Z 600mm f/4, question about teleconverters

[cr_wildlife]

Has any tried using an external teleconverter in addition to the built in teleconverter on the new Nikon Z 600mm f/4 lens? I am wondering if adding an Z TC 1.4 will give sharp images with the extra reach obtained, which should be 1176 mm by my calculation. Not often needed, but you never know when you might want it. I am assuming that the wide open f stop will go from 5.6 to 8. Thanks to anyone who can provide any information in this regard.

 

[Butlerkid]

Yes, I've read several reports that that combo works well.

 

[thelordofthelight]

Brad hill tested the 600 F4 lens and is happy with the performance when stacking the internal 1.4TC with an external 1.4 Z TC. Now what’s so interesting is with 600 TC, stacking the internal TC with an external 1.4TC seems to be better than using a 2X TC whereas with the 400 TC it’s the exact opposite. All this could simply come down to sample variations so I wouldn’t bother much as these differences are so small that unless one pixel peeps it’s hard to notice any difference.

Here’s what he says:

PERFORMANCE WITH TELECONVERTERS: Exceptional with its built-in 1.4x TC - this lens performs incredibly well at 840mm. Very good with the Z TC-2x (1200mm), but note that getting the best results at 1200mm requires disciplined shooting technique. And here's a very interesting result - I compared shooting this lens with the Z TC-2x against shooting it with a "TC-stack" (its built-in TC plus an externally mounted Z TC-1.4x). So this comparison was at 1200mm vs. 1176mm, and I found the EXACT OPPOSITE of what I found when I did the same thing with Z 400mm f2.8S, i.e., when shooting with the TC-stack (1176mm) the images were consistently very slightly sharper than when shooting with the Z TC-2x (1200mm). I can't explain why this is so - but it was!

Natural Art Images: Brad Hill: Stuff I Use Part II: Lenses

Camera gear and related accessories regularly used by Brad Hill in the field. Part II - Lenses I currently use or have used.

www.naturalart.ca

 

[agrumpyoldsod]

Has any tried using an external teleconverter in addition to the built in teleconverter on the new Nikon Z 600mm f/4 lens? I am wondering if adding an Z TC 1.4 will give sharp images with the extra reach obtained, which should be 1176 mm by my calculation. Not often needed, but you never know when you might want it. I am assuming that the wide open f stop will go from 5.6 to 8. Thanks to anyone who can provide any information in this regard.

Yes - see the tests I ran with this lens and a few shots i took in the Mara. I carry both the ZTC14 and ZTC20.

The following image of "Athena" hiding up a Blantine Tree was taken at 1,764mm - so 600+IC14 and TC14 AND DX crop [NIKKOR Z 600mm f-4 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x -¹⁄₅₀₀ sec at ƒ - 8.0 - ISO 1400 - 1 EV]

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

And: at 1176mm (ie FX)

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

AND this was with 600+IC14 and TC20 - 1680mm - of course by the time I had grabbed the TC and fitted it my subject had gone back to sleep...... but then I have a few thousand other images so no worries (Hakuna Matata) - I was just looking for a reach in shot while my subject was in a dark setting under a bush.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[arbitrage]

As others have reported it can give acceptable IQ.
I've never shot this particular lens but I have shot a lot at 1200 and 1680mm with other lenses. What I've come to realize over time is that there is rarely a case where going past 840mm is beneficial. The typical reason people start reaching for 1200mm+ is when they are just too far away. You start to run into all sorts of other issues that will deteriorate the IQ even if the lens/TC combination is acceptably sharp in a controlled situation. Atmospherics are the main issue but also having to stabilize 1200mm and often counter the f/8 aperture with higher ISO.
I feel that if the subject isn't close enough for 800mm to give you a proper FOV then going to 1200mm usually isn't worth it. Most times I'd prefer to just do a bigger crop of the 800mm image at a stop lower ISO (for same SS).

 

[Sree]

I recently received my Z 600mm TC lens (on Sunday actually). The weather has not been too kind but I have managed to take some photos this few days. The lens works with the external 1.4X and 2X TCs used in combo or without the internal 1.4X TC engaged. It goes without saying that with the internal 1.4X converter engaged there is almost no loss in quality. When I added the external 1.4X TC in conjunction with the internal 1.4X TC, the quality does dip a little but with PP it looks very good. I went further and used the internal 1.4X TC together with the 2X TC (to give an equivalent of 1680mm). There one can see a drop in quality though still well within acceptable limits. I would not use this unless I had to.

The image here was shot with both the internal 1.4X TC & the external 2X TC engaged (i.e. 1680mm). The reason I used this combo for this shot is that this is shot in a carpark lot in an urban area. The background when you get closer to the subjects are apartment blocks or white sky with steep angles and/or blockages. Thus I stood a fair distance away to get the green BG (of a tree). Even then you can see a slight cut off of the parent Grey-rumped Treeswift's tail. Image was PP and any shortcomings on the IQ is due to my limited skill set. Cropped about 45% vertically from the original FF image. I find this image quite acceptable. (Shot using Tripod)

Added the EXIF info: Z9 + 600m f/4 + TC (internal 1.4X) + 2X TC (external) 1/800 f/11 ISO 3200

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[cr_wildlife]

Thanks to everyone for the information that you sent. I agree with everyone who has suggested that the best solution to a far away subject is to get closer! However, the peregrine falcon image that I posted here a few days ago illustrates my issue. The cliff upon which the falcon perched is quite far away. I am standing on the edge of cliff to get the image, and there is nothing but steep cliff and ocean between me and the bird. So, no way to get closer. I took a similar image at 840mm and had to crop so severely that the image was badly degraded. So I am trying to get a bigger image. Not ideal, as TC are best used to get closer to a subject that is already filled a good part of the frame, but that is just not the case here. I will continue to wrestle with the problem!