter (tc2), unfortunately without improving clarity and with a loss of speed, i.e. diaphragm….
      Bottom line: There is a lens with such and such a resolution and you can't jump higher.
      I think that this should be true for cases when the resolution of the lens corresponds to the resolution of the matrix (pixel density, or something). If the lens is better then the converter will be useful. This teleconverter will surely work great on 6MP Z24x cameras. Otherwise, the software will help us. (or really very expensive lenses :)

      Data from the lenstip site:

      Nikkor Z 70-200 mm f / 2.8 S - 68 lpmm at 200mm (I'm happy at 45 MP)

      Nikkor AF-S 200-500 mm f / 5.6E ED VR - 33 lpmm @ 500mm (I was happy on the d750 - 24MP)

      PS I wanted to add files, but after compression I'm afraid they will look the same. If someone wants to make sure I can throw NEFs somewhere.
      And do not throw the tomatoes - these are my thoughts and conclusions, and not the ultimate truth.

  • Louise

    please tell me if there are such attachments for the camera that if the camera is on a lens of 67 mm in diameter, then putting it on you can use a lens of 77 mm

    • B. R. P.

      Didn't understand anything. For the use of light filters, there are lowering / increasing nozzles, for example. In general, who was on whom?

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