rjpawl
Member
Z1.4 on a 180-600 (Z8) works very nicely. I'll even say amazing, however, I'll only use it on sunny days.
Teleconverter Nikon Z 1.4 teleconverter. Are you happy with it?
- Thread starter Mimi76
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Yep…definitely worth it. I have both of them but the 2x is much less used. I have zero issues with using the 1.4.
xxx
Active member
Bought both the 1.4 and 2.0 when they first came. Never used either. Sold the 2.0 yesterday
I am happy to use my 1.4 X on the 100–400 hand-held for butterflies and similar - benefiting from the considerably longer working distance than with the 105 Z.
Unfortunately the 200 f4 macro does not auto focus on Z, limiting its use for handheld work.
I have recently been experimented with using it on the 800 PF on a Z8 & 9 combined with a Gitzo series 5 tripod, MC-30 and good quality head and again I am pleased with hardly any apparent reduction in image quality at 100%.
A detail regularly overlooked is that although using a 1.4 X costs 1 stop of light, this is offset by 1 step more depth of field than using a longer focal length without a TC.
Unfortunately the 200 f4 macro does not auto focus on Z, limiting its use for handheld work.
I have recently been experimented with using it on the 800 PF on a Z8 & 9 combined with a Gitzo series 5 tripod, MC-30 and good quality head and again I am pleased with hardly any apparent reduction in image quality at 100%.
A detail regularly overlooked is that although using a 1.4 X costs 1 stop of light, this is offset by 1 step more depth of field than using a longer focal length without a TC.
I figured pairing it with the Z 800mm would be the acid test. I’m more than pleased with the results.
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CountryLapi
New member
I do not shot the 180-600mm. I went all in to the Z8, and finally sold my D500 breaking my budget (and more). I kept my 500PF, and use the FTZ and 1.4 iii on it. I’m blown away how well it performs in both focus speed and detail. Detail holds up to pixel peeping pretty well
. It’s a permanent addition in my gear!I’ve used the Z 1.4x TC on a number of lenses. I think it’s very good, although the results vary some by lens. And of course you lose a stop of aperture/light, which may make it less useful in low light.
I‘ve found it is very good on the Z 800 mm PF, Z 600 mm PF, Z 400 mm f4.5 and Z 400 mm TC (without engaging the internal TC) lenses. It’s also very good on the Z 70-200 mm lens. Not quite as good, but still very useable on the Z 100-400 mm lens and on the Z 400 mm TC lens (stacked with the internal TC engaged). I’ve used it some on the Z 180-600 mm lens. Need more experience with that combination, but I think it is a step behind the performance on the Z 100-400 mm lens. Brad Hill (the Canadian wildlife photographer) felt that Z 1.4x TC and Z 180-600 combination on its own was not useable for him. However, he felt that it was useable using DxO lens corrections through DxO PhotoLab Elite or PureRaw. I’ve been using DxO lens corrections on many of my photos from a variety of Z lenses, with and without a TC, and think they often are an improvement.
[corrected typo]
I‘ve found it is very good on the Z 800 mm PF, Z 600 mm PF, Z 400 mm f4.5 and Z 400 mm TC (without engaging the internal TC) lenses. It’s also very good on the Z 70-200 mm lens. Not quite as good, but still very useable on the Z 100-400 mm lens and on the Z 400 mm TC lens (stacked with the internal TC engaged). I’ve used it some on the Z 180-600 mm lens. Need more experience with that combination, but I think it is a step behind the performance on the Z 100-400 mm lens. Brad Hill (the Canadian wildlife photographer) felt that Z 1.4x TC and Z 180-600 combination on its own was not useable for him. However, he felt that it was useable using DxO lens corrections through DxO PhotoLab Elite or PureRaw. I’ve been using DxO lens corrections on many of my photos from a variety of Z lenses, with and without a TC, and think they often are an improvement.
[corrected typo]
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I use my Z1.4 TC more than I do with the 2.0 TC but have taken very nice photos using either of them when combined with my Z100-400S.
abc123brian
Well-known member
I am happy with the 1.4x tc. I’ve tried it on the 100-400, 180-600, 400 4.5, and 600pf. The 400 4.5 seems to AF just as fast as bare and the others seem to slow down some. Sharpness is pretty good on all of them. I’ve been happy with it on the 180-600 and would say it’s worthwhile to have.
ajrmd
Well-known member
Doug, your images illustrate my point namely the TC can help if the subject is already large in the frame and is relatively close. Those who think that employing a TC on a small subject at long distances will magically produce images as fine as yours is suspending physics. For example, I was out chasing Snowies today and the lovely lady was perched on a stump some 150-200 yds away. A TC on the 800mm was of little use since she was small in the frame and atmospherics were in play as well. Thanks for sharing some nice captures.
