2X Teleconverters at DVinfo.net

Jake Latendresse · July 11th, 2006, 08:12 AM

I film lots of wildlife and would like to stretch my 12X lens...I have heard mixed reviews about the doublers, but would like to hear your point of view!!

good, bad, brands etc...???

thanks a bunch

John M. McCloskey · July 12th, 2006, 08:44 AM

We have the century and we also do allot of wildlife videoing and I dont recommend this lens adapter. Simply the vingetting at full wide is bad. For a production where you can have full control of your subjects I can see where this lens could be a great option, but wildlife you have no control over.

Alex Horvath · July 12th, 2006, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John M. McCloskey

... For a production where you can have full control of your subjects I can see where this lens could be a great option....

Even there, it will be a problem, for example shooting in the mountains you never can zoom out for a panoramashot. Detaching/attaching (the Lensconverter) is called the game.

Boyd Ostroff · July 12th, 2006, 10:28 AM

Welcome to DVinfo Jake!

John: I can't imagine that there is any teleconvertor that won't vignette at full wide... that seems like an unreasonable expectation to me. I have the Century, but it's a 1.6x, not a 2x. I don't think you will find anything much better than this personally, which is why I got it myself. It allows you to zoom out about halfway which seems pretty reasonable. Take it off if you want to shoot wide :-) The Century lenses have nice locking bayonet mounts - they're pretty expensive though. If this seems like too much of a limitation for wildlife shooting then you might be a lot happier with a camera like the Canon or JVC which has interchangeable lenses. Teleconvertors are always going to have a lot of limitations IMO.

See the following threads, this topic has been covered pretty thoroughly in the past:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=66234
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=58525
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=56484

John M. McCloskey · July 12th, 2006, 02:02 PM

Boyd- have you ever tried to take a lens adapter off when a turkey with eyes like an eagle is walking straight at you and you have to begin to pull wide when he is at 15 feet. Thats what i meant by not having control of your subject.Not only Turkeys also bear, deer, elk, literally any animal that has preditors is watching for movement and you never know how close they may get to you. If you have the adapter on and that animal makes it to 10 or 20 feet from you you have no choice but to stay zoomed in at that range in other words you are limited with the capabilities of your camera with the adapter at that range in that situation. As for videoing a mountain pulled wide, yea just take it off the mountain isnt gonna care. I wouldnt trade my Sony for anything well maybe a 950.

Jake Latendresse · July 12th, 2006, 03:08 PM

i get the drift...

...relating to what John says, im guessing you video for the outdoor television industry...namely Mossy Oak based on your location. that said, that is exactly what I do as well, so I can relate to what you are saying. but I am investigating into the doubler soley based on long distance filming..not neccessarliy in the "moment of truth" at close range. I have two cameras, a 170 and Z1...so i would have the luxury of having both cameras rigged up...

my question is primarily focused on the image quality when fully zoomed in on my subject...say at 400-500 yards away.

so, taking all the responses into consideration, it appears that the telephoto coverter would be a good investment for specific applications, but would offer jeopardizing propositions in the "moment of truth". i think that is a very adequate set of responses and i appreciate all the thoughts...

Boyd Ostroff · July 12th, 2006, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John M. McCloskey

Boyd- have you ever tried to take a lens adapter off when a turkey with eyes like an eagle is walking straight at you and you have to begin to pull wide when he is at 15 feet

Sure John, I understand that. But my point is that you just aren't going to find any sort of adaptor lens which lets you zoom all the way out. It would have to be HUGE in order to do that. I think the Century is a reasonable compromise in that it at least allows you to zoom halfway out. Read the threads I've linked to below. None of the 2x convertors sound very practical to me, some of them have vignetting even at the full telephoto zoom setting.

But maybe I misunderstood your point. Perhaps you were saying that you just shouldn't use a teleconvertor at all? Unfortunately, the Z1 lens favors the wide end and it may not be suitable for some applications. I also have a Z1 and like it a lot, but without the Century 1.6x lens it really wouldn't be adequate for filming our live performances from 100 feet away.

Jake: have a look at some of the examples I posted from the Century in the links above. Some chromatic abberation is visible, but personally I feel that is mainly a result of magnifying the CA already present in the stock lens.

John M. McCloskey · July 13th, 2006, 01:53 PM

If you look at the first thread from Jake he was concerned in using the teleconverter for wildlife projects. I have used this teleconverter on many, many such outings and just stated a situation in the wildlife where this teleconverter is not very productive. As for videoing a concert from 100 feet away I think this teleconverter would be a great tool. Hopefully sony in the next few years will come out with a HDV camera with interchangeable lenses. But I wont hold my breath on that. Anyway great thread, this shows how multifaceted being a field producer can be, no shoot is ever the same. Thanks

July 11th, 2006, 08:12 AM	#1
Jake Latendresse Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Platte River, NE Posts: 86	2X Teleconverters I film lots of wildlife and would like to stretch my 12X lens...I have heard mixed reviews about the doublers, but would like to hear your point of view!! good, bad, brands etc...??? thanks a bunch

July 12th, 2006, 08:44 AM	#2
John M. McCloskey Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: West Point, MS Posts: 313	We have the century and we also do allot of wildlife videoing and I dont recommend this lens adapter. Simply the vingetting at full wide is bad. For a production where you can have full control of your subjects I can see where this lens could be a great option, but wildlife you have no control over.

July 12th, 2006, 10:28 AM	#4
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Welcome to DVinfo Jake! John: I can't imagine that there is any teleconvertor that won't vignette at full wide... that seems like an unreasonable expectation to me. I have the Century, but it's a 1.6x, not a 2x. I don't think you will find anything much better than this personally, which is why I got it myself. It allows you to zoom out about halfway which seems pretty reasonable. Take it off if you want to shoot wide :-) The Century lenses have nice locking bayonet mounts - they're pretty expensive though. If this seems like too much of a limitation for wildlife shooting then you might be a lot happier with a camera like the Canon or JVC which has interchangeable lenses. Teleconvertors are always going to have a lot of limitations IMO. See the following threads, this topic has been covered pretty thoroughly in the past: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=66234 http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=58525 http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=56484

July 12th, 2006, 02:02 PM	#5
John M. McCloskey Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: West Point, MS Posts: 313	Boyd- have you ever tried to take a lens adapter off when a turkey with eyes like an eagle is walking straight at you and you have to begin to pull wide when he is at 15 feet. Thats what i meant by not having control of your subject.Not only Turkeys also bear, deer, elk, literally any animal that has preditors is watching for movement and you never know how close they may get to you. If you have the adapter on and that animal makes it to 10 or 20 feet from you you have no choice but to stay zoomed in at that range in other words you are limited with the capabilities of your camera with the adapter at that range in that situation. As for videoing a mountain pulled wide, yea just take it off the mountain isnt gonna care. I wouldnt trade my Sony for anything well maybe a 950.

July 12th, 2006, 03:08 PM	#6
Jake Latendresse Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Platte River, NE Posts: 86	i get the drift... ...relating to what John says, im guessing you video for the outdoor television industry...namely Mossy Oak based on your location. that said, that is exactly what I do as well, so I can relate to what you are saying. but I am investigating into the doubler soley based on long distance filming..not neccessarliy in the "moment of truth" at close range. I have two cameras, a 170 and Z1...so i would have the luxury of having both cameras rigged up... my question is primarily focused on the image quality when fully zoomed in on my subject...say at 400-500 yards away. so, taking all the responses into consideration, it appears that the telephoto coverter would be a good investment for specific applications, but would offer jeopardizing propositions in the "moment of truth". i think that is a very adequate set of responses and i appreciate all the thoughts...

July 13th, 2006, 01:53 PM	#8
John M. McCloskey Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: West Point, MS Posts: 313	If you look at the first thread from Jake he was concerned in using the teleconverter for wildlife projects. I have used this teleconverter on many, many such outings and just stated a situation in the wildlife where this teleconverter is not very productive. As for videoing a concert from 100 feet away I think this teleconverter would be a great tool. Hopefully sony in the next few years will come out with a HDV camera with interchangeable lenses. But I wont hold my breath on that. Anyway great thread, this shows how multifaceted being a field producer can be, no shoot is ever the same. Thanks