Stacking TCs

[tjparpan]

I know Romy has had a lot of success with stacking TCs, but with the Canon mounts. But I encountered some problem when I tried to stack TCs.

I did some research on stacking Nikon TCs and it looks like I have to file down a lug on the mounting ring to allow 2 Nikon TCs to stack. I found info here, and although doable, I'm still apprehensive with fiddling with good pieces of glass!

I still have a Kenko 1.4x TC and since it didn't have a lug like the Nikons, it allowed me to stack it with the 1.4, 1.7 and 2.0 TCs. Thing was, when I tried it with both a D200 and D80, after a few test shots, the battery indicator would go dead. And the batteries were full charged! Any idea why this happens? Could it be problems with the contacts of each TC (Kenko and Nikon) not being compatible or properly meeting up?

Also, what would produce a better quality image? A shot with a "clean" lens with no TC and just cropping to increase the size of the subject? Or a lens with a TC with the subject filling up more of the frame, but maybe experiencing some loss of IQ? Not sure if this is on over-simplified questions since I'm sure there are other things to consider.

[Romy Ocon]

tjparpan said:

I still have a Kenko 1.4x TC and since it didn't have a lug like the Nikons, it allowed me to stack it with the 1.4, 1.7 and 2.0 TCs. Thing was, when I tried it with both a D200 and D80, after a few test shots, the battery indicator would go dead. And the batteries were full charged! Any idea why this happens? Could it be problems with the contacts of each TC (Kenko and Nikon) not being compatible or properly meeting up?

Also, what would produce a better quality image? A shot with a "clean" lens with no TC and just cropping to increase the size of the subject? Or a lens with a TC with the subject filling up more of the frame, but maybe experiencing some loss of IQ? Not sure if this is on over-simplified questions since I'm sure there are other things to consider.

Hi TJ,

I'm not familiar with Nikon optics, but our fellow forum member here - Ray Barlow (of Canada) - also has a 200-400 f4 VR which he used in our previous sorties at Subic and Candaba. He seems not too keen on using TCs, not sure why. Drop him a PM, he's very knowledgeable on that particular Nikon lens.

Generally speaking, an increase in resolution can be attained with up to a 2x TC if such is used with a sharp base lens (ex. - Canikon big primes, Sigmonster and the 200-400 f4 VR). If one has become focal length limited with such lenses, adding a 1.4x, 1.7x or even a 2x TC will yield more detail than shooting with a bare lens and upressing.

Of course, nothing is free - the loss of light and the need to stop down a bit for better IQ would make shooting the extended lens even more difficult.

In my experience, stacked 2x/1.4x TCs is no longer practical at shooting fine-detailed subjects like birds, even with legendary primes like the Canon 300 2.8 IS. There's just too much IQ and light loss that upressing a 2x TC shot might yield equivalent or better results. A 2.8x TC (2x + 1.4x) with a sharp lens might be useable at low-detail subjects like the moon.

Here's a sample moonshot with stacked TCs on the 500 f4 (1400 mm):





Another one, this time from the Sigmonster + 2.8x TC (2263 mm):




And here's one of the rare times I used stacked TCs at a bird - a Crested Goshawk perched very high up the canopy, above Balsahan trail (Palawan) - 20D + 500 f4 IS + stacked Canon 2x/1.4x TCs, 1400 mm:



Romy

[tjparpan]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply Romy! I'll PM Raymond as well.