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photographylife.com
More seriously though, the main advantages to the Z TC superteles are weight and size (no adapter), possibly better Z system focusing, likely better Z system image stabilization, and ease of adding and removing the teleconverter (just a switch).
Question: By DX crop do you mean the DX crop in camera? I was wondering if I could just use the DX in camera crop on my Z8 in place of a 1.4 TC on my 100-400 mm lens and get similar results? Thanks - I am just learning about these things.
Cropping to DX dimensions is the same from a quality standpoint whether you do it in the camera or in post processing (e.g. Photoshop, Lightroom or similar). Some folks prefer to crop in-camera as you see something closer to the final image in the electronic viewfinder of a mirrorless camera and the files are smaller on the memory card and the computer if you know you'll crop to at least DX sizing anyway.
Thanks so very much for this useful advice.
Yes and no. From a subject size standpoint…DX crop vs TC will be pretty similar. But from a pixels on subject standpoint…the TC wins and more pixels on subject means better sharpness…albeit there could be some loss of IQ due to the TC so ypu don’t ge5 as much improvement as a longer lens for same pixels on subject would be. But given the wider throat, better optical design software and all the other improvements the Z mount has…in most cases the TC doesn’t noticeably degrade the final output image sharpness. It might be noticeable at 1:1…but nobody looks at images at 1:1…they look at them at screen downsampled resolution or on prints…and slight differences in sharpness zoomed in dont make it to the output. There may be other differences in the image with the TC in bokeh or in noise if it forces you to a higher ISO…but NR software is pretty good these days so once again the final output differences are less noticeable than zoomed in. Obviously a longer lens or a prime will generally be better than the zoom…but all things considered you will almost always (at least from my investigations but I only evaluate images at output resolution, no comparing zoomed in due to lack of relevancy) be better off with the TC than going to DX in camera. OTOH…sometimes you just need more reach and I will admit to occasionally using both the TC and DX instead of tossing on the 2x TC. But even using the 2x really depends on needs…yes, it isn’t as sharp as the 1.4x…but I haven’t really compared the 2x to 1.4 and DX because I don’t need to. With both TCs…I have zero hesitancy in the 1.4 use but the 2x gets less use by a factor of 5-10. I’ve still gotten excellent images with it in good light with both my 400/4.5 and 600PF…but on the 10-400 it is really only in a good light, I don’t have the prime, and it’s a shot or subject I really want thing. Now that I have both the zoom and the longer primes…I don’t imagine I will use the TC on the 100-400 unless I have to and will generally try to not use it past 300 or so unless I have to.
Using the MTF system Nikon use, Canon reckoned anything above 0.8 on the left hand side is extremely good.
One thing I'll add is that using an in-camera DX crop the view of the subject and the related AF boxes are all larger. So if you have a distant subject and are trying to place an AF box on that subject - or a nearer subject and need precision - the DX crop view may be useful.
I'm not a fan of Fro... but I'm not sure that I disagree with him here.
bcgforums.com
If you look at their testing procedure they accounted for the loss of light by increasing ISO..... and they STILL found using TCs to clearly get a sharper image.
You're also going to have a downsizing benefit that reduces effective noise on the TC image. The cropped image effectively has more noise- almost two stops worth. It's important to use a common output size for these comparisons.
Another background detail is over the last 3 years or so AI available with several PP packages makes getting 400 ISO noise performance from a 3200 ISO capture relatively straightforward.
This is a great idea! I will do it! Yesterday, after reading some replies, I programmed a lens button to switch to DX crop, but I really like your idea here too! Such a great Forum!
I have a button programmed on my Z9 and Z8 to toggle between FX and DX mode. Can be useful. One negative is that it is easy to forget that you have switched to DX mode. There is a warning indicator in the upper right corner of the EVF that flashes. But it is small and very easy to miss. So at times, I have shot in DX when I did not intend to do so.