It is nice.
Thank you!Beautiful Doug
beano
Well-known member
Shot on my Wife's Z50II, 400 4.5 with 1.4TC at 840mm equivalent. Absolutely lovely lens for macro, if you don't have one! Adjusted color to approximate real-life tone. Cropped 100%, and resized 50% to fit to forum upload restrictions.
Not sacrificing much in terms of sharpness with the 1.4TC, tbh, at least IMHO.
Not sacrificing much in terms of sharpness with the 1.4TC, tbh, at least IMHO.
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beano
Well-known member
Usually very difficult to get close to the Cormorants here in my neck of the woods...err...wetlands, but with the 1.4TC on the ASP-C body, and a 100% crop, can get good close-up shots. Anyway, sharpness once again on a pretty decent level, considering.
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Wearing my PAGB judging hat – this I regard as a very strong image.
The tip of the beak being pin-sharp, the quality of the lighting in the yellow area on the under-side of the head, the piercing green eyes looking towards the photographer, the colour combination of yellows and greens working well and the diffuse light tone green background make it 100% clear what a viewer (or judge) is meant to be looking at.
Perhaps more important – what a viewer is meant to be looking at is remarkably good and well captured.
Getting technical one of the pluses of a crop sensor is well illustrated here in that when you cannot get close enough a crop sensor can put more MP on the subject than cropped 24 MP FX, leading to a sharper (higher resolution) image, aided in this image by decent lighting adding modelling and increased perceived sharpness.
Getting even more technical starting with a DX crop and using a 1.4 TC adds about 2 stops (double) depth of field helping reduce the fall off in sharpness toward the rear of the birds head.
Even so I would like to see a comparison image upping ISO maybe 1.5 stops and stopping down to around f11 to reduce this zone of sharpness fall-off.
I expect you know if doing this puts too much detail in the diffuse background, "softening" it takes no more than 30 seconds in something like Lightroom.
Some keyboard warriors say that this quality of result is impossible with a crop sensor and cropped image - and some real-world photographers demonstrate (I hope I am not breaking forum rules) some keyboard warriors talk through their annus.
In the background based on my recently working with relatively novice smart phone users - probably over 95% of smart phone users do not know how to get an image from a smart phone on to a computer and can only view images at a size too small to record much of the detail "we" can see on a decent size monitor.
There is good hair detail around the eye and it is easy to work out how the insect feeds.
Perhaps nit-picking, I use this lens combination and know it works well stopped down 1 stop from wide open
Raising the ISO 1 stop and shooting at around f9.5 would have put more detail in the hairs toward the back of the insect with negligible loss of image quality from noise.
This would further help clarify what can be achieved with a crop sensor camera!
beano
Well-known member
Hi Len,
Thank you for your feedback, highly valued and appreciated. Sometimes we do get a bit lucky, especially with this subject, as he was literally glaring at me, ready to take flight at any moment. I had to be slow with my movements, reminds me of my days in the army on the mid-80’s, stalking someone, haha.
I will keep your feedback regarding ISO and Aperture in mind, and try again over the next few days. I am not familiar shooting with ASP-C, so going into this somewhat blind. Hopefully I can catch him at the same spot again, there are a few that use that particular rock to dry out after a quick snack.
Cheers, later!
Edit: Appreciate your further feedback on the Honeybee, will also stop down on that one, perhaps pop off the TC, as I can get quite close to them. More later!
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By all means experiment
There is a balance between using a TC to work from further away, and getting closer with greater risk of an insect taking off.
At the basic level good photography is about getting your feet in the right place and pressing the shutter at the right moment.
The more often we do this particularly in good light for the subject the greater at the chance of getting lucky.
With the bird shot you got 3 out of 3 right
Well said, Len.
Maljo
Well-known member
Very happy with the Z 1.4 teleconverter.
Dave Douglass
Well-known member
I have my 1.4 TC pretty much permanently on my Z9 behind my 180-600 lens. I really don't notice any image degradation of quality at all and it lets me get in in real close. I switch from FX to DX for the cropping as needed. I forget all about how much I had to pay for it as I'm enjoying what it does.